Grogan, Cochran families help shape history of the county

Carolyn Meadows Walker speaks during the Montgomery County Historical Marker Plaque Dedication of the Grogan-Cochran House on Saturday, June 3, 2017, at the Heritage Museum in Conroe. Carolyn Meadows Walker speaks during the Montgomery County Historical Marker Plaque Dedication of the Grogan-Cochran House on Saturday, June 3, 2017, at the Heritage Museum in Conroe. Photo: Michael Minasi, Staff Photographer Photo: Michael Minasi, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Grogan, Cochran families help shape history of the county 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

If Carolyn Meadows Walker seems at home at the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County, it's because she is at home.

Walker was first brought to the Grogan-Cochran house when it was her grandmother's as a newborn in the 1940s. Then in 1975, she and her husband Andy Walker purchased her grandmother's home and lived there with their son, Patrick Andrew Walker, who was a baby at the time, at 615 N. Thompson Street near downtown Conroe.

In 1985, the Walkers along with their son donated the home to be used as the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County and it was moved to Candy Cane Park.

Now the former home which holds so many cherished memories for Walker is where locals and visitors alike can come and learn about the rich history of Montgomery County. As you enter through the front doors of the museum, two cases of photos and memorabilia chronicle the lives of the Grogan and Cochran families and share the story of their tremendous impact on Montgomery County.

R.W. Grogan and the sawmill industry

Richard W. Grogan was born on March 7, 1840 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, according to a narrative documenting the history of the Grogan-Cochran House.

He married Nancy Lewis in 1866. They had 11 children, Laura, James, John, Mary, William, George, Viola, Fannie, Nannie, Henry and Harp.

In late December 1886, Grogan and his wife, Nancy, arrived in East Texas by train from Marietta, Georgia. They settled in Queen City, Texas with their family including their oldest child, Laura Samantha Grogan Cochran and her husband, Terrell McKinney (T.M. or Mac) Cochran.

Walker said they were newlyweds when they came to Texas.

The Cochrans had 11 children, including Virgil, Maude, William, John C., John S. Hattie B., Morris, Fannie P., Frederick C., C. Beatrice and M. Ruth.

The stories have been told that Cochran was a little older than his wife and that he got along very well with his father-in-law Richard W. Grogan.

Cochran was even engaged in the sawmill industry with Grogan and his sons.

After trying his hand at farming, Grogan purchased a small mill near Atlanta, Texas in 1890.

Within 10 years, he owned and operated mills in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.

According to a timeline within the narrative, Grogan died on April 23, 1910 in Cass County, Texas at the age of 71.

Then came a major shift in the family's history.

Virgil Cochran, who married Lucille Taylor in 1912, and another brother were sent down from East Texas to scout out land in Montgomery County for the development of a sawmill. Walker said he was chosen because he was a newlywed with small children.

According to Bill Cochran Jr., a native of Conroe, his grandfather wrote back to the rest of the family that he'd found a great place to live with lots of natural resources and he suggested the family should expand sawmill operations to Montgomery County.

In 1917, the family organized the Grogan-Cochran Lumber Company and acquired numerous landholdings and sawmills throughout Montgomery County.

A mill was built at Tamina in 1917. This operation lasted through 1927.

Then a mill was established in Magnolia. The officers for the Grogan-Cochran Lumber Company in Magnolia were George L. Grogan, president; J.G. Grogan, vice president; H.N. Grogan, secretary and manager; J.E. Mounce, treasurer and W.R. Grogan, L.A. Buckalew and Fred Cochran, directors.

Historian Gertie Spencer believes there were up to 25 mills operated by the Grogan-Cochran Lumber Company in Montgomery County.

As many as 600 employees worked for the sawmills.

The empire remained until 1964 when 48,964 acres held by the Grogan-Cochran Lumber Company were sold to Mitchell & Mitchell Gas and Oil Corporation.

The sale was reported in The Courier as the largest in the history of the region, exceeding $6 million.

Developer George Mitchell bought the land and in 1974 the master-planned community of The Woodlands opened on what was once an expansive sawmill operation.

Early villages in The Woodlands, like Grogan's Mill and Cochran's Crossing pay homage to the expansive sawmill operation that once existed there.

History of the Grogan-Cochran House

J.G. Grogan had the home built in 1924. His wife, Ida, died in 1924.

Walker still had many questions as to whether Ida Grogan ever saw or lived in the house.

It was built at 615 N. Thompson Street on what was at the time the edge of downtown Conroe.

