William was born about 1830. He was likely the second son of Robert Cowan and Mary Degnan.
The limited information we have about William comes from memories that have been passed along by his siblings to their children and made known to us. Some such information was passed to us through (Robert) Frank Cowan.[1].
William was just coming into his adulthood on the eve of the Great Famine[2], where a million people would die and another million leave the country. No wonder William joined his older brother Thomas around 1847-8 to leave home (for England), and look for opportunities not available in Ireland at that time.
Brother Thomas would return to Ireland. But knowledge of the final whereabouts of WIlliam has been lost - it was said that his last letter home spoke of a terrible cholera epidemic, which historically places this moment in 1848-1849[3]. Since he was never heard from after that, it is supposed he died young in England, perhaps of that very epidemic.
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Featured National Park champion connections: William is 17 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 24 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 16 degrees from George Catlin, 20 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 27 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 16 degrees from George Grinnell, 28 degrees from Anton Kröller, 18 degrees from Stephen Mather, 22 degrees from Kara McKean, 19 degrees from John Muir, 20 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 30 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
Categories: Ireland, Cowan Name Study