The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: NY
Qualifying Service: Surgeon General
Initially when John Cochran died in 1807 from a stroke he was buried on his Palatine estate in New York along with his spouse 6 years later
When his son James moved to Utica, New York in 1817, he disinterred the remains of his father and mother and reburied them in the Potter Cemetery, just west of Bagg’s Square
When Potter Cemetery was abandoned in 1875,both John Cochran and his spouse, Gertrude's remains were disinterred and reburied together a third time at Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica, New York
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Author: Gary Parriott
Dr. John Cochran was born in Sadsbury Pennsylvania in 1730, the son of Irish immigrants (his father was born North of Ireland). His early education was obtained at a local private school. He then studied medicine with Dr. Thompson of Lancaster Pennsylvania. During the French and Indian War he served as physician under Lieutenant Colonel John Bradstreet during his march on Fort Frontenac in 1758 . He was one of the founders of New Jersey Medical Society and served as its president in 1769. He married Gertrude Schuyler, the only sister of General Philip Schuyler and they had two children, James Cochran (1769 - 1848) and Walter Livingston Cochran (1771 - 1857).
At the opening of the Revolution, Dr. Cochran was living in Albany and he was recommended by Washington and appointed by Congress in 1777, as Physician and Surgeon General of the Middle Department. This position he filled with honor till 1781 when he was promoted to Director General of the Hospitals of the United States. He held this position from January 17, 1781 to 1783. Dr Cochran's service included the Winter of 1777-1778 Encampment at Valley Forge under the Command of General George Washington. . At the close of the war, Washington appointed him commissioner of loans for the State of New York, and he again resided in Albany, held the office until disabled by a paralytic stroke. He then resigned and moved with his family to Palatine, where he died April 6th, 1807, aged 77 years. His wife Gertrude died seven years later in 1813.
Dr. Cochran left two sons James and Walter Livingston. Both were graduates of Columbia College, and both were admitted to the bar. James the elder, attained considerable prominence in his profession, and he was elected a member of Congress in the year 1797 and 1799. Both James and Walter had commissions in John Adams' standing army. James was a Major and Walter held the rank of Captain. When Jefferson came into power in 1800, all Adams' work was overturned, and the Cochrans retired to private life.
Dr Cochran was an original member of the Society of Cincinnati having been on the committee that prepared the Society a set of by-laws, which were submitted and adopted on the 9th of February, 1784.
(Cochran's descendants added a final e to the family name some time after Dr Cochran's death)
His grandson was General John Cochrane a Civil War Union Army General. . The John Cochran Veterans Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri is named in his honor.
Author: COL Ernest Loran Sutton MC
Patriot John Cochran (P-135468)
1730--1807
Surgeon General Middle Department Continental Army
John Cochran (September 1, 1730 – April 6, 1807) was the 4th Surgeon General of the United States Army during the American Revolution. He was president of the Medical Society of New Jersey from 1769 to 1770, was reelected in 1770 and served until 1771.
Cochran was born in Sadsbury, Pennsylvania on September 1, 1730, the son of Irish immigrants. He served as physician under Lieutenant-Colonel John Bradstreet during his march on Fort Frontenac in 1758. He was president of the Medical Society of New Jersey from 1769 to 1770 and was re-elected in 1770 and served until 1771. On April 10, 1777, Cochran was made Physician & Surgeon General of the Middle Department of the Medical Department of the Continental Army. Subsequently, he became Physician and Surgeon General of the Continental Army and Director General of the Hospitals of the United States (January 17, 1781 to 1783). Because of the infighting and other troubles of his three predecessors as Surgeon General, he is considered by some military medical historians as the "best of the Revolutionary period chief physicians.”
Cochran was married to Gertrude “Geertruy” Schuyler (1724–1813), a widow who was the eldest daughter of Cornelia Schuyler and Johannes Schuyler, Jr., the mayor of Albany from 1740 to 1741. Gertrude was the sister of Gen. Philip Schuyler and the widow Pieter P. Schuyler (1723–1753), her cousin and the grandson of Pieter Schuyler, with whom she had two children (Cornelia, the wife of Walter Livingston and Pieter Jr., the wife of Gertrude Lansing).
Together, Gertrude and John had two children. James Cochran (1769-1848) married Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler (1781-1857), his first cousin and a daughter Gen Philip Schuyler.
He died on April 6, 1807 in Palatine, New York and was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica, Oneida County, New York.
Cochran's descendants added a final e to the family name. His grandson was Congressman, general, and New York State Attorney General during the War Between the States.
Send a biographical sketch of your patriot!
Patriot biographies must be the original work of the author, and work submitted must not belong to another person or group, in observance with copyright law. Patriot biographies are to be written in complete sentences, follow the established rules of grammar, syntax and punctuation, be free of typographical errors, and follow a narrative format. The narrative should unfold in a logical manner (e.g. the narrative does not jump from time period to time period) or have repeated digressions, or tell the history of the patriot's line from the patriot ancestor to the author. The thinking here is that this is a patriot biography, not a lineage report or a kinship determination project or other report published in a genealogy journal. The biography should discuss the qualifying service (military, patriotic, civil) of the patriot ancestor, where the service was rendered, whether this was a specific state or Continental service, as well as significant events (as determined by the author) of the patriot's life. This is the entire purpose of a patriot's biography.
Additional guidelines around the Biography writeup can be found here:
Send your submission1, in a Microsoft Word compatible format, to patriotbios@sar.org for inclusion in this space 1Upon submission of a patriot biography, the patriot biography becomes the property of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and may be edited to conform to the patriot biography submission standards.
Additional Information:
Appointed by Congress in 1777, as Physician and Surgeon General of the Middle Department.
In 1781 Director General of the Hospitals of the United States. He held this position from January 17, 1781 to 1783.
Dr Cochran's service included the 1777-78 Winter Encampment at Valley Forge under the Command of General George Washington