Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/713

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COCHRAN
COCHRANE
671

wick, N. J., where he practised his profession and was president of the Medical society of New Jer- sey, and, late in 1776, offered his services as a vol- unteer in the hospital department of the Revolu- tionary army. On the recommendation of Wash- ington he was appointed physician and surgeon- general in the middle department, and on 17 Jan., 1781, congress appointed him director-gen- eral of hospitals, and his experience enabled him to make great improvements in the hospital ser- vice. Soon after peace had been declared he re- moved with his family to New York, and on the adoption of the Federal constitution Washington made him commissioner of loans for tliat state. — His grandson, John, lawyer, b. in Palatine, Montgomery co., N. Y., 27 Aug., 1813 ; d. in New York city, 7 Feb., 1898, was graduated at Hamil- ton college, Clinton, N. Y., in 1831. He studied law and was admitted to the bar of New York in 1834. From 1853 till 1857 he was surveyor of the port of New York, and from 1857 till 1861 a rep- resentative from that city in congress. On 4 July, 1858, he was deputed by the common council of the city of New York to convey to his native state of Virginia the remains of President James Mon- roe, who had died in New York and been buried there. On 11 June, 1861, he was commissioned colonel of the 1st U. S. chasseurs, which he com- manded at Fair Oaks, Malvern Hill, and other battles of the peninsular campaign. He became brigadier-general of volunteers on 17 July, 1863, and was assigned a brigade in Couch's division of the Army of the Potomac. He was with the re- serve at the battle of Antietam, and afterward pursued the retreating enemy, resigning from the army on 27 Feb., 1862, in consequence of serious physical disability. In 1864 he was nominated at Cleveland, Ohio, by the convention of independent republicans, for vice-president of the United States on the ticket with Gen. John C. Fremont for presi- dent. In 1863-'5 he was attorney-general of the state of New York, and in 1869 tendered the mis- sion to Paraguay and Uraguay, which he declined. In 1872 he was one of the "New York delegation to the convention of the liberal republican party that met at Cincinnati, and was chiefly instrumental in securing the nomination of Horace Greeley for the presidency. In 1872 he was a member of the com- mon council of the city of New York and presi- dent of the board, and was acting mayor during the temporary retirement of Mayor Hall in the midst of the Tweed ring disclosures, and again a member of the council in 1883. Gen. Cochran was president of the Society of the Cincinnati.


COCHRAN, John Webster, inventor, b. in Enfield, N. H., 16 May, 1814. In 1832, with a cash capital of $1.25, he walked 110 miles to Boston, and in 1833 patented a steam-heating apparatus. In 1834 he invented a revolving, breech-loading rifled cannon, in which the cylinder was automatically rotated by the cocking of the hammer — the same principle that afterward secured the success of the revolving pistol. He visited France in 1835. showed his model to the Turkish ambassadoi-, and went to Constantinople on the invitation of Sultan Mahmoud, who rewarded him liberally. He lived in France in 1839-47, and afterward 'in England, where he invented machinery for the curvilinear sawing of timber, which was adopted by the Brit- ish government. After his return to this country he engaged in the manufacture of fire-arms and projectiles and in perfecting various inventions.


COCHRANE, Sir Alexander Forester Ingrlis, British naval officer, b. 22 April, 1758 : d. in Paris, 26 Jan., 1832. He was a son of the Scottish Earl of Dundonald, and distinguished himself in wars with the United States and France, especially for an unequal combat with five French vessels in Chesapeake bay. He was made a post-captain in 1782 and a rear-admiral in 1804. He was knighted for his gallant conduct and meritorious services in a battle against the French in 1806 near Hayti, and in 1809 was made vice-admiral. He com- manded the British fleet on the American station in the war of 1812-'5, and assisted the land forces in taking Washington in August, 1814, and in the attack on New Orleans. He was made admiral of the blue in 1819. — His son. Sir Thomas John, b. about 1790 ; d. in 1872, served as captain under his father in the war against the United States in 1814. He was elected to parliament in 1837, was afterward made a rear-admiral, commanded in the East Indies from 1842 till 1846, and became vice- admiral about 1850. — Another son, John Dnndas, traveller, b. about 1780 ; d. in South America, 12 Aug., 1825, entered the British navy at the age of ten, and attained the rank of captain. In 1815 he began a series of journeys on foot through France, Spain, and Portugal. After a plan for exploring the interior of Africa and the course of the Niger, submitted by him in 1820 to the British admiralty, had been declined, he determined upon making a tour of the world, as much as possible on foot, in- tending to cross from Asia to America at Bering strait, and started from London in February, 1820, but gave up the project after reaching Kamt- schatka. Afterward he went to South America, where he was engaged in mining enterprises at the time of his death. In 1824 he published " Narra- tive of a Pedestrian Journey through Russia and Siberian Tartary, from the Frontiers of China to the Frozen Sea and Kamtschatka " (London, 1824).


COCHRANE, Clark Beaton, b. in New Boston, N. H., in 1817; d. in Albaiiy, N. Y., 5 March, 1867. He was graduated at Union, and devoted himself to the study of law. In 1844 he was chosen a mem- ber of the assembly, on the democratic ticket, from Montgomery county. He was one of the primitive barnburners, supported Van Buren and Adams in 1848, and in 1854 vigorously opposed the Kansas- Nebraska bill, after which he acted with the repub- lican party. In 1856 he was elected to congress from the Schenectady district, and in 1858 was re- elected. The following year, his health becoming affected by the excitement of congressional life, he was obliged to return home for temporary rest, and after the expiration of his term resided in Albany, devoting himself to his profession. In 1865 he accepted a nomination for the legislature. He was the acknowledged leader of the house, and his tact in quieting angry debate gave him the title of " The Great Pacificator."


COCHRANE, Matthew Henry, Canadian senator, b. in Compton, Quebec, 11 Nov., 1824. He resided with his father on the farm until he was eighteen years of age, when he went to Boston and engaged in the shoe business. He returned to Canada in 1854 and established the same business, in which he is still engaged, being head of the firm of Cochrane, Cassils & Co. In 1864 he became an importer of fine breeds of cattle and horses. He is a trustee of Lenoxville university, a member of the council of agriculture of Quebec, and connected as director or president with various other industrial and financial enterprises. Politically he is a conservative, and he was called to the Dominion senate, on 17 Oct., 1872.


COCHRANE, William, Canadian clergyman, b. in Paisley. Scotland, 9 Feb., 1831. He attended the parish school in his native town until twelve