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