John Crombie Cochrane (1835-1887), a native of New Boston, New Hampshire, trained to be an architect in Nashua. He began his architectural career in 1856 with a brief stint in Davenport, Iowa, before moving to Chicago to work as a draftsman in the office of architect Edward J. Burling. Because of stagnant work due to the Panic of 1857, Cochrane left Chicago and established an office in St. Louis. In 1864 he moved to Chicago and partnered with George O. Garnsey. He served as vice president of the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1873. Cochrane died in Chicago on December 12, 1887.[1] Among Cochrane’s notable projects, all listed on the National Register of Historic Places, are Cook County Hospital in Chicago; Livingston County Courthouse in Pontiac, Illinois; Marshall County Courthouse in Marshalltown, Iowa; and the Ivory Quinby House in Monmouth, Illinois. Cochrane is tied to the design of two state capitol buildings, Illinois and Iowa. The Illinois state capitol began construction in 1868, and the Iowa state capitol followed in 1871. |
State Capitols
Twenty-one entries were submitted for the competition to design the new Illinois state capitol. A design by Cochrane was chosen winner, and he received $3,000 and commission as architect. An in-office dispute between Cochrane and Garnsey, who contended that he had also greatly contributed to the design, ended their partnership. In February 1868, Cochrane added as partner Alfred H. Piquenard, who would live at the Springfield building site to oversee construction.[2]
Ground breaking for the Illinois state capitol was held on March 11, 1868, and construction took 20 years. While the Illinois state capitol was under construction, Cochrane and Piquenard designed the Iowa state capitol in Des Moines. Piquenard would commute between Springfield and Des Moines for six years overseeing the projects. After Piquenard suddenly died in November 1876, William W. Boyington was appointed supervising architect.[3]
The Iowa state capitol building is the only capitol in the country with five domes. The cornerstone was laid on November 23, 1871, and construction was completed in 1886. Cochrane resigned from oversight of the construction in 1872, and Piquenard continued until his death in 1876. Mifflin E. Bell and William F. Hackney of Cochrane and Piquenard then took over the project, though Bell resigned in 1883 to become supervising architect of the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C. Total cost of construction was $2,873,294.59, nearly double the original $1,500,000 proposed cost. The state capitol was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[4]
Notable Firm Members
The firm of Cochrane and Garnsey and its later iterations produced many prominent Midwestern architects.
Partner George Otis Garnsey was born in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1840. At age sixteen, he went to work for J.C. Rankin as a draftsman. Garnsey edited National Builder magazine between 1885 and 1901, including a house plan of his own design in each issue. He also authored numerous books on architecture and construction, The American Glossary of Architectural Terms, first published in 1887. He died in Chicago in 1923. Garnsey was known for his use of Queen Anne style in his designs, which include such residences as the Charles O. Boynton House and David Syme House, both in Sycamore, Illinois.[5]
Frenchman Alfred H. Piquenard immigrated to the United States in 1848. He was part of a group of sixty-nine idealists seeking to establish a utopian community, which he left after their failure in Texas. Educated at the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactuers in Paris, Piquenard briefly worked with St. Louis architect George I. Barnett. After serving in the Missouri militia during the Civil War, Piquenard moved to Chicago where he became a partner with Cochrane. He was a primary designer of the Illinois and Iowa state capitol projects. Piquenard died in November 1876 while overseeing construction of the Illinois and Iowa state capitols.[6]
Mifflin Emlin Bell was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1847 and moved to Bloomington, Illinois, with his family at the age of six. He moved to Chicago in 1869 to work in the office of Cochrane and Garnsey and was part of the design team for the Illinois state capitol. Bell partnered with W.F. Hackney to open an office in Springfield. In 1883 Bell left Springfield to become supervising architect of the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., a position he held for four years during the administrations of Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland. He resigned in 1887 and returned to Chicago. In 1892, Bell became superintendent of repairs for federal buildings in the city. Bell was also in charge of federal buildings at the 1893 World’s Columbia Exposition. He died of pneumonia in Chicago in June 1904.[7]
William F. Hackney was part of the design teams for both the Illinois and Iowa state capitols. Born in Springfield, Missouri, in 1854, he trained under Piquenard in Des Moines, Iowa. Hackney moved to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1888 and became architect to the Kansas City Board of Education. He also partnered with Charles A. Smith, a young architect who came with him from Des Moines and who continued the practice following Hackney’s death in June 1899.[8]
Franklin B. Long worked as a draftsman in the office of Cochrane. Born in 1842 in Afton, New York, Long moved to the Chicago area in 1859. In 1867, Long partnered with another architect until moving to Minneapolis in 1868, where he practiced until his death in 1912. His best-known work was with Frederick Kees, with whom her partnered from 1884 to 1897. The firm designed many projects in Minneapolis, including the Masonic Temple (now the Hennepin Center for the Arts) and Public Library.[9]
Sources
[1] John Erastus Wildey, “New Boston: An Historical and Business Sketch,” The Granite Monthly 22 (January-June 1897), 241; “John Crombie Cochrane,” Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=53850552, accessed April 11, 2016; Industrial Chicago, Volume 1 (Chicago, IL: Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1891), 299.
