Education
He attended public and private schools. Apprenticed to the printer"s trade. He studied law.
He attended public and private schools. Apprenticed to the printer"s trade. He studied law.
Born in Kirksville, Missouri, Cochran moved to Atchison, Kansas, in 1860. He was editor and publisher of the Atchison Patriot in 1868 and 1869. He was admitted to the bar in 1873 and practiced until 1885.
He served as prosecuting attorney of Atchison County, Kansas from 1880 to 1884.
He returned to Missouri in 1885 and settled in Saint Joseph. He engaged in the newspaper business and edited the Saint Joseph Gazette in Saint Joseph, Missouri.
He served in the State senate in 1890–1894. Cochran was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-fifth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1905).
He was a contestant for renomination in 1904 but finally withdrew as a candidate.
Founded the Observer, a weekly newspaper, of which he served as editor until his death in Saint Joseph, Missouri, on December 19, 1906. He was interred in Mount Mora Cemetery, Saint Joseph, Missouri.