Manuscripts Collection
Thomas Cochran, Jr., was born July 31, 1843, in Brooklyn, New York. He was the fourth of seven children of James Blair Cochran (1799-1858), who immigrated in 1819 from Kirkcudbright, Scotland, and Catherine Baylis (1816-1849).
In 1852 Cochran attended the City Academy of Brooklyn, then graduated from the Brooklyn Polytechnic School (1859). He then entered New York University and was awarded his degree June 15, 1863. During the Civil War, Cochran joined the Seventh Regiment of New York Volunteers, the so-called "Kid Glove" regiment comprised of young men from prominent New York City families. He never left New York as he suffered from tuberculosis. He then attended and graduated from Columbia Law School (fall 1863-May 17, 1865). Later that year he and his younger brother Samuel (1845-1869) sailed to San Francisco via Cape Horn, also visiting the Pacfic Northwest.
In autumn 1866 Cochran joined the New York law office of Man and Parsons, where he apprenticed with Elihu Root (future Secretary of State under President Theodore Roosevelt.) In November 1867 he married Emilie Belden Walsh (1844-1924), whose family had long since established itself in the hardware business in New York City. In 1869 the couple moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, to alleviate Thomas's poor health. He established himself in the real estate business with his college friend (and Emilie's brother) James R. Walsh and in the insurance business with Henry H. Sibley, Minnesota's first governor. The family joined the House of Hope Church, with Thomas serving as an elder and teacher. In 1870 he was elected a lifelong member of the Minnesota Historical Society, and in the 1880s and 1890s he served as a trustee of Macalester College (St. Paul, Minnesota).
Cochran was very active in the early international YMCA movement, joining in 1863 and attending its 1889 international convention in Philadelphia. He had a reputation as a strong and effective public speaker who, in July 1891, spoke out against a prizefight scheduled in St. Paul. He was so effective in organizing opposition that Governor Merriam was forced to cancel the event. Cochran was also instrumental in the progressive development of St. Paul's Summit Avenue and Midway district and actively supported the St. Paul City Railway in establishing the first electrified rail transportation system from Victoria Street to Cretin Avenue.
His businesses survived the economic panic of 1893-1898 and around 1899 he created the Northwestern Investment Company, Inc., specializing in "Mortgage Loans, Real Estate, Insurance." In 1906 his company was involved in a loan of $500,000 to George D. Dayton, founder of the Dayton Department Store chain.
Thomas and Emilie raised six children at 59 Western Avenue, St. Paul: Alexander Robertson (1869-1893); Thomas III (1871-1936); Emily (1872-1924), who remained unmarried throughout her life and who, against her family's wishes, converted to Catholicism with the support of Archbishop John Ireland; Williams (1876- ), who joined the Thirteenth Minnesota Regiment and fought under General Arthur MacArthur in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War, and who later married Theodora von Duhn (1898- ); Moncrieff Mitchell (1879-1931), who married Margaret Turner Davis (1881- ); and Louise (1881-1968), who married Arthur Harold Savage (1872-1933?).
Thomas Cochran III (1871-1936) was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, but was soon sent east for his education, attending Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, before entering Yale College and graduating in 1894. While at Yale he established himself as something of a football player, suffering several injuries and going on the lecture circuit during fall 1894 to speak about "Foot-ball at Yale" and "Athletics up to date, Season 1894-95." However, Thomas III soon became a successful businessman, helped eliminate his father's debts accumulated during the depression of 1893-1898, and founded the Ardsley Hall Company (an investment firm) in New York City around 1904. By 1913 he was vice president of the Astor Trust Company, and in 1914 he became president of the Liberty National Bank of New York. In 1917 he was made a partner in the investment banking firms of J. P. Morgan and Co. and Drexel and Co. While his business and investments profited immensely and he became a wealthy man, Thomas III was also a generous and life-long supporter of Phillips Academy and several charities, and gave generously to his mother and siblings.
Thomas III married Martha Andrews Griffin (1871-1914) in September 1910. They had one child, Emmy Lous, who died the day of her birth. Martha died in May 1914, and Thomas III remained a widower the rest of his life.
Biographical data on Thomas Cochran, Jr., was taken from James Wallace
(1849-1939),
Access to and use of reserve materials requires the curator's permission.
Accession number: 11,315; 11,488
Processed by: Jim Chattin, April 1994
Digitized by: Christopher G. Welter, February 2011
Digitization of reserve material was made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.
Catalog ID number: 001736546
The correspondence from the 1850s consists of a few letters describing Thomas Cochran, Jr.'s experiences at the City Academy of Brooklyn and a single letter to Emilie Belden Walsh from Emily M. Brown [an aunt?] describing what it means "To be a Christian . . . ."
The 1860s files contain various ephemera from the Eucleian Society at New York University (NYU), and various church and YMCA flyers. Twenty essays by Thomas Cochran, Jr., while a student at NYU (such as "Muscular Christianity," "The Liberty of the Soul," and "General McClellan") are present as well as compositions by Emilie Belden Walsh and a variety of family letters to both Thomas, Jr. and Emilie from relatives and friends.
