This biography is reprinted in full with permission from the National Women’s History Museum (United States of America). It was written by Kimberly Hess (2017). NWHM biographies are generously supported by Susan D. Whiting. All rights reserved.
Born: 22 April 1857, United States
Died: 27 October 1936
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Sarah Boyd Moore
Once called America’s only Coal Queen, Sarah B. Cochran was a coal industry leader and philanthropist in an era when American women couldn’t universally vote or serve on juries. By choosing to go out into the world and do the unexpected, she was able to support women’s suffrage and education, and was the first female trustee of Allegheny College.
Sarah Boyd Moore was born on April 22, 1857 in Fayette County, Pennsylvania to farmers of such humble means that they couldn’t afford enough clothes for her to go to school every day. As a young adult, she became the maid in James Cochran’s home. James was a self-made coal industry leader who was the first to sell coal’s byproduct, coke, commercially. Coke was a key ingredient in the steelmaking process, and the steel and coal industries were about to generate incredible levels of wealth in western Pennsylvania.
James Cochran’s son, Phillip, fell in love and married Cochran on September 25, 1879. On September 21, 1880, Cochran gave birth to their only child, James. When her father-in-law died in 1894, Phillip assumed control of the family business. He believed in Cochran’s intellect and taught her the business. Five years later, he died suddenly of pneumonia as a forty-nine-year-old coal magnate. Their son was the expected representative of the family’s estate, but died on March 5, 1901 while studying at the University of Pennsylvania.
Already a vice president in the company, Cochran assumed many of her husband’s business responsibilities and board service roles. Among these were president of the Brown & Cochran Coke Company, Washington Coal & Coke Company, Juniata Coke Company, Dawson Bridge Company, and First National Bank of Dawson. She was a founder and stockholder of Cochran Coal & Coke Company of Morgantown, West Virginia and the First National Bank of Perryopolis. The companies did business in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia when Cochran assumed control. Under her leadership, the business grew threefold and expanded to sell coke in England, France, Germany and Mexico. At one point, Cochran was called “the nation’s only coal queen.”
As a widow, Cochran spent eight years traveling in Europe and Asia. Visits to St. James’s Park in London inspired her plans to build her own Tudor mansion, named Linden Hall at St. James’ Park, Pennsylvania. The mansion was built in the vicinity of her childhood home between 1911 and 1913. When it was finished, it had over thirty rooms, its own railroad stop, and a three-panel Tiffany window designed by Agnes Northrop. When sixty Italian stone masons, who did all of the mansion’s stonework, wanted to stay in the US, Cochran sponsored them for citizenship.
Cochran used her position to support women’s suffrage. In 1915, she opened Linden Hall to host a suffrage tea. The fundraiser was advertised in newspapers and drew at least 500 men and women, who listened to Dr. Anna Howard Shaw speak about suffrage and democracy.
Cochran actively supported education. Sometimes by quietly financing higher education for local men and women who expressed an interest in it. In other cases, her support was more public. For example, she funded construction of Cochran Hall, a men’s dormitory at Allegheny College, and donated to Otterbein College, Washington & Jefferson College, and West Virginia University. Known as the “Lady-Elect of Allegheny,” she was Allegheny College’s first female trustee, serving from 1908 until her death in 1936. She was also a member of the board of directors of American University in Washington, DC, and in 1921, the Bethany College Bulletin recorded her contribution for the Sarah B. Cochran Chair of Philosophy at that college.
In 1900 Cochran dedicated a Methodist church in Dawson, Pennsylvania to the memory of her late husband. This church was later destroyed when she presented its congregation with plans for a new, Gothic style stone church. Named for her husband, the Philip G. Cochran Memorial United Methodist Church was officially dedicated on November 20, 1927.
After Cochran died on October 27, 1936, a memorial service themed “The Ministry of Woman” was held at the Philip G. Cochran Memorial United Methodist Church. The service featured ministers speaking about female Biblical figures and Cochran’s life. Since her death, both the church and Linden Hall were added to the National Register of Historic Places.
IW note: For anyone wanting to read a more in-depth accounting, Kimberly Hess, author of this bio, published A Lesser Mortal: The Unexpected Life of Sarah B. Cochran in 2021, which can be purchased from Amazon and other booksellers.
Works cited
Allegheny College. “History – Cochran Hall.” Accessed September 28, 2017. http://sites.allegheny.edu/alumni/tippie-alumni-center/history-cochran-hall/
“Donations and Bequests.” The American Educational Review, Vol. 31, no. 1 (October 1909): pg. 359. https://books.google.com/books?id=UAA5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA359
“Endowment of Office and Chair of the President of Bethany College.” Bethany College Bulletin, Vol. XIV, No. 2, (May 1921): pg. 14. https://archive.org/stream/cataloguewithc2122beth/cataloguewithc2122beth_djvu.txt
Frelinghuysen, Alice Cooney, “The Garden as a Picture: Agnes Northrop’s Stained-Glass Designs for Louis C. Tiffany,” filmed September 27, 2016 at Smithsonian, video, 1:12:52, https://americanart.si.edu/blog-post/305/glass-gardens-agnes-northrop-designs-for-louis-c-tiffany
Jordan, John Woolf and James Hadden, A Genealogical and Personal History of Fayette and Greene Counties, Vol 3, (New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., 1912), 736, https://books.google.com/books?id=yM0wAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA736
“Linden Hall Tours Still On.” Evening Standard (Uniontown, PA), October 14, 1977, page 26, col 1.
Lint, Eugene (Curator Emeritus of Linden Hall). Interview by author. Phone. New Jersey, September 20, 2017.
Lint, Eugene and Patty Lint. America’s Castles: Coal Barons, A&E, Cinetel Productions, 1996. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoWguA_zK5o
“Memorial Service at Dawson Church for Mrs. Cochran.” The Daily Courier (Connellsville, PA), November 6, 1936, page 6, col 3.
“Mrs. Sarah B. Cochran’s Death Closes Long Life Devoted to Human Needs.” Daily Courier (Connellsville, PA), October 28, 1936, front page.
“Open Fayette County Campaign.” The Pittsburgh Post, July 30, 1915, page 9, col. 3.
“Out of the Past.” The Daily Courier (Connellsville, PA), August 21, 1975, page 28, col 1.
Phillip G. Cochran Memorial United Methodist Church. “A History of Sarah B. Cochran.” Accessed September 28, 2017. http://www.cochranmemorialumc.org/our-church/susan-b-cochran
Robbins, Richard. “Old Coal Kings.” January 2, 2005. TribLive. http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/s_288197.html
Sachs, Sylvia. “Steelworkers’ Mansion Quite a Site.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 6, 1980, page F1.
“Stirring Rally for Suffrage in Fayette.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (The Gazette Times), July 30, 1915, pg. 7.
The Council of Independent Colleges Historic Campus Architecture Project. “Cochran Hall.” Accessed September 28, 2017. http://hcap.artstor.org/cgi-bin/library?a=d&d=p87
“The Lady Bountiful of Beechwood Boulevard.” The Pittsburgh Press, August 2, 1908, pg. 43.