My Genealogy Hound

Hon. Samuel W. Cochran. For a period upwards of thirty-three years, he whose name heads this sketch has been a resident of Fulton County, and during this time he has enjoyed the reputation of being an honest, upright man in every respect, fully deserving the good opinion with which he is regarded by all who know him. His life up to the time of his location in Arkansas was rather unsettled, but notwithstanding the old saying that ‘‘a rolling stone gathers no moss,’’ Mr. Cochran has been quite successful in accumulating worldly goods, and is one of the leading merchants of this county. His birth occurred in Abbeville District, S. C., May 20, 1820, and he was left an orphan when an infant. Until ten years of age he was cared for by an uncle, J. C. Wharton, and from that period until sixteen years of age was taken care of by his guardian, Samuel Jordan. At this time he went with his uncle, Mr. Wharton, to Tennessee, and located at Raleigh, near Memphis, but shortly after went to Tipton, and still later to Columbia, of the same State, where he remained two years. He then returned to his old home in South Carolina, where he attended school for one year, after which he came back to Columbia, and was a salesman two years for the mercantile firm of G. Frierson & Co. At the end of this time he again returned to South Carolina, where he remained with his guardian for some time, and was married there to Miss Julia A. Chiles, moving with her at a later period to Cass County, Ga., where he gave his attention to farming until 1856. In that year he came to Fulton County, Ark., and located in the neighborhood of where he now lives, continuing his farming operations up to 1881, when he opened a store at his present stand, and has met with the best of success in this enterprise. In 1861 he was a member of the State convention, and voted for secession, and in 1863 was elected to represent Fulton County in the State legislature. His wife was a daughter of William Chiles, of Abbeville District, S. C., and was born October 7, 1827, being killed at Rolla, Mo., November 6, 1864. To them were born four children, three of whom are living: William C., a farmer of Fulton County; J. C., also a farmer of the county, and J. D., farming near his father. Samuel W. died in 1863, when twelve years of age. In 1865 Mr. Cochran wedded Miss Martha E. Livingston, a daughter of James Livingston, who was also born in Abbeville District, S. C., her birth occurring in 1831. In 1848 Mr. Cochran was licensed to preach the gospel, having joined the Missionary Baptist Church three years previous, and his wife and children are also members of this church. He is a Democrat politically, and previous to the war held the position of postmaster at Union, and received his last appointment in 1887. When a young man he taught school in Georgia, and also in Fulton County, Ark. Mr. Cochran’s parents, Clark and Sarah (Wharton) Cochran, were born in Abbeville District, S. C., where the father was engaged in merchandising and farming until his death. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, and was a son of John Cochran, a native of Virginia, and a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He died in South Carolina. The maternal grandfather, Pleasant Wharton, was born in the “Palmetto State.” A large extent of land in South Carolina was given his ancestors by George III, and has been in possession of the family ever since that time.