Page 651

HENRY E. COCHRAN, grocer, 517 East Monroe street, is a native of Brown county, Ohio in 1846. He became an assistant in his brother's grocery in Ripley, Ohio, at eight years of age. Five years later he succeeded his brother in a prosperous retail grocery. Since that time Mr. Cochran has given that business his undivided attention, and says he has never been absent from his store five days during all these years, and always opens in the morning and closes it in the evening. In March 1868, he sold his business in Ripley, Ohio, and came to Springfield, Illinois, arriving on Friday, March 17, being an entire stranger in the city, and having little idea where or in what business he should locate. He bought a stock of goods on Sixth street, in what was known as the American House block, and took charge of the business on the following Monday. He conducted the trade in that store fourteen years, and five days, during which time he paid over $11,000 in rent. In March, 1881, he sold out and opened business with a new stock in his present location. Mr. Cochran does a heavy retail trade, and in the season handles a large amount of fruits and produce at wholesale. The volume of business in 1880 amounted to $36,000, and will be considerably larger in 1881.