University of North Dakota - Dacotah Yearbook (Grand Forks, ND)

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JOHN M. COCHRANE 1111 illieninriam

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zissmnccl hcr present work in thc full of I902. JAMES NVALLACIZ WILKERSON. ,-xssls'1uxN'r 1uco1s'1'lmx:. Mr. NVilkcrson is il graclnntc of thc Commercial Dcpartincnf of the Slanhcrry Normal School. llc came to thc University as lnstruclor in thc School of Commerce. ln 1903 hc was niznlv Assistant Registrar. lfDl'l'l'l M. BOSARD. SliC'RIE'l'.XRY 'ro 'rim rmcs1mcN'1'. Miss Bosurcl rcccivccl hor curly cclncntion in thc schools of Pcmisylvzinizlz shc is 11 grzulnzitc of Grand Forks lligh School, and altcnclccl thc University of North Dakota for one yuar. Shc 32

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Judge john M. Cochrane UDGTC JOHN M. COCHRANE at the time of his death, July 20th, 1904, although comparatively a young man, was the most commanding figure in the state. He was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, in 1849, and was the son of James and Caroline McDowell Cochrane. His mother was a native of Pennsylvania, and his father was born in ireland. llc was educated in the public schools of Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota, and graduated from the law school of the University of Michigan in 1881. The same year he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law at Le Sueur, Minnesota. In 1883 he came to Grand Forks, where he continuously resided until the day of his death. I-'le was elected county judge of Grand Forks County in 1884, and after serving three years he resigned and accepted an appointment as state's attorney to fill a vacancy. He was elected to succeed himself and at the end of the second term retired from offtce to devote his entire attention to the practice of his profession. He was for a time one of the trustees of the State University and also acted as trustee of the State Normal School. In 1893 he was appointed Supreme Court Reporter and Filled this office continuously until his election to the supreme bench in IQO2. fli ' 1 d lar e ecuniary sacrifice but the popular His acceptance of the judicial o ce mvo ve a . g p . .. , demand tl1at he accept the office was so strong and so universal that he consented to become a candidate and was nominated 'by both parties without opposition and was elected at the general election in November, 1902, without a single dissenting vote. Earlv in his career at the bar he became a conspicuous figure, and for a number of years before his accepting a seat on the supreme bench he was generally conceded to stand at the l z l f tl 1 :t.tf bar. He was a man of great eloquence and as an advocate had no equal ieir o ic s '1 c within the state. At the same time he was recognized as a man of great strength in legal skill and knowledge, and he constantly supplemented the gifts of nature by assiduous study investigation and toil. His presence was magnetic. This was owing to the exceptional Y B warmth and generosity of his heart and the breadth of his human sympathies. The University owes him a deep debt of gratitude for many services rendered by him in L S l l its behalf and especially for the great, interest he took in the North Dakota aw cioo, and the highly valuable work he did for it in many directions. lhe state has recently recognized what it owes him in this respect by purchasing from his widow his magnificent law library of several thousand volumes. He was not generous merely as other men are generous, he was lavish in his generosity. His nature was, indeed, so rich in great and high qualities that he was the most universally beloved man in the state at the time he was so suddenly called away. Although he had rs on the bench at the time of his death, he had already shown that he could unite in himself those two dissimilar elements of strength-power and eloquence served less than two yea as an advocate, and also learning and legal discrimination as a judge. 35