WILLIAM Cochran

Sources: "A Line of the Cochran Clan in America: A Small Part of the Cochran Clan", "Virginia Migrations, Vol. 1, Hanover Co., page 36," and "Deed Book Spotsylvania County, VA, pgs. 257-263."

In 1726 William arrived in the New York harbor after stowing away on a ship which was built by one of his uncles. He was 16 years old at the time. He was turned over to the British Navy and impressed into service around NY and the eastern seaboard for a period of two years. When he left the Navy he went to stay with relatives (names unknown to me) in Londenderry, NH. He spent c. 1 year there, helping to build churches. He then went to Chester Co., PA where he met other relatives, cousins John, Andrew, David, and anther William who was a doctor. Together they decided to move to VA and homesteaded near Richmond. William married while in Virginia, but his wife's name is unknown to me.

When NC was opened to land buyers in the mid-1740's, William & his wife and 4 sons left VA and bought land near the courthouse in Mecklenburg County (in what is now the city of Charlotte). It is not known how long William stayed in Mecklenburg Co., NC.