[2] Jim Edgar, ed., “Construction and Renovation of the State Capitol,” Illinois Blue Book, 1987-1988 (Springfield, IL: Secretary of State, 1988), 30-31.
[3] Edgar, 31-33
[4] “The Capitol Building,” Iowa Official Register (Des Moines, IA: State of Iowa, 1962), 15; Jay Pridmore, Des Moines Architecture and Design (2015), 26.
[5] Diane H. Filipowicz, Shearer-Christy House, National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, March 1983; Susan O’Connor Davis, Chicago’s Historic Hyde Park (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2013), 384.
[6] Cecil D. Elliott, The American Architect from the Colonial Era to the Present (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, Inc., 2003), 40.
[7] History of Sangamon County, Illinois (Chicago, IL: Inter-State Publishing Company, 1881), 640; Antoinette J. Lee, Architects to the Nation: The Rise and Decline of the Supervising Architect’s Office (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000).
[8] “W.F. Hackney,” The Improvement Bulletin 20, No. 8 (July 22, 1899), 9; “Suicide Because of Debt,” Chicago Eagle, June 3, 1899; Carrie Westlake Whitney, “Charles A. Smith,” Kansas City, Missouri: Its History and Its People, Volume II (Chicago, IL: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1908), 643-644.
[9] Long and Kees Collection, Northwest Architectural Archives, Elmer L. Anderson Library, University of Minnesota, http://special.lib.umn.edu/findaid/xml/naa024.xml, accessed April 11, 2016.
Twenty-one entries were submitted for the competition to design the new Illinois state capitol. A design by Cochrane was chosen winner, and he received $3,000 and commission as architect. An in-office dispute between Cochrane and Garnsey, who contended that he had also greatly contributed to the design, ended their partnership. In February 1868, Cochrane added as partner Alfred H. Piquenard, who would live at the Springfield building site to oversee construction.[2]
Ground breaking for the Illinois state capitol was held on March 11, 1868, and construction took 20 years. While the Illinois state capitol was under construction, Cochrane and Piquenard designed the Iowa state capitol in Des Moines. Piquenard would commute between Springfield and Des Moines for six years overseeing the projects. After Piquenard suddenly died in November 1876, William W. Boyington was appointed supervising architect.[3]
The Iowa state capitol building is the only capitol in the country with five domes. The cornerstone was laid on November 23, 1871, and construction was completed in 1886. Cochrane resigned from oversight of the construction in 1872, and Piquenard continued until his death in 1876. Mifflin E. Bell and William F. Hackney of Cochrane and Piquenard then took over the project, though Bell resigned in 1883 to become supervising architect of the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C. Total cost of construction was $2,873,294.59, nearly double the original $1,500,000 proposed cost. The state capitol was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[4]
Notable Firm Members
The firm of Cochrane and Garnsey and its later iterations produced many prominent Midwestern architects.