In addition, in 1863 Thomas, Jr. and Emilie began a prolific correspondence
which continued unabated after their marriage in November 1867. Part of this
correspondence consists of a journal kept by Thomas, Jr. on his trip to
California and Oregon with his brother Samuel (November 12, 1865-May 6,
1866). The journal details their trip around Cape Horn on the clipper ship
Much of the correspondence in the late 1860s revolves around Thomas, Jr.'s decision to move west to St. Paul, Minnesota, for health reasons (he suffered from tuberculosis).
The correspondence of the 1870s is dominated by the many letters exchanged between Thomas and Emilie. These describe the couple's growing family (the six children were born between 1869 and 1881), and the strains on the marriage occasioned by Thomas, Jr.'s frequent travels related to business and the YMCA (see the June 11, 1870, letter from Thomas to Emilie consoling her after she reported that a man named "Kurtz" had made improper advances towards her). Most of the other folders in this decade contain letters from a variety of relatives.
The number of letters between Thomas and Emilie grow relatively sparse by the early 1880s, as the correspondence shifts to letters between them and their growing children. Many of the letters detail problems with servants, business interests, academic performance, concerns over health and Christian education, and a wealth of minutiae associated with a well-to-do and socially prominent family.
Alexander Cochran, the oldest of their children, was a sickly boy who was sent on at least two trips overseas before dying in Rome in 1893, just a few days shy of his twenty-fourth birthday. He kept a diary of his first excursion, an around-the-world trip on a steamer. The fragmentary record includes entries (March 3-May 18, 1892) as well as a local passport he was issued by the United States Legation in Tokyo on June 1, 1892.
Thomas Cochran III, the Cochran's second child, was the subject of much correspondence, especially with respect to his education at Phillips Academy (Andover, Massachusetts) and then at Yale. These included problems with his grades, bad language, football injuries, poor class attendance, and concerns over money. Of interest is a January 14, 1889, letter ("Confidential") from his father concerning the possible involvement of his son with a friend who had reportedly visited a bordello. In 1895 Thomas III penned several letters describing a trip to Europe, where he spent three weeks in England and two in France.
Emily Cochran, their third child, never married but became friends with the American writer Henry James. He penned two letters (September 8, 1906; October 22, 1908) to Emily, and his brother William, the psychologist and philosopher, also wrote her. Emily also became enamored of the Catholic church, to the chagrin of her family, but was supported in her decision to convert to Catholicism by Archbishop John Ireland in a June 21, 1917, letter.
Williams Cochran, the fourth child, joined Company C of the Thirteenth
Minnesota Regiment of Volunteers to fight in the Spanish-American War, and
kept a diary (June 27, 1898-February 1899). It describes the voyage from San
Francisco, via Honolulu, to the Philippines aboard the transport
Moncrieff Mitchell Cochran, the couple's fifth child, married Margaret Turner Davis on July 20, 1916 (though one letter suggests that they had wed as early as December 30, 1913), and their correspondence is fairly mundane.
Louise Cochran, the last child, was a voluminous letter writer. She corresponded constantly with her older brother, Thomas III, whom she idolized as "King," and over the years 1907-1908 she received many letters from an English admirer, James Ryley. During summer 1907 Louise kept a diary describing her day-to-day experiences during the family's vacation at their "Monedin" cabin retreat on Isle Royale. Finally, there are several letters containing correspondence between Louise Cochran and Arthur Harold Savage (1872- ), both before and after their marriage on May 10, 1910.
There are some miscellaneous papers, which include the 1889 proceedings of the 28th International Convention of the YMCA, attended by Thomas Cochran, Jr., and which also includes some letters from the 1870s relating to Thomas, Jr.'s activities on behalf of the YMCA.
The Thomas Cochran, Jr. family and the Arthur H. Savage family correspondence also contains a variety of interesting vignettes: a 5-page typescript description of an attempted two-day circumnavigation of Isle Royale by "T. C." in August 1904; many letters of condolence concerning the death of Thomas Cochran, Jr. on Christmas Day, 1906; several anecdotes describing Thomas III's generosity to his family (e.g., a Cadillac for his mother and an offer to buy a house for Louise); correspondence between Thomas III and his nephew Thomas Cochran Savage (1913-1988) complaining in part about the shabby way in which the young lad had been treating his mother (Louise Cochran Savage); numerous letters of condolence concerning the deaths of Emily Cochran and her mother, Emilie Belden Cochran (April 8 and May 22, 1924, respectively); and correspondence between members of the Cochran and Savage families and James Wallace, Thomas Cochran, Jr.'s biographer (circa 1925-1929.)
Both the Cochran and Walsh families used the same forenames (or close approximations) repeatedly through several generations. Those more commonly confused in this collection, their dates, and relationships are as follows: Thomas Cochran (1806-1889), brother of James Blair Cochran and Catherine Baylis (1816-1849); Thomas Cochran III (1871-1936), son of Thomas Cochran, Jr., and Emilie Belden (Walsh) Cochran; Emily M. (Brown) Walsh (1816-1881), mother of Emilie Belden Walsh (1844-1924); Emilie Belden Walsh (184-1924), daughter of Alexander Robertson Walsh and Emily M. (Brown) Walsh; Emily Cochran (1872-1924), daughter of Thomas Cochran, Jr., and Emilie Belden (Walsh) Cochran.
