Conditions Governing Use

Manuscript collections in the VMI Archives are made available for educational and research use. The VMI Archives should be cited as the source. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright holders. Materials from our collections may not be redistributed, published or reproduced without permission from the VMI Archives. Contact the VMI Archives for additional information.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions

Preferred Citation

John L. Cochran papers, 1879-1885. MS 0025. VMI Archives, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia.

Biographical / Historical

John Lynn Cochran was born on November 9, 1863 at "Folly Farm" in Augusta County, Virginia to James C. Cochran and Elizabeth Brooke. He attended VMI during from 1879 to 1881, and subsequently attended Swarthmore College (Pennsylvania), from which he graduated in 1883. In the fall of 1883 he enrolled at the University of Virginia, where he became ill with typhoid fever. Cochran never regained his health and he died at "Folly Farm" on January 22, 1887.

Scope and Contents

The John L. Cochran papers consist of: One report card (1879) from the secondary school Cochran attended before entering VMI One letter (dated September 4, 1880) from Cochran to his mother One diary with sketches (1881) that contains short and sporadic entries made while at VMI Four volumes of class notes (1882-1885) taken while Cochran was a student at Swarthmore College (Pennsylvania) and the University of Virginia, with some examples of poetry and sketches interspersed

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Diaries
• Notebooks
• Poetry
• Swarthmore College—Students
• University of Virginia—Students
• Virginia Military Institute—Academics—History—19th century
• Virginia Military Institute—Cadet compositions—Poetry
• Virginia Military Institute—Cadet drawings
• Virginia Military Institute—Cadet life—1880-1889
• Virginia Military Institute—Class of 1883