John Cowan (abt. 1775 - 1821)

Born about 1775 in Colony of Virginia

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 12 Oct 1821 at about age 46 in Selma, Dallas, Alabama, United States

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Biography

John was born about 1782. He is the son of William Cowan and Jane Walker.

He died, at the age of 45-46, on October 12, 1821 in Selma, Alabama. He is buried at the Pleasant Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Pleasant Hill, Dallas County, Alabama.^[1]

Research Notes

First, he was born about 1775, which is before Americans started using muddled names consistently in the mid-late 1790s. Second, there is no documentation that shows his middle name as “Alexander” … no documents that even show a middle initial of “A”; however, several of his grandsons and great-grandsons were named John Alexander Cowan, giving credence to him possibly having the middle name “Alexander”. Because there is no known documentation with the middle name “Alexander”, I typically write his name as John [Alexander] Cowan, putting the middle name in brackets to indicate that it is not a solid fact; however, wikitree will not allow the brackets. (Margie Cowan’s comments on 25 Jun 2023)

Additional comments from Margie Cowan (25 Jun 2023) … I have the Cowan family Bible. It has two sets of pages torn out from other Bibles. One Bible appears to be that of Rosannah (Gillespie) Cowan … I recognize her handwriting from other documents. All she has for John’s birthdate is 1775 (no month, no year). The other set of Bible pages appears to be those of Virginia Clopton … she married three times: 1. Theodore Washington Livingston 2. James M. Lees 3. James Gillespie Cowan. (In 1842, she lost her child by Livingston, her child by Lees, and her husband Lees.

There is no known burial location for John Cowan. After John’s death, Rosannah and oldest son (James Gillespie Cowan) received Letters of Administration to probate his estate. James Gillespie Cowan remained in Dallas/Lowndes Co., AL. At some point in the late 1820s, Rosannah returned to TN with her children … to McMinn Co., TN. She and a couple of sons are found in the 1830 McMinn Co., TN census. In 1840, she is likely the oldest female in the home of her daughter Ellen (Cowan) Mitchell in Perry Co., AL. In 1850, she’s in James Gillespie Cowan’s household in Pleasant Hill (Lowndes Co.), AL. She dies in 1857 and is buried in the Pleasant Hill Cumberland Presyterian Church cemetery.

Sources

1. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/181701520/john-alexander-cowan: accessed 18 September 2023), memorial page for John Alexander Cowan (1775–12 Oct 1821), Find A Grave: Memorial #181701520 citing Pleasant Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Pleasant Hill, Dallas County, Alabama, USA; Maintained by Jade (contributor 48637728).

See Also:

• Cowan Family Bible … in possession of Margie Cowan (Reston, VA) … where Rosannah has written his name only as “John Cowan, 1775”
• https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:John_Cowan_%2833%29. (Bill Willis spent years working on the Cowan, Houstons, and related families and getting them into werelate, will value-added documentation and sourcing. Anything on this site is 99% correct .. the 1% allowing for any information that came to light after he stopped working on the site about 2015.)
• Family Search Profile for John Alexander Cowan