The Cochrane Craze
by Nancy Ponzetti
“Issuing from the door of the Riverboro Town House,
and winding down the hill...
came a procession of singing men and singing women.
Convinced of sin, but entranced with promised pardon...
the band of “Cochranites” marched down the dusty road...
dancing, swaying, waving handkerchiefs, and shouting hosannas.” 1
In the first chapter (“Saco Waters”) of The Story of Waitstill Baxter by Kate Douglas Wiggin (1913), the influence of a non-denominational preacher, Jacob Cochrane, is introduced. Although fictionalized in this novel, what is truly known of this man who suddenly appeared in the Saco River villages in the early 1800s?
Born in Enfield Center, Grafton, New Hampshire on July 9, 1782, Jacob Cochrane Jr. would wed Abigail Stephenson Colcord and father five children. Between 1813-1815 Cochrane moved his family first to Conway, New Hampshire then to Fryeburg, Maine. Operating a grocery store during those years, he conducted retail operations in both towns while developing his hypnotic skills over susceptible people. In 1816 Cochrane moved to Scarborough, Maine and began his association with the Freewill Baptist denomination. Lacking evidence that he was ever licensed to preach or had ever been ordained, Cochrane eventually became a popular preacher in Scarborough and surrounding towns.
Between 1816-1819 Cochrane expanded his preaching into York County, especially into the towns of Saco, Buxton, Hollis, and Kennebunk. He created a new sect, The Society of Free Brethren and Sisters, claiming success in miracle-working and exorcism. Cochrane also instituted holy dancing and frenzied reaping in which participants were “thrown into the greatest agitations; a violent exertion of the arms and body for a long time together.” 2 Eventually Cochrane would dismiss traditional marriage vows for the polygamous doctrine of spiritual wifery assigning women to men, but mostly assigning women to himself. Cochranites also strove toward living in communal order where all possessions would be held in common.
By 1819 Jacob Cochrane would be arrested, tried twice, convicted, and imprisoned on several charges of adultery, open and gross lewdness, and seduction. Cochrane was sentenced to four years hard labor at the Massachusetts State prison in Charlestown (Maine not yet being an independent state). Membership in The Society of Free Brethren and Sisters dwindled while Jacob Cochrane was in prison, and other Cochranites were brought to trial on similar charges.
Several years after his release from prison, Cochrane established a colony in Grove township, Allegany County, New York. Concurrently living in that area during the 1830s were several founding members of the Latter Day Saints Movement. Saco Valley historian, G.T. Ridlon, described Jacob Cochrane as the “John the Baptist” for Mormonism since many Cochranites were converted and moved westward with the Mormons under Joseph Smith Jr.’s leadership.
In 1836 Jacob Cochrane died in Stratham, New Hampshire. Once buried on the Dennett Farm, North Saco, his body was exhumed and reburied in an unknown, unmarked site in Enfield, New Hampshire, his birthplace. This ‘State o’ Maine’ prophet “who spoke as if the Lord of Hosts had given him inspiration; as if the angels were pouring words into his mouth just for him to utter” 3 would have been all but forgotten except for his fictionalization in Kate Douglas Wiggin’s novel and his inclusion in early Mormon history documents. The epitaph Wiggin wrote for Jacob Cochrane in that tale of “Saco waters” remains uncarved in stone:
“He spread his arms full wide abroad,
His works are ever before his God,
His name on earth shall long remain,
Though envious sinners fret in vain.” 4
Notes
1 Wiggin, Kate Douglas, The Story of Waitstill Baxter, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913, p. 7.
2 http:www.sidneyrigdon.com, p.3.
3 Smith, Nora Archibald, Kate Douglas Wiggin: As Her Sister Knew Her, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1925, p. 243.
4 Wiggin, p. 195.
5 http://www.originalbookofmormonrestored.com/Polygamy-Masonry_Cochranites.html
“Issuing from the door of the Riverboro Town House,
and winding down the hill...
came a procession of singing men and singing women.
Convinced of sin, but entranced with promised pardon...
the band of “Cochranites” marched down the dusty road...
dancing, swaying, waving handkerchiefs, and shouting hosannas.” 1
In the first chapter (“Saco Waters”) of The Story of Waitstill Baxter by Kate Douglas Wiggin (1913), the influence of a non-denominational preacher, Jacob Cochrane, is introduced. Although fictionalized in this novel, what is truly known of this man who suddenly appeared in the Saco River villages in the early 1800s?
Born in Enfield Center, Grafton, New Hampshire on July 9, 1782, Jacob Cochrane Jr. would wed Abigail Stephenson Colcord and father five children. Between 1813-1815 Cochrane moved his family first to Conway, New Hampshire then to Fryeburg, Maine. Operating a grocery store during those years, he conducted retail operations in both towns while developing his hypnotic skills over susceptible people. In 1816 Cochrane moved to Scarborough, Maine and began his association with the Freewill Baptist denomination. Lacking evidence that he was ever licensed to preach or had ever been ordained, Cochrane eventually became a popular preacher in Scarborough and surrounding towns.
Between 1816-1819 Cochrane expanded his preaching into York County, especially into the towns of Saco, Buxton, Hollis, and Kennebunk. He created a new sect, The Society of Free Brethren and Sisters, claiming success in miracle-working and exorcism. Cochrane also instituted holy dancing and frenzied reaping in which participants were “thrown into the greatest agitations; a violent exertion of the arms and body for a long time together.” 2 Eventually Cochrane would dismiss traditional marriage vows for the polygamous doctrine of spiritual wifery assigning women to men, but mostly assigning women to himself. Cochranites also strove toward living in communal order where all possessions would be held in common.
By 1819 Jacob Cochrane would be arrested, tried twice, convicted, and imprisoned on several charges of adultery, open and gross lewdness, and seduction. Cochrane was sentenced to four years hard labor at the Massachusetts State prison in Charlestown (Maine not yet being an independent state). Membership in The Society of Free Brethren and Sisters dwindled while Jacob Cochrane was in prison, and other Cochranites were brought to trial on similar charges.
Several years after his release from prison, Cochrane established a colony in Grove township, Allegany County, New York. Concurrently living in that area during the 1830s were several founding members of the Latter Day Saints Movement. Saco Valley historian, G.T. Ridlon, described Jacob Cochrane as the “John the Baptist” for Mormonism since many Cochranites were converted and moved westward with the Mormons under Joseph Smith Jr.’s leadership.
In 1836 Jacob Cochrane died in Stratham, New Hampshire. Once buried on the Dennett Farm, North Saco, his body was exhumed and reburied in an unknown, unmarked site in Enfield, New Hampshire, his birthplace. This ‘State o’ Maine’ prophet “who spoke as if the Lord of Hosts had given him inspiration; as if the angels were pouring words into his mouth just for him to utter” 3 would have been all but forgotten except for his fictionalization in Kate Douglas Wiggin’s novel and his inclusion in early Mormon history documents. The epitaph Wiggin wrote for Jacob Cochrane in that tale of “Saco waters” remains uncarved in stone:
“He spread his arms full wide abroad,
His works are ever before his God,
His name on earth shall long remain,
Though envious sinners fret in vain.” 4
Notes
1 Wiggin, Kate Douglas, The Story of Waitstill Baxter, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913, p. 7.
2 http:www.sidneyrigdon.com, p.3.
3 Smith, Nora Archibald, Kate Douglas Wiggin: As Her Sister Knew Her, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1925, p. 243.
4 Wiggin, p. 195.
5 http://www.originalbookofmormonrestored.com/Polygamy-Masonry_Cochranites.html