George M. Cochran

George Moffett Cochran IV (April 20, 1912 – January 22, 2011) was a Virginia lawyer, banker and legislator who later served as a justice of the Virginia Supreme Court. Cochran served part-time representing Staunton, Virginia, in the Virginia General Assembly for nearly two decades, first as a delegate, then briefly as state senator. His opposition to the Byrd Organization's policy of Massive Resistance helped integrate Virginia's schools. Early and Family Life Born in Staunton, George was the first born child of Peyton Cochran and his wife Susie Baldwin Robertson, both of prominent local families. On his mother's side, Cochran was descended from Alexander H.H. Stuart, a U.S. Congressman before the American Civil War who also helped organize the U.S. Department of the Interior under President Millard Fillmore. A.H.H. Stuart later helped negotiate the end of restrictions upon Confederate sympathizers as Reconstruction ended. Cochran's paternal grandfather of the same name served in the Confederate army as a quartermaster and other administrative positions, disappointed that poor eyesight disqualified him from the artillery position he wanted. Young George Cochran had a sister four years his junior and a brother a decade younger than himself, although he outlived them both. He attended Staunton's schools including Robert E. Lee High school, then Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia. After graduating, Cochran began studying law at the University of Virginia, as had his father and grandfather. At the University of Virginia, he was a member of the Z Society and Beta Theta Pi; he resided on The Lawn. Cochran received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1934 and a LL.B. degree in 1936 from the University of Virginia Law School. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and the Raven Society as an alumnus. In 1946, Cochran married Marion Lee Stuart.