Born in
Coxsackie, New York, Cochrane attended the common schools and the Hudson River Institute at
Claverack, New York. He graduated from
Yale College in 1879. He moved to
Hudson, New York, in 1879, where he studied law. He was
admitted to the bar in 1881 and commenced practice in
Hudson, New York. He served as city judge of Hudson in 1887 and 1888. He served as
district attorney of
Columbia County 1889–1892. Cochrane was elected as a
Republican to the
Fifty-fifth and
Fifty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1901) as the representative of
New York's 19th congressional district. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1900, but was elected associate justice of the
Supreme Court of New York in 1901. He was re-elected in 1915 for another 14-year term, and was designated by Gov.
Nathan L. Miller as Presiding Justice of the
Appellate Division in 1922. Cochrane resigned from the bench in January 1928, but served as official referee until 1941. He died in
Hudson, New York, September 7, 1943. He was interred in Riverside Cemetery,
Coxsackie, New York. ==References==