LEVI G. COCHRAN
LEVI G. COCHRAN, late of Boggs Township, Armstrong County, was born there, in what was the Pine Township, on the farm of Dick Cochran, Sept. 1, 1827. A son of James L. and Ester (Gibson) Cochran he was a descendant of one of the most notable families of the early days of the nineteenth century in Pennsylvania. His grandfather, William, was born in eastern Pennsylvania, and was the son of Sir John Cochran. The family home was originally in the North of Ireland, and this branch of the Cochrans has been settled in Pennsylvania for about two centuries. Some of them spelled the name Cochrane.Shortly after the Revolutionary War William Cochran settled in what is now Armstrong County, where his son James L., father of Levi G. Cochran, was born in 1787. He settled on a farm, acquiring the ownership of a large tract, 800 acres, then all in its primitive condition, put up log buildings, and passed the remainder of his life there. When he first came there he lived among the Indians, and they often hunted together. Besides farming James L. Cochran engaged in the manufacture of iron, being the leading member of the company which projected Ore Hill Furnace, in 1845, and gave a fifty-acre tract of land upon which that furnace was erected. He built the original furnace and operated it on his own account for some time before selling to the company. He was one of the prominent men of his day in that and various other connections. In religion he was a strong Presbyterian, in politics a Democrat, and he filled a number of township offices. His wife, Esther Gibson, of near Kittanning, was a member of the family of that name so numerously represented in Armstrong and Indiana counties, and the following children were born to their union: William (born Dec. 10, 1813, died Feb. 6, 1876, married Mary S. Quigley), John G., Samuel, Lowry, James Sloan, Levi G., Jane and Washington.
Levi G. Cochran came into possession of eighty-four acres of his father's land all uncleared, which he improved, erecting all the buildings thereon and making many changes which greatly increased its value. He was an unassuming citizen, attending strictly to his private affairs and caring nothing for public offices or honors, was a democrat in politics, and in religion a member of the United Presbyterian Church. He died August 15, 1895.
Mr. Cochran's first marriage was to Elizabeth Whited, of Boggs Township, who died Jan. 16, 1860, the mother of four children: Mary Jane, born April 5, 1852; James M., born May 7, 1854; Robert H., born Nov. 27, 1857; and John W., born July 16, 1859. On Nov., 1863, he married Elsie M. Meanor, who was born May 20, 1838, in Boggs Township, Armstrong County, daughter of William and Rachel (Peart) Meanor, and they had five children: Harry M., born Jan. 15, 1865, died Dec. 8, 1865; Laura B., born April 10, 1866, married Gust. Leinweber; William M. was born Dec. 9, 1867; Rachel E., born Nov. 29, 1869, is at home; Samuel L., born Nov. 21, 1877, is now engaged in cultivating the homestead.
William Meanor, father of Mrs. Levi G. Cochran, was born in Cowanshannock Township, Armstrong County, son of William and Ellen (Hamilton) Meanor, whose children were: Harry , William, Jane, Molly, Nancy, John and Samuel.
William Meanor spent most of his life as a farmer in Indiana County, Pa. He married Rachel N. Peart, daughter of William Lee and Elsie (Mateer) Peart, whose children were born as follows: Rachel, March 10, 1818; one that died in infancy, July 26, 1819; Rosanna, June 18, 1821; Samuel, April 6, 1823; Susan, Sept. 24, 1825; William, Aug. 20, 1827; Eliza, Oct. 19, 1929; Margaret, Jan. 12, 183-; Elsie, Nov. 11, 1834; Nancy, April 6, 1837; Mary, Aug. 15, 1839; Esther, Sept. 28, 1841. William L. Peart, the father of this family, was a son of William Peart, who came from England and for a time lived in Philadelphia, Pa., eventually coming to Armstrong County, where he was one of the early settlers in what is now Rayburn Township; he obtained a large tract of land.
Mrs. Rachel N. (Peart) Meanor died June 25, 1905. She was the mother of thirteen children, viz.: Ellen H. (Mrs. Van Horn), born June 4, 1837; Elsie M. (Mrs. Cochran), born May 20, 1838; Jane Mary, born Oct. 7, 1839; one that died in infancy; Susan R., born April 2, 1842; Martha D., born May 5, 1844; William P., born May 17, 1846; Rosanna Q. (Mrs. Emerick), born June 28, 1848: Annis L. (Mrs. Morris), born June 26, 1850; John M., born April 20, 1853; Thomas J., born June 18, 1856; Wesley J., born May 23, 1858; and Samuel H., born March 10, 1862. Of this family Ellen, Elsie (Mrs. Cochran), Susan, William, Annis, and J.M. survive.
Source: Pages 369-370, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed March 2002 by Helen B. Miller for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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