Southside Cochran connection ... maybe?

Anyone who has lived on the south side of Atlanta for any length of time knows that certain families played a prominent part in the early settlement of this area.

The Cochran family is certainly among those families.

I was contacted recently by a Cochran descendant who turned out to be a new cousin of mine. Many of her Cochran ancestors are buried at Rock Springs Missionary Baptist Church cemetery on Dr. Fischer Road up in northeastern Coweta County. It just so happens that one of my paternal relatives married into this family and is buried there also. That was a great find for me and I hope it will lead me to the burial places of other members of that family.

It just so happens that another cousin (on my maternal side) also is descended from south side Cochrans (uh-oh ... paternal and maternal side?) and we're hoping that digging into one will lead to answers in another. Maybe ... maybe not, but we'll try.

I confess I have not had time to do a lot of research on these families because of the holiday rush. Also, in attempting to "clean up" my genealogy room before my grandchildren came to visit a few weeks ago, I misplaced two of my valuable Campbell County resource books on wills and cemeteries. I threw out a lot of stuff in the cleaning process and I am praying that those books didn't fall victim to my cleaning frenzy.

I will just have to go with what my cousins sent me on these two Cochran families, along with a little bit I have found on the Internet. Much of the information on the first Cochran family came from a wonderful Web site on the Rock Springs Cemetery done by Kathy and Melissa Proctor, who are descendants. You can access this site at www.coweta.newn.com/rocksp.htm. The Rock Springs Cemetery listing (and a few other Coweta cemeteries) also can be found on the Georgia Genweb page. From the home page, scroll down and click on the "GaGenWeb Archives" box.

My newest cousin is Carleen Maurer who lives in Morrow. Carleen is descended from Solomon Cochran and Lucinda Matilda Norris Cochran, who are buried at Rock Springs. Lucinda, daughter of John "Jethro" Norris and Mary Johnson of Gwinnett and Fayette counties, was my GGgrandmother's sister. Carleen's grandfather was Jessie N. Cochran, son of Solomon and Lucinda. She states that most of her Cochrans were born in Campbell County before they moved to Coweta.

Solomon Cochran was born May 29, 1843, probably in Campbell County, and died July 24, 1930. He is thought to be the son of William Allen Cochran and Alpha Johnson who were married Dec. 9, 1830 in Newton County and moved to Campbell County, date unknown.

Solomon Cochran married Lucinda Matilda Norris on 30 Sept 1871, location unknown, and they are said to have had the following children: Enoch; Mary L., b. abt. 1872, m. John Pendergrass; Jessie N., b. 4 Oct. 1873, d. 1922-23, m. Mary A. Pendergrass; Millie Sophia, b. 31 July 1874, d. 21 Jan. 1958, m. John Avery Roberts; Charles Pennington, b. 1 Aug. 1880, d. 24 Sept. 1966, m. Ada Mae Leeina Minix; Ioata J. (Odie), b. 15 Feb. 1883, d. 16 June 1959, m. Joseph M. (Jodie) Hall; Lura B., b. 13 Dec. 1886, d. 4 July 1963, m. James Thomas Calhoun. Jessie N. (son of Solomon) and Mary Pendergrass Cochran had the following children: Annie Mae, b. between 1895-1898, d. 1966, m. Jack Bedford; James Macon, b. 31 Jan. 1899, d. 6 April 1934; Jessie R., b. 6 Jan. 1902, d. 15 Feb. 1985, m. Margaret Black; Lena, b. 1905, d. 1932, m. Hillary McElwaney; Howard, d. 5 Feb. 1976, m. Belle Carroll; W. Gordon, b. 16 July 1910, d. 26 July 1990, m. Allie B. Carroll; Ethel, b. 11 April 1912, d. 28 Nov. 1985; Paul Athnenal, b. 18 July 1914, d. 5 June 1917; Maggie Lou; Maude, b. 23 July 1917, d. 6 Nov. 1998, m. Weldon Johnson; Emma Lou (Carleen's mother); and a baby girl who died as an infant.

Charles Pennington (also son of Solomon) and Ada Mae Leeina Minix Cochran had the following children (these were taken from the cemetery Web site and may be incomplete): Oatie Lou Gena, b. 12 Aug. 1906, d. 20 Feb. 2000, m. Peter Allen Winkles; Oliver E (Bo), b. 29 June 1908, d. 31 March 1981, m. Nellie K. Peppers; Ruth, m. Hubert Shaw; Ruby, m. Jessie C. Hancock; Selma, b. 1916, d. 1988; Lula Bell, b. 25 Feb. 1919, d. 9 Jan. 2000, m. John Cochran (son of George Cochran and Stella, relationship to Solomon Cochran unknown). I have left birth dates off those persons who still may be living.

If you can connect to this Cochran family, please contact Carleen at ccdm@email.msn.com. She has totally lost touch with the Cochran side of her family and is eager to meet long lost relatives and find her ancestors.

The other south side Cochran family is that of Jacob Franklin Cochran, b. 23 July 1817 in S.C., d. 20 Oct. 1879 in Carroll Co., m. Elizabeth J. Endsley, daughter of John Bluford Endsley. Jacob and Elizabeth are found in the 1850 census in Coweta County and on the 1855 tax list for Campbell County. They were in Carroll by 1870, and owned land near Temple in the northern portion of the county.

I don't mean to tease you with this one, but space does not permit my doing justice to this family. I have a lot of information to share with you and would rather wait until next week when I can devote more space and time to the lineage. I came across a whole page of information on this family in the Coweta Courier, the quarterly newsletter of the Coweta County Genealogical Society, and I want to include that in the column. (Told you those newsletters were great.) I will have more clues for you next week.

Jacob and Elizabeth Cochran's descendant is Chris Wren, who lives near Birmingham. If you know anything about this family, please contact him at rx4snoopy@hotmail.com. If you don't have a computer, you may also write to Carleen or Chris through me at the newspaper.

Looking for your Georgia ancestors? Got a genealogy tip? Got a local family history to share? Write to The Citizen, Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214; e-mail jkilgore@thecitizennews.com or jodiek444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!

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