Robert E. Cowan
Robert E. Cowan | |
---|---|
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the Preston district | |
In office December 7, 1857 – March 31, 1863 Serving with J. C. Kemble, John Scott | |
Preceded by | John A. F. Martin |
Succeeded by | n/a |
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the Preston County, Virginia district | |
In office September 7, 1893 – March 15, 1865 Serving with Charles J. P. Cresap | |
Preceded by | n/a |
Succeeded by | n/a |
Personal details | |
Born | St. Louis, Missouri, US | March 26, 1830
Spouse | Susan Louisa Cresap |
Profession | Lawyer, judge |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Confederate States |
Branch/service | Virginia Militia Confederate States Army |
Rank | Captain(CSA) |
Robert Edwin Cowan (November 9, 1830 – July 14, 1887) was a Virginia lawyer and politician who served in the
Early and family life
Descended from the First Families of Virginia, Robert Cowen was born in Staunton, Virginia on November 9, 1830 to Arthur Cowan and his wife, the former Elizabeth Floyd who married in Monongalia County, Virginia on August 9, 1829. Cowen's ancestors had moved from northern Ireland to Pennsylvania early in the 18th century, and by the American Revolutionary War were attempting to settle in the Shenandoah and Clinch River valleys.[1] They had at least three sons: Robert E. Cowen, John T. Cowen and James P. Cowen, and many grandchildren.[2]
Robert E. Cowen married the former Susan Louisa Cresap, whose ancestors had explored and settled in the Appalachian foothills of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia and whose grandfather Thomas Cresap also fought for independence in the American Revolutionary War. Their children included Arthur Cresap Cowan (1858-1927), Charles Perry Cowan (1860-1902), Robert Cowan (1862-) and Ada Lee Cowan Woodson (1866-1953).[3]
Career
After admission to the Virginia bar, Cowen became a clerk in the Virginia General Assembly. While the legislature was not in session, Cowan lived and practiced in Kingwood the county seat of Preston County (in what became West Virginia after the American Civil War).
Beginning in 1857, Preston County voters elected Cowen as one of two men to represent them (part-time) in the Virginia House of Delegates. He first won election alongside J. C. Kemble in 1857, and re-election in 1859 alongside John Scott (Virginia), and during most of the American Civil War served as that county's only delegate in Richmond.[4]
Months after the
Postwar Missouri years
After the war, Cowan moved his family (and sister in law Mary Cresap) to Kansas City, Missouri, where he practiced law together with former CSA Major Blake L. Woodson (b. 1835), formerly of Roanoke, Virginia and who had studied under John Brockenbrough in Lexington, Virginia. In 1884 Kansas City voters elected Woodson their prosecuting attorney and re-elected him in 1886. Their legal partnership had continued until Cowan was elected a judge (and Woodson would later become a judge).[9][10]
Death and legacy
Judge Cowan died in
References
- ^ The household of nine free white persons (5 under age ) in Harrison County, Virginia (later West Virginia) in 1840 included no slaves, nor does this Arthur Cowan appear to have owned slaves in 1860
- ^ will of Arthur Cowen in Harrison County will book 6, page 468, admitted to probate October 22, 1879
- ^ U.S. Federal Census for Kansas City, Ward 2, Jackson County, Missouri family no 191
- ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 pp.466, 471
- ^ Leonard p. 476; and note
- ^ http://www.virginiamemory.com/docs/votes_on_secession.pdf?_ga=1.136899061.456866595.1437301396 [bare URL PDF]
- ^ Richard L. Armstrong, 25th Virginia Infantry and 9th Battalion Virginia Infantry (Lynchburg, Virginia Regimental Histories Series) p. 147
- ^ Leonard p.
- ^ A MemorialandBiographical Record of Kansas City and Jackson County, Missouri(1896) available online, p. 145
- ^ Missouri History Encyclopedia 1901 p. 159 indicates the only judge of the Kansas City Court of Law and Equity