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W. C. Cochran Photographs of the Great Smoky Mountains

 Collection
Identifier: MS-0552

  • Staff Only

W. C. Cochran took these 89 photographs during August and September of 1886. The majority of the images depict areas that were later incorporated into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park including Chilhowee Range, Nebo Mountain, and Miller's Cove.

Dates

  • 1886 August 12-September 1

Conditions Governing Access

Collections are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. See www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Conditions Governing Use

The UT Libraries claims only physical ownership of most material in the collections. Persons wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants on www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet (11 folders in 1 half box)

Abstract

W. C. Cochran took these 89 photographs during August and September of 1886. The majority of the images depict areas that were later incorporated into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park including Chilhowee Range, Nebo Mountain, and Miller's Cove.

Biographical/Historical Note

William Cox Cochran was born to William and Helen (Finney) Cochran in Oberlin, Ohio on March 29, 1848. His father died before he was born and his mother remarried Jacob Dolson Cox when he was a small child. Cochran was raised as part of the Cox family along with his five half siblings: Helen Finney (Cox) Black (1850-1936), Jacob Dolson (1852-1930), Kenyon (1856-1919), Charles Norton (1858-1907), and Charlotte Hope (Cox) Pope (1871-1937). After attending the public schools in Warren, Ohio, Cochran worked as a clerk in Warren (1863-1864) and in Quincy, Illinois (1864-1865). He used his savings to enter Oberlin College in the fall of 1865 and graduated with his A.B. in 1869. After graduation, Cochran joined his family in Washington, D.C. and worked as a Trust Fund Clerk in the Department of the Interior. He left his post after his stepfather resigned as Secretary of the Interior and traveled Europe with Oberlin President James Harris Fairchild until 1871.

Upon returning to the U.S., Cochran studied law and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1872. For most of his professional career, he practiced corporate and patent law. Cochran married Rosa Dale Allen (1851-1926) in 1878 and the couple had five children: Mary Rudd (1881-1982), William Samuel (1883-1964), Helen Finney (1885-1923), Allen Deane (1888-1971), and Frances Ermina (Cochran) MacDaniels (1891-1986). Cochran retired from law in 1914 but agreed to serve as a Clerk in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later that year. He left this post in 1919 in order to devote his full energies to his historical writing projects, including an extensive biography of his stepfather. W. C. Cochran died on September 19, 1936 in Cincinnati, Ohio and is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery.

Arrangement

This collection consists of eleven folders in a single box.

Acquisition Note

Mary Rudd Cochran donated these images to Special Collections in 1959.

Separated Materials

Images depicting the University of Tennessee have been removed to AR.0018: University of Tennessee Photograph and Slide Collection, circa 1820s-circa 1990s.

Repository Details

Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository

Contact:
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville TN 37996 USA
865-974-4480