Robert Cochran

ROBERT COCHRAN

Robert Cochran was the son of Robert and Catherine Cochran, an old pioneer
family who settled in Allegheny county, where he was born in the year 1805. He
learned the carpenter’s trade when a boy and worked at it for fifteen years in
Pittsburgh when that city was quite a small place. At first he received only
seventy-five cents per day, and the largest wages her received were $1.50 per
day. In 1835 he married Margaret Green, born in Lancaster county,
Pennsylvania, about 1818, but then living in Harrison county, Ohio, where she
had immigrated with her parents. Eighteen months after their marriage a child
was born and the mother died. This child, Margaret Elizabeth, also died in her
eleventh year.

In 1843 he married as his second wife Mary Richardson, who was born in
Allegheny county, October 16, 1816. By this union were born five children, as
follows: Robert L., born March 16, 1848; Edwin G., born September 10, 1850;
Willison A., born April 7, 1853; Marietta Ann, born June 16, 1857; and Alice
K., born December 16, 1860. Only Willison A. and Alice K. are now living, the
latter unmarried and residing with her brother in Leechburg. The mother of
these children died September 6, 1871.

Mr. Cochran came to this county early enough to experience some of the
disadvantages of life in a comparatively new country. He planted corn on the
ground where Leechburg now stands, when it was partly timbered. In that early
day the articles which were put upon the table were cornbread, hominy, mush
and milk, tea made from herbs grown in the garden, and coffee made from corn
and rye. The clothing then worn was chiefly made from flax which the settlers
raised. In Mr. Cochran’s family the clothing was mostly of linen spun by his
young wife. They were compelled to live cheaply in order to raise their little
family of children and to educate them, and sometimes their clothing and food
supply was not as abundant and they might wish. Mr. Cochran now lives a
retired live, making his home with his son, Willison A. This young man is
employed as a sheet-iron shearsman in the Leechburg ironmill, and by steady
hard work has become the owner of several housed in Apollo which bring him in
a fine income. He was married in 1879 to Miss Sarah E. Gosser, who was born in
this county in 1858. They have one child, Robert Lee.

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