By William J. Tasker
Special to the Aroostook Republican
Editor’s note: The following is the second and final part of the Alexander Cochran story.
When did Cochran build his mill?
I have seen 1827, 1828 and 1829 all listed as the years Cochran built his mill. That very knowledgeable descendant is adamant about 1829 and that would be convenient for our celebration as it would have been 185 years ago. But I really think the date was 1828.
Floyd Smith compiled some records at Houlton and found that Alexander Cochran recorded a house deed on November 8, 1828 and recorded his mill and dam (two buildings) on March 13, 1828. That seems to settle things.
Where was the mill and what became of the millstones?
Olof Nylander did an extensive research on Cochran’s millstones. The story goes that Cochran created his millstones from two large rocks he found on or near the stream. These handmade millstones would have been quite crude and the joke was that Cochran’s mill squeezed the grist out instead of grinding it.
I have already stated that Cochran’s last wife took the stones and part of her family to build a new mill in New Brunswick and Nylander follows that story to try to find the stones. He eventually tracked them down to where they were covered up by much material by a flood that destroyed the mill where the stones wound up. Nylander did not try to uncover the stones and was satisfied that he found the final resting place.
But what Olof Nylander did not realize at the time was that he was chasing Alexander Cochran’s second set of millstones. Bailey Mitchell states that James Pike rebuilt Cochran’s mill in 1851. If Cochran had gone through all the trouble to rebuild his mill to have it more competitive to the Collins and Vaughan gristmill, he would not have used his original stones. He would have ordered new ones. Mitchell goes on to state that he knew where one of the old stones was still half buried in the Caribou Stream. Mitchell wrote his history at the turn of the 20th Century, long after Mrs. Cochran had removed from the area. So Cochran’s old stones have to still be in the Caribou Stream. We have to go look for them!
Many, including Stella King White, assumed that Cochran’s mill was near the same site as the Crockett Woolen Mill, which was also the site of a starch mill in the 1870s. But other histories indicate that Cochran’s house was on the site of where the Woolen Mill was (since demolished). So where was the mill?
My theory is this: Many old accounts say the mill was built near the mouth of the stream and another says at the first waterfall. Paul Theriault shared a picture with me of the first steel bridge over the Aroostook River and written on the picture was a note saying the bridge was started at Cochran Pool. Was the pool the original mill pond? If that is the case, the mill was quite a ways down the stream from his house.
Secondly, often a bridge location comes about because it started life as the mill dam. In other words, people got used to crossing from one road to another by walking over the top of the mill dam. That later becomes the location of a bridge like the one that goes from Water Street to Lyndon Street and comes out by Sleepers. Was this the original site of the mill dam?
Another possibility that makes even more sense based on Theriault’s picture would be directly behind where S.W. Cole’s building is and down the hill to the stream. The stream has a bend there and that would have been a natural spot to locate a mill because of the flow of water available and its force. Some archeological digging around will have to happen before we really know.
That location would also make more sense as to why Cochran built a barn way down where the former B&A Railroad Station was. That barn was quite a distance from where Crockett’s mill was but not as far in relation to the latter two proposed sites.
Alec Cochran and the Bubar Stone
Milton Teague Lufkin wrote a story in his, “Henry, Man of Aroostook,” book about how Alec Cochran died trying to lift the Bubar Stone, apparently a male rite of passage at the time. I won’t recount the entire story here and all its gruesome details, but there are several points to consider. This was after the Civil War and before Mrs. Cochran left for New Brunswick (and after her husband died). This son of Mrs. Cochran was said to be the youngest of her sons and that he had just gotten married.
There are several problems with this account. First, none of Olive “Jane” Parks Cochran’s children were named Alexander. Alexander Jr. lived until 1908. The aforementioned descendant said it was a different Alexander. But then the story is still wrong in its details because it wasn’t Mrs. Cochran’s son.
So was the entire story apocryphal or did Lufkin just get the name wrong?
The children of Alexander Cochran
With Jane Wark:
• John Cochran: Born March 31, 1820, died 1879. Married Sarah Banks and farmed on the River Road.
• Alexander Jr.: Born August 28, 1821, died September 18, 1905. Married Olive Bubar. Farmed in the Eaton Grant and then late in Woodland.
• Jane: Born 1823, died before 1857. Married Hiram Rockwell. Died young leaving five children.
• David: Born 1826, died after the 1870 census. Married Matilda Irvine. Moved to Minnesota by 1850.
