The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-09-15
MURDER OF JUDGEHAYDE
SHOT BY A BANK PRESIDENT
WHOSE WIFE HE HAL BE-
URAYEDs
A Scandal that was Dragged Into the Masonic
Order and into Politics.

MILWAUKEE Wis, September 12.-The
trial Of W. H. Cochran, of CIR md Rapids,
this State, on a charge of numbering
Judge Hayden. Of Wood county, is pro-
crossing in Neilsville, The fact that both
the.victim and his slayer were men Of
public Importance, possessing great
wealth and standing well throughout the
Northwest, socially, politically and fnan
cialy, will make the trial one of not
only local, but of national interest. The
story of the crime with which Cochran
is charged, is one of romantic interest. 1t
was committed in October, 1879.
Judge Hayden was handsome, dash.
ing man about forty years old, and had a
vie and two interesting children. At
the time he was killed he was Judge Of
Wood county, and made his home in
Centralia, little village across the river
from Grand Rapids, where Cochran was
engaged in the banking business. Hay
den vas candidate for Attorney. General
of Wisconsin the year he was killed,and
had held various Offices of honor and
trust. He served as soldier through
the REBELLION with distinction and before
the war had been a leading lawyer Of
Caldwell county, No, He was Free
Mason, high in the ranks of the Order
and out of the murder rev one of the
most complicated cases that was ever be.
fore anv secret society
w. H. Cochran is native Of eastern
New York. He, too, served two or three
years in the army, during the rebellion,
and had previously held various clerk
ships in the War Department in Wash
ington. For half dozen years previous
to 1879, Cochran had been one Of the
largest stockholders in and cashier Of
the First National Bank of Grand Rap
ids, and he owned the most beautiful
residence in town. His wife, native Of
Glen's Falls, New York, was young
woman of exceptional beauty, and the
Cochran home was considered the great
est place of entertainment in the whole
surrounding country, Her husband fair
ly worshipped her, and gratifed her
every wish.
Judge Hayden and Cochran were very
intimate friends Hayden, unfortunate
ly, had frivolous habit of saying things
that made him unpopular with class of
people about his home, but Cochran al
ways stuck to him, and their friendship
was considered something unusual. In
the early part of 1879 it began to be Cos,
slipped about the two villages that Judge
Hayden, who was very frequently at the
Cochran mansion, was too intimate with
the proprietor's young wife. This talk
reached Cochran, but he at first refused
to listen to any such thing. In June
Mrs. Cochran went. to New York on a
visit, and few weeks after her depart
ure her husband intercepted letter she
had written, and was Mortified at its dis
closures. 1t was couched in the most
affectionate terms, and from its contents
there was not shadow of doubt. The
man was fairly beside himself with rage
and grief, and on searching his wifes
boudoir unearthed a large number of
gushing epistles that had passed between
his faithless spouse and his most init
mate friend. Mrs Cochran was sent
for, and was at once confronted with the
proofs of her guilt. She made a COM
plete confession, and said that Hayden's
delicate hattery had turned her head.
With her nine-year-old daughter the
woman left her home, and has since
lived in the village with relatives. The
scandal was at once taken up by the peo-
pie at large, and out of it many feuds
have grown and yet exist.
Cochran decided to bear manfully his
grief and not molest Hayden. Charges
were preferred against Hayden, and he
was expelled from the home lodge by
the Masons. The matter was taken to
the State Grand Lodge, and after two
years Of wrangling the Lodge, at its last
sitting, annulled the expulsion, The
scandal was also dragged into politics.
and the excitement in the northern part
of the State seemed to increase over it
daily Along toward September, during
the heat Of the campaign, Hayden pur-
chased small newspaper, the Centralia
Enterprise, and this only tended to in
tensify the feeling Hayden, embold-
ened by Cochran's silence, began attack
ing him in his paper, and it was kept up
until October Nearly everybody sided
with Cochran, but Hayden had many
supporters who backed him in all of his
movements. Finally a reference was
made to the scandal by Hayden in his
paper, and this seemed to be the straw
that broke the camePs back in Cochran's
case He Immediately purchased shot
gun, and, loading it heavily, started out
to kill Hayden. Meeting him in one of
the principal streets of Centralia, he shot
him dead in his tracks without word
of warning He then gave himself up
to the authorities. The excitement over
the murder was so great that a mob
formed, and had not Cochran's friends
turned out and reinforced the officials,
he would have been lynched the first
night of his incarceration. The next
day he was released on $4,000 bail, and
owing to the inability to get Judge, coun-
sci, and jury, the trial has been po t.
poned from time to time until now
Eminent counsel has been retained on
both sides, and the trial will be hOtly