Partner George Otis Garnsey was born in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1840. At age sixteen, he went to work for J.C. Rankin as a draftsman. Garnsey edited National Builder magazine between 1885 and 1901, including a house plan of his own design in each issue. He also authored numerous books on architecture and construction, The American Glossary of Architectural Terms, first published in 1887. He died in Chicago in 1923. Garnsey was known for his use of Queen Anne style in his designs, which include such residences as the Charles O. Boynton House and David Syme House, both in Sycamore, Illinois.[5]
Frenchman Alfred H. Piquenard immigrated to the United States in 1848. He was part of a group of sixty-nine idealists seeking to establish a utopian community, which he left after their failure in Texas. Educated at the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactuers in Paris, Piquenard briefly worked with St. Louis architect George I. Barnett. After serving in the Missouri militia during the Civil War, Piquenard moved to Chicago where he became a partner with Cochrane. He was a primary designer of the Illinois and Iowa state capitol projects. Piquenard died in November 1876 while overseeing construction of the Illinois and Iowa state capitols.[6]
Mifflin Emlin Bell was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1847 and moved to Bloomington, Illinois, with his family at the age of six. He moved to Chicago in 1869 to work in the office of Cochrane and Garnsey and was part of the design team for the Illinois state capitol. Bell partnered with W.F. Hackney to open an office in Springfield. In 1883 Bell left Springfield to become supervising architect of the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., a position he held for four years during the administrations of Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland. He resigned in 1887 and returned to Chicago. In 1892, Bell became superintendent of repairs for federal buildings in the city. Bell was also in charge of federal buildings at the 1893 World’s Columbia Exposition. He died of pneumonia in Chicago in June 1904.[7]
William F. Hackney was part of the design teams for both the Illinois and Iowa state capitols. Born in Springfield, Missouri, in 1854, he trained under Piquenard in Des Moines, Iowa. Hackney moved to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1888 and became architect to the Kansas City Board of Education. He also partnered with Charles A. Smith, a young architect who came with him from Des Moines and who continued the practice following Hackney’s death in June 1899.[8]
Franklin B. Long worked as a draftsman in the office of Cochrane. Born in 1842 in Afton, New York, Long moved to the Chicago area in 1859. In 1867, Long partnered with another architect until moving to Minneapolis in 1868, where he practiced until his death in 1912. His best-known work was with Frederick Kees, with whom her partnered from 1884 to 1897. The firm designed many projects in Minneapolis, including the Masonic Temple (now the Hennepin Center for the Arts) and Public Library.[9]
Sources
[1] John Erastus Wildey, “New Boston: An Historical and Business Sketch,” The Granite Monthly 22 (January-June 1897), 241; “John Crombie Cochrane,” Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=53850552, accessed April 11, 2016; Industrial Chicago, Volume 1 (Chicago, IL: Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1891), 299.
[2] Jim Edgar, ed., “Construction and Renovation of the State Capitol,” Illinois Blue Book, 1987-1988 (Springfield, IL: Secretary of State, 1988), 30-31.
[3] Edgar, 31-33
[4] “The Capitol Building,” Iowa Official Register (Des Moines, IA: State of Iowa, 1962), 15; Jay Pridmore, Des Moines Architecture and Design (2015), 26.
[5] Diane H. Filipowicz, Shearer-Christy House, National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, March 1983; Susan O’Connor Davis, Chicago’s Historic Hyde Park (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2013), 384.
[6] Cecil D. Elliott, The American Architect from the Colonial Era to the Present (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, Inc., 2003), 40.
[7] History of Sangamon County, Illinois (Chicago, IL: Inter-State Publishing Company, 1881), 640; Antoinette J. Lee, Architects to the Nation: The Rise and Decline of the Supervising Architect’s Office (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000).
[8] “W.F. Hackney,” The Improvement Bulletin 20, No. 8 (July 22, 1899), 9; “Suicide Because of Debt,” Chicago Eagle, June 3, 1899; Carrie Westlake Whitney, “Charles A. Smith,” Kansas City, Missouri: Its History and Its People, Volume II (Chicago, IL: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1908), 643-644.
[9] Long and Kees Collection, Northwest Architectural Archives, Elmer L. Anderson Library, University of Minnesota, http://special.lib.umn.edu/findaid/xml/naa024.xml, accessed April 11, 2016.