Much of this collection consists of personal letters among family members and is replete with a variety of nicknames. The known aliases are as follows:
Thomas Cochran III was commonly referred to as "King" by Louis Cochran; often used "Jr." himself since he disliked "III", and after his father's death, preferred Thomas Cochran without either the "III" or "Jr.;" Emily Cochran (1872-1924) was called "Waity;" Williams Cochran (1876- )was called "Billy;" and Louise Cochran (1881-1968) was "Tootie," "Toots," "Fish plate," and "Chump" and derivatives.
James R. Walsh was "Jim;" Margaret Walsh was "Madge," and "Maggie;" Minnie W. Moir, friend of Emilie Belden (Walsh) Conchran was called "Min;" Martha Andrews (Griffin) Cochran (1871-1914), wife of Thomas Cochran III, was "Mattie," and "D;" Arthur Harold Savage (1872- ), husband of Louise Cochran Savage, was "Nubbins," and "Swatty;" Theodora (von Duhn) Cochran (1898- ), wife of Williams Cochran, was called "Teddy;" Moncrieff Mitchell Cochran (1879-1931), husband of Margaret Turner (Davis) Cochran (1881- ), was "To-Be;" Margaret Turner (Davis) Cochran (1881- ), wife of Moncrieff Mitchell Cochran, was "Barg," and "Bargette;" and Elizabeth Robertson (Savage) Snell (1919-1972), daughter of Louise Cochran Savage and Authur Harold Savage, was called "Betty."
Correspondence from the 1830s consists primarily of business-related matters (establishing a store in Terre Haute, Indiana, profit margins, and business dealings in New Orleans), and complaints about the unfinished Cumberland Road, President Jackson, the Loco Foco party, and banks, particularly the Bank of the United States.
The business correspondence from December 1868 to February 1869 includes a suggestion from Thomas Cochran, Jr., that $25,000 might be profitably invested in Minnesota wheat.
Thomas Cochran, Jr. established the Northwestern Investment Company, Inc., around 1900. Six folders contain correspondence primarily between Thomas, Jr., in St. Paul, Minnesota, and his son, Thomas III, in New York City. There is mention of investing in some five million acres of Northern Pacific Railroad lands in Montana that were soon offered for sale; dealings with the Anchor Silver Plate Company (1904-1905); and a $500,000 loan to George D. Dayton (see a March 15, 1906, letter). An additional folder (1906-1912) contains correspondence concerning the estate of Thomas Williams (who died December 13, 1905) and Mary A. Williams (two of the three maps in folder 1 of the oversize items indicate their property holdings in the Twin Cities area).
The collection includes an unrelated hand-drawn colored political cartoon (1806) lampooning a certain New York family (identity unknown) that was found in a desk in Stamford, Connecticut.
The folder containing family genealogical and historical notes is valuable for determining family relationships and for some anecdotal information concerning Thomas Cochran, Jr.
Another folder contains undated personal correspondence from Emily Cochran's sister and several sisters-in-law. This is followed by four folders of undated personal and family correspondence.
There are nine folders of fragmentary letters and miscellaneous notes, which have been organized by author: J. L Roberts, James Blair Cochran (1799-1859), Emily (Brown) Walsh (1816-1881), Thomas Cochran, Jr., Emily Belden (Walsh) Cochran (1844-1924), Thomas Cochran III, Emily Cochran (1872-1924), and fragments from "various family members and friends." Of particular interest is an early 8-page description of Virginia (circa 1830s) by J. L. Roberts, who was probably a business associate of James Blair Cochran. In addition, James Blair Cochran collected numerous short poems, and biblical and mythological passages (circa 1830s and 1840s.) Some of these may also be found in Folder 2 of the oversize items.
Emily Cochran, in addition to some correspondence, drew some pencil sketches of objects and unidentified friends or family members in 1894 and 1895, which have been retained in this collection. There is also a folder containing three items of ephemera collected by the Arthur H. Savage family in 1923.
The 18 folders of photographs are organized by individual family members, unknown family and friends, and by place.
There is one folder containing dozens of visiting cards from family and friends and advertising (business) cards. Another folder contains a child's colored paper cut-out and several postcard pictures.
Finally, there are two folders of miscellaneous newspaper clippings and two folders of other miscellaneous papers. In particular, the researcher will find that the materials in the newspaper folders are a good source of biographical information.
Contains a brief description of New York City.
Personal entries describing a devoutly religious man's feelings of guilt over business matters and concerns regarding his advancing age.
Labeled in pencil: "Mr. Cooper Calthorpe" [spelling of last name unclear].
Digital version
Transcript, Digital version
Digital version
Transcript, Digital version
Digital version
Transcript, Digital version