Cochran

Charles ("Charley") Cochran Diary
1849 - Charles Cochran Gold Rush Diary
Autograph diary of Charles Cochran who went to the gold fields of California, 1849 Feb. 3-Aug. 29
Call #: mssHM 58071, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California 

The diary contains argonaut Charles Cochran's descriptions of an ocean journey on the barque "Strafford," which left New York on February 3, 1949, bound for the gold fields of California via the Cape Horn route. 

Cochran relates adventures on board the ship as well as sightings of other vessels and describes visits to St. Catherine Island (Brazil) and the island of Mas-a-tierra. 

The diary ends with Cochran's description of San Francisco Bay on August 29, 1849. Cochran died of cholera on December 18, 1849. 

His body was transported back to New York where he was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn on August 27, 1850.

1850 - Robert Cochran Diary

Robert Cochran Diary, Control number: NYHV89-A138, Westchester County Historical Society. Library, Elmsford, NY
Location and Holdings: u1556577, 01/29/95

Entries in this diary concern his reasons for keeping a diary; recounting earlier events in his life such as his school years, friendships made at Yale University;
his law school study and reading of law, and the courtship of Eliza Jane Vanderbilt whom he married in 1853. 
He also discusses his social life and other ordinary activities, including a religious camp meting in White Plains, the death of his father and brother Charles, 
who both died in 1849, the year prior to his diary entries. His brother Charles died while gold mining in California.

Brooklyn-born Cochran was a prominent attorney, county judge, and district attorney in Westchester. 
In 1871, Cochran bought a large parcel of land in modern-day Gibson, Valley Stream. Cochran Avenue, named that year, bears his name. 
He died of tuberculosis in 1880. His second wife, Jennette Clark lived on the west side of Mill Road close to modern-day Sunrise Highway. 
She died in Rockville Centre.