This cemetery began in 1853 with the burials of Sarah Jane and
William M. Cochran, the infant daughter and husband of Nancy Jane
Hughes Cochran. William died only 2 weeks after Sarah who was only
1 week old when she died. Among the many Dallas County pioneers
buried here are four of Nancy Jane's sisters and their husbands who
came from Tennessee in the 1840s and 1850s: Thomas C. and Sarah
Williams, Obadiah and Serena Knight, George and Amanda Record, and
John B. and Margaret Bachman.
Cochran Chapel is located on the first Dallas County site deeded
(1856) for a Methodist church. First edifice (30' x 40') was built
by church men, of lumber hauled by wagons from Jefferson (150 mi.
E), and dedicated in 1858. The Sunday School dates from 1879. Later
buildings were erected in 1885, 1924 and (Annex) 1955.
Check out the W. P. Cochran Homeplace located behind the Chapel.
Once surrounded by cultivated fields, this residence was built for
William P. Cochran (1841 - 1906), whose father bought the land in
1851 and whose mother Nancy Jane Cochran donated a portion of it
for Cochran Chapel Methodist Church in 1856. This frame Victorian
house, erected in 1895, was occupied by Cochran, his wife Amanda
(1846 - 1930), and their large family. In 1964 their granddaughter
Anne A. Cochran sold the structure to the adjacent church.
Travasorus and saintmain
were co-FTF and earn Zeke's Seal of Approval!