Grogan's mother, Nancy, lived on the same block at a home on Nugent and Thompson streets that is now the Villa Italia restaurant.

Following Ida's death, Grogan's big sister, Laura Grogan Cochran and her husband T.M. purchased the home in the 1930s. Grogan remarried in 1929 and moved out to the Magnolia mill. Another son, David, was born to this marriage.

After their deaths, heirs conveyed the family home to Virgil C. Cochran and his wife Lucille. They had eight children including Helen, Lois, Virgil Jr., M. Frances, Gladcell, Gladys, William (Bill Sr.) and Richard (Dick).

Walker and Bill Cochran Sr. have many happy memories of when the home belonged to their grandmother whom they called "Mom Cochran."

When Walker was born, she was brought to the Cochran home as her mother recovered from her birth.

Her bassinet was placed just inside of what is today's front door of the museum.

Walker said her sister told her visitors came to see her as a newborn through a door on the left side of the porch, now an office at the museum.

As a child, she remembers her grandmother didn't heat the center hallway.

She'd open the door to one of the rooms and say 'run to the kitchen.' Walker said you could have icicles running from one end of the hall to the next.

The home of "Mom Cochran" was also host to many family gatherings, weddings, funeral wakes, parties and holidays.

Walker recalls that the Christmas tree was always in the front room to the right of the entrance, in the front outside corner.

Today at Christmastime, the tree still goes there today.

As the home was so near to downtown Conroe, the family also had a front seat to the many parades that occurred in downtown Conroe.

Lucille Taylor Cochran lived in the house from 1944 until her death in 1969. Then Walker's mother and father George and Lois Cochran Meadows purchased the home in 1972.

Walker and her husband, Andy, later purchased the home in 1975.

They lived there with their young son for 10 years - the first 10 years of his life.

They did however, add in some modern comforts.

For example they updated the kitchen and put carpet down.

"I couldn't have another generation having to 'run to the kitchen,'" Walker said.

In 1985, Walker and her husband donated the historic home to become the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County.

It was cut in half and moved to Candy Cane Park in Conroe. A dedication was held on May 3, 1986 and today the museum continues to preserve the county's history and has expanded in recent years to include the Strake-Gray Oilfield House.

Three generations of businessmen

Longtime Conroe residents have often told Bill Cochran Jr. that he was a lot like his grandfather, Virgil Cochran Sr.

Virgil Cochran Sr. was born Feb. 1, 1890 in Springdale, Texas.

Cochran Sr. attended Simmons University and graduated from Baylor University, playing football for Baylor.

He made his way to Montgomery County scouting land to expand the family's East Texas sawmill and eventually the whole family made its way down to Montgomery County.

He served as Tax Collector-Assessor from 1942-46 for Montgomery County.

Bill Cochran Jr., said his father, Bill Cochran Sr., often talked of his father's generosity while in office.

Cochran Jr. said when people couldn't pay their taxes, he'd pay it for them and he had a cigar box in his office with those who owed him money.

"He was very generous and always believed in helping his fellow man," Cochran Jr. said.

Today longtime Conroe residents still come up to Cochran Jr and tell him how his grandfather helped out their family in the 1940s when times were tough.

Cochran left politics in 1946 and opened up a men's clothing store with his son, Bill Cochran Sr.

Cochran Sr. had just gotten out of the U.S. Army and had been working in retail in Dallas.

Their first shop was located across the street from the Crighton Theatre.

Virgil Cochran died on Oct. 1, 1950. Cochran Jr. was born a few weeks later.

Bill Sr. kept the shop and in 1956, it moved to the site of the former Conroe City Hall where the Westmoreland Building is now in downtown Conroe.

Cochran Jr. spent time in the shop as a boy cleaning the windows and floors. He said he worked for enough money to buy a bicycle.

Then in 1977, the shop moved into the old Wahrenberger building at the corner of Davis and Main streets.

The rounded windows looked out at the courthouse square and Cochran Jr. recalls cleaning the rounded display windows was quite a task.

Eventually after Cochran Jr. graduated from Conroe High School in 1969 and Sam Houston State University in 1973, he came back to run the shop with his brother, Greg.

The shop was a staple on the square until 1996.

Cochran Jr. opened his Allstate Insurance business in the same location in June 1997 and it remains there today.

Cochran Jr. also remains active in his alma mater, serving as president of the CHS Alumni Association.

For more information about the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County visit its Facebook page or call 936-539-6873.