Cecelia J Cochran

Nurse volunteer, U.S. Public Health Service.

Died of influenza and pneumonia in a military camp hospital, Huntsville, Alabama, October 15, 1918. Age 24.

Town:  LeRoy (also Livingston County; see text)

Burial: St. Francis Cemetery, Section D, Lot 10 south half, LeRoy, Genesee County, New York

 

Both countywide honor rolls on which Cecelia Cochran appears list her as from Batavia. At the time of her death, Cecelia Cochran’s father, Elliott P Cochran, was indeed living in Batavia with his second wife, Anna nee Palmer Cochran. But Cecelia Josephine Cochran was born in LeRoy (Genesee County), New York, on January 12, 1894, and grew up there with her family (see the October 15, 1918 Batavia Daily News and the October 16, 1918 LeRoy Gazette-News). The 1900 US and 1905 NY censuses show Cecelia living in LeRoy, at ages 6 and 11 respectively, with her father, her mother Augusta, and two younger brothers, Cyril and Edward.

Cecelia’s mother, Augusta nee McCauley Cochran, died in 1907 and was buried in LeRoy’s Saint Francis Cemetery (see the October 2, 1907 LeRoy Gazette-News). According to the October 16, 1918 LeRoy Gazette-News, Cecelia resided in LeRoy “until about seven years ago when she went to Conesus” (Livingston County, New York). The May 18, 1910 LeRoy Gazette-News announcement of her father’s remarriage refers to him as “formerly of LeRoy” and says that he had purchased a home at Conesus “a few weeks ago.” At the time Cecelia moved from LeRoy, then, she would’ve been about 16 years old. It is accurate to say that LeRoy was her home town.

Cecelia Cochran graduated from Wayland High School in 1912 and entered nursing school in Rochester, New York. The 1915 NY State Census shows her at age 21 as a nurse in training at Rochester’s St. Mary’s Hospital. In that census, “LeRoy, NY” is given in column 12 as her residence at the time she was admitted to the school/hospital.

Cecelia Cochran completed her training in 1915 and worked as a nurse in Rochester, then later as a school nurse in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1918, she volunteered for the United States Public Health Service, and in September was assigned to a military camp hospital in Huntsville, Alabama. She died of influenza and pneumonia only a short time later, on October 15. (The date of death on her death certificate appears to say “11/15,” but this is either a hurried scribbling of “10/15” or an outright error; on the next line, the physician marks the last day he attended her as “10/15.”)

Interestingly, starting with the 1915 NY Census and continuing through all subsequent official documents cited here, including her Public Health Service records and her State of Alabama death certificate, Cecelia’s given name is listed as “Cecil J.” Conceivably this could be merely a consistent misspelling, but her tombstone also clearly reads, “Cecil J Cochran.” It seems more likely that as an adult Cecelia went by the name “Cecil” (perhaps pronounced suh-SEEL rather than the usual SEE-suhl).

“Miss Cochran,” says the October 15, 1918 Batavia Daily News, “who was a particularly happy and exceptionally bright young woman, had awaited with eagerness after putting in her application, a call to give her services to her country. . . . She was much absorbed in her work, according to letters received by her relatives in Batavia after she had reached the camp.”

The October 26, 1918 Batavia Times article reporting her funeral says only that Cecelia Cochran’s burial “took place in the Catholic cemetery in LeRoy,” but the October 23, 1918 LeRoy Gazette-News indicated St. Francis cemetery specifically, and indeed that is where she is buried, next to her mother. Note, however, that the online tombstone transcription cited misattributes her service as WWII, and misidentifies Augusta as “wife of Cecil J.” The transcription also says that the grave is in “Section 3”; however, sections in Saint Francis Cemetery are lettered; Cecelia’s grave is in Section D.

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October 2, 1907 LeRoy Gazette-News p1 c1

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May 18, 1910 LeRoy Gazette-News p1 c4

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October 16, 1918 LeRoy Gazette-News p4 c4

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October 23, 1918 LeRoy Gazette-News p3 c3

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Source: Certificate of Death on file in the Center of Health Statistics, Alabama Department of Public Health, Montgomery, Alabama.

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Cecil (Cecelia) J Cochran and M Augusta Cochran headstones, Saint Francis Cemetery, LeRoy, Genesee County, New York

GPS Coordinates: Lat 42° 58’ 4.2” N, Long 77° 59’ 9.46” W (DD: 42.967833, -77.985961)

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Cecelia J Cochran Sources:

– County Lists 1, 4; also BHR

– Oct 2, 1907 LG p1 c1

– May 18, 1910 LG p1 c4

– Oct 15, 1918 BD p2 c3*

– Oct 16, 1918 LG p4 c4

– Oct 16, 1918 RDC p14 c2

– Oct 23, 1918 LG p3 c3

– Oct 26, 1918 BT p2 c1

– “United States Census, 1900.” Online index and images, HeritageQuest.com. Entries for Eliott P Cochran (head) and Cecelia Cochran (daughter, age 6), citing Census Records, LeRoy, Genesee, New York; sheet number 23B, line numbers 73 and 75, microfilm series T623, Roll 1038, page 273.

– “New York State Census, 1905.” Online index and images, FamilySearch.org. Entry for Cedilla Cockran [Cecelia Cochran misspelled] (age 11), citing Census Records, LeRoy, E.D. 01, Genesee, New York; page number 496/2, line number  5.

– “New York State Census, 1915.” Online index and images, Ancestry.com. Entry for Cecil J. Cochran, age 21, citing Census Records, Rochester (Ward 19), A.D. 05, E.D. 07, Monroe, New York; page number 20, line 16.

Farm Journal Illustrated Directory of Genesee County (1917), p32

– “Cochran, Cecil,” Civilian Personnel File (OPF), Treasury Dept., Records of the U.S. Public Health Service, Archival; National Archives – St. Louis, Missouri.

– “Cochran, Cecil,” Certificate of Death 101-18-23867, Huntsville, Madison County, State of Alabama Bureau of Vital Statistics, State Board of Health.

– St. Francis Cemetery (LeRoy, New York) listings (online), http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nycleroy/Cemeteries/StFrancisA-C.htm (see text)

– Email correspondence February 17, 2012 with Catherine Stone, LeRoy, New York, re St. Francis Cemetery Cochran burial location and listings

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