Letters,, 1860-1861.

The Cochran family letters consist of fourteen letters written in 1860 and 1861 by brothers John H. and Benjamin Franklin ("Frank") Cochran of Augusta County, Virginia.

The letters from John H. Cochran, written primarily during the period between the election of Abraham Lincoln to the attack on Fort Sumter, show his intense interest in and gives a clear picture of the events that happened immediately before the start of the Civil War. All of his and Frank's letters were written to their mother in Augusta County, Virginia. The collection also includes one letter from a cousin, A.G. Gastins of South Carolina, to John and Benjamin Cochran's father.