Person:William Cochran (19)

Military Service

American Revolutionary War Veteran

Revolutionary War Pension Information

Information from “Virginia/West Virginia Genealogical Data from Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Records”, Vol. 1, compiled by Patrick G. Wardell, Lt. Col. U.S. Army Ret. :

Cochran, William - entered service in Virginia; Bounty Land Warrant issued 11/29/1783; died 8/26/1825 in Frederick County, Virginia; Last Will & Testament dated 8/20/1825 & probated 11/1/1825 in Frederick County, Virginia, listed wife Mary & children: Sarah, Mary, John, William, Edward, Thomas, Rebecca, Rachel & Eliza Jane; married Mary Bains 10/10/1816 in Licking County, Ohio; widow applied for Pension age 72 in Augusta County, Virginia, 1855, & Pension Application Rejected. F590.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Ancestry.com. Public Member Trees: (Note: not considered a reliable primary source).

   http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/18755486/person/707359535

2.   Graves, William T. Southern Campaign Revolutionary War Pension Statements & Rosters.

   Pension Application of William Cockran R2083 Mary Cockran VA
   Transcribed and annotated by C. Leon Harris. Revised 9 June 2015.
   
   State of Virginia } towit
   County of Augusta }
   On this 29th day of March, one thousand eight hundred and fifty, personally appeared before me the undersigned, a Justice of the Peace in and for the State and County aforesaid, and as such a Justice of the Court of Record for said County, Mrs Mary Cockran, aged seventy two years & now a resident of said County, who first being duly sworn according to law, doth on her oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the act of Congress, passed on the 3rd day of February 1853, granting pension to widows of Persons, who served during the Revolutionary war: that she is the widow of William Cockran who was a Sergeant during the war in the Continental line, and for the facts of service, the grade, length of it &c she refers to the [undeciphered word] herewith filed &c She further declares that she was married to the said William Cockran on the 10th day of October 1816 in Licking County Ohio: that her said husband died on the 26th day of August 1825; that she was not married to him prior to the 2nd of January, eighteen hundred, but at the time stated above. She further declares that she is now a widow.
   (Signed) Mary [her X mark] Cockran
   
   This is to Certify, That it appears from a List in this Office of such Officers and Soldiers of the Virginia Continental Line as settled their Accounts and received Certificates for the balance of their full pay, according to An Act of Assembly, passed the November Session 1781, directing the Auditors of Public Accounts to settle and adjust the pay and accounts of the said Officers and Soldiers from the 1st January 1777 to 31st December 1781, (See Hening’s Statutes at Large, Vol. 10, p. 462,) that a settlement was made on the 26th day of Novemb 1783 in the name of Wm Cockran as Serg’t. Inf and evidence of the indebtedness of the State to him for £76.12.0 delivered to Mr. Depriest but as the original settlements or copies thereof are not to be found in this Office, the term of service embraced therein cannot be stated Given under my hand, at the Auditor’s Office, Richmond, this 2nd day of February 1855
   G. W. Clutter/ Aud’r. P. Accts.
   [The William Cockran in this certificate may be the one whose pension application is number S38624]
   
   Winchester Virginia/ July 11th 56
   Hon Josiah Minot/ Dear Sir After a patient investigation of the Claims for the Revolutionary services of Wm Cockran and Edward Jenkins [pension application R5573] I have at length found out what was mor particularly the nature and extent of their service, which evidence or statement I have no doubt you have the means of testing by reference to the rolls on file at the Department.
   Captain [Daniel] Morgan as you are no doubt aware rased a company here which volunteered their services before Boston and was attached to the expedition against Quebec where after sufferings of no ordinary kind he found himself a prisoner in[?] 1776 [1 Jan 1776], in the summer of the same year he was exchanged & received a commission as Colonel in the Continental line in November 1776 and was ordered to Virginia to recruit his rifle regiment. Both of the men for whose services I have present claims were recruited at this time. Cockran in the company of Captain Evans Long and Jenkins with one of his neighbours Rich’d Murray [Richard Murray S38253] in the Company of Capt Thomas Berry.
   There being great difficulty in recruiting at that time & the great need of haste required Morgan to leave & march with the force he had already raised to join the Army at Morristown early in March 1777 – here his celebrated Rifle Regt was formed, of which he was Colonel, Richard Butler of Pennsylvania Lt Col and [Joseph] Morris of New jersey Major: that the company of Evans Long of Culpeper Virginia, of which Wm Cockran was a member was of this regt. & it is thought also that of Thos Berry of Frederick County – the Regt remained for some time under the immediate command of Washington and rendered effective aid to him in harrassing the enemy That at the urgent request of Genl [Horatio] Gates in the middle of Sept 1777 he joined Gates and participated in and greatly assisted in the [undeciphered word] of all thos brilliant successes which procured the surrender of Burgoyne – he was at the Battle of Behmus heights [sic: Bemis Heights, 7 Oct 1777], Stilwater [sic: Stillwater, same as Bemis Heights] and the surrender of Burgoyne [17 Oct 1777]. In November we find him again in the [undeciphered word] under the order of Washington, passing through all the horrors of the winter at Valley Forge in 1778. That they remained with this division of the army under Washington until the time of their 3 years service had expired – that Wm Cockran was out again but no trace can be found of his service.
   I hope therefore that reference may be made to the muster rolls of Longs & Berrys companies on file at the Department & if found to corroborate the statement above that certificates may issue for their services as aforesaid.
   I am sure they are entitled & trust they may be allowed accordingly
   [three undeciphered words] respectfully/ T A S Riely
   
   NOTE:
   On 1 April 1855 Henry Brown, 55, of Frederick County VA, stated that William Cockran first married the sister of his mother, and after her death he married Mary Barns living near Staunton.
   
   The file contains a copy of the last will and testament of William Cockran, as he signed on 20 Aug 1825, naming the following heirs: “beloved wife Mary,” children Sarah, Mary, Rebecca, Eliza Jane, John, William, Edward, and Henry, as well as any not yet born. He also directed that his plantation in Frederick County be rented out until “a majority of those concerned who are of age” agreed on its sale.
   Signature on William Cochran's will:
   
   
   
   The claim for a pension was refused for lack of proof of the marriage or of William Cockran’s service.
   
   http://www.revwarapps.org/r2083.pdf