The Cochrun?s {A Brief History} Compiled by Terry Cochrun Our earliest known Cochrun ancestor is the Rev. Simon Wesley Cochrun, born in 1755 in Virginia. Many of his descendants have been searching for information related to his ancestors and siblings, but thus far those searches have yet to produce any verifiable facts. It is very possible that his parents were John and Margaret (Sample) Cochran who immigrated to Pennsylvania from Ireland, sometime before about 1740. Their known children included James M. (born about 1743), Hugh (1745-1829), Mollie, and John Cochran. Another possible hint is found in ? American Ancestry?, Vol. VI, page 80, where there is a reference to a Thomas Cochran, born at Coleraine, Ireland. He had come to America with his brother John, ?from Ireland where they had settled to escape from Scotland in the time of King James; they were lineal Descendants of the Earl Dundonald {Thomas Cochran}.? This account is very similar to the oral family tradition passed down. This tradition has it that our original Cochrun immigrant came to this country with his brothers to flee religious persecution. Our ancestry almost certainly, originated from the Cochrane?s of Scotland. They have been closely associated with the Clan Campbell, as they were never so numerous to form their own clan. They have been connected with the County of Renfrew, (located in the western region of Scotland ? in what is today, Strothchldy), for upwards of 500 years ? that puts their original settlement back to the early 1100?s. There are a few theories as to the origin of our Scottish Family. In the book ?My Lady Dundee,? by Catherine Parker, page 81, states that the Cochranes could claim decent from a group of Shopshire explorers who ventured north in 1262 as followers of a little company of Clunic brethren who had set out from Wenlock to found the mission church at Paisley, Scotland, which was the forerunner of the Abby. (NOTE: It is possible the year was stated in error.) Another theory is found in the book ?The Cochran Family of Kirkcudbright and New York,? page 4 states the family was descended from a Norman family that crossed with William the Conqueror to England and during the course of two hundred years drifted northward to Argyllshire, Scotland. The most likely origin of the family is documented in the book ?The Fighting Cochranes,? that states our ancestors were Scandinavian sea-warriors who settled in the highlands of Renfrew. They originally took their surname from the Barony of Cochran in Renfrewshire and were Barons of special account for many years. The earliest authentic record of our house is contained in Crawford?s Peerage of Scotland. On page 82 of his history of Refrewshire, published in 1710, he gives the following: ?Opposite to Johnstoun, upon the east side of the river, lye the house and barony of Cochran, the principal manor of the Cochrans,