• Mark: Born 1828, died February 28, 1885. Married Margaret McDougall. Lived on the River Road near the intersection with the Fort Road. Was a famous woods boss for S.W. Collins. Once shot a panther and gave the pelt to Collins.
With Olive Virginia “Jane” Parks Gardner:
• Lucy Ann Gardner (adopted): Born 1830(?) Married Daniel Sughrue.
• Virginia Ann Eliza: Born 1833, died 1868. Married Evard Drake. Six children.
• William: Born May 1836, died October 3, 1900. Moved to Union, Wisconsin.
• James: Born 1837. Married Susan Theriault.
• George: Born 1838, died 1876. Married Louisa McDougall. Went with his mother to Arthurette, New Brunswick.
• Martha: Born 1839.
• Rachel: Born 1841, died 1885. Married Gabrielle Beaulieu (Bully).
• Matilda: 1845 (twin).
• Thomas: born 1845 (twin). Went with his mother to Arthurette, New Brunswick.
• Henry: Born 1847, died 1934(?). Farmed for many years on the River Road in the house across from the River Bend Mobile Home Park. The farm was later purchased by Paul Theriault’s father. The farm may have originated from Alexander or John Cochran. John was listed near there on the 1877 Roe & Colby atlas.
• Herman: Born 1869, Died young. Named for Alexander’s brother?
• Evangeline Nancy: Born 1852. Married William Faulkner. No, not the writer. Lived in New Brunswick.
• Lavina Rose: Born 1855: Married John Faulker, the son of William. Was her sister also her step-mother-in-law!? Lived in New Brunswick. Her mother spent her later years in this household.
Cochran land
When the boundary dispute was settled in 1842, Alexander Cochran was granted Lots 3, 4 and 9 in downtown Caribou. Basically, everything from the Caribou Stream on the east side of Main Street all the way up to where the stand pipe is on North Main and all the way down to the Aroostook River. The City Hall, Library, High Street, Park Street and much more are on original Alexander Cochran land. Over the years, Cochran would sell bits and pieces of his land and there wasn’t much of it left by the time he died. His wife disposed of the rest of it when Alexander died.
On the Roe & Colby Atlas of Aroostook County (1877), John Cochran is listed on Lot 1 of what was the Easton Grant on the River Road up at the bend. He would die a couple of years after the map was published. Land in that area was farmed by Cochrans until the 1950s. Mark is also listed on the River Road, but closer to where the railroad station was at the opening of the road with the Fort Road.
Alex Cochran (Jr. most likely) had a lot on the Madawaska Road (Lot 101), but did not live there. Perhaps this was the lot previously inhabited by Daniel Sughrue and his wife, Lucy Ann Gardner.
James Cochran (perhaps not the son of Alexander I) had a lot in Woodland on the Beckstrom Road. It was half of Lot 22. Cochrans have lived on that road forever.
Some personal information
Alexander Cochran was said to be a big, strapping man with red hair and complexion. He was always ready to help a neighbor. He was a breeder of chickens and an expert at making tools. His last wife, Jane, was said to be a wonderful woman who often cooked for the early settlers while they waited for their grain to be ground. She was also said to have red hair and that when let down, fell to her feet!
Mark Cochran was a legend in the woods and was always S.W. Collins’ number one woods boss. He was a great leader, a tireless worker, a skilled marksman and wielded a powerful axe.
Paul gives me something tangible
Paul Theriault was kind enough to show me the Cochran Cemetery located on the far end of the family lot on the River Road. I never knew this cemetery existed despite all my research over the years. I had been chasing the shade of Alexander Cochran for so long that I never felt like I had a hold of him until Paul showed me that cemetery. One of the stones, clearly marked was set for Mark Cochran, Alexander’s son and the famous woodsman and possible caribou shooter. I reached down and touched the stone. It was the first solid piece of the old miller I had ever been able to touch.
This article is not the be all and end all. I fully expect arguments and counter claims. That is the nature of chasing a family that started without the ability to write and no one kept a diary. Sorting out the legends and trying to find common threads of truth in them is on some points the best that can be done. I am not finished researching old Sandy Cochran. When I feel I am as close as I can get to the man, I will write a book about him. But until then, since we are celebrating the area’s first miller this month, I hope you have a better idea who he was and why he is important.
Thank you to Paul and Joan Theriault, Patty Paradis, The Caribou Historical Society and the Aroostook Genealogical Society for their help with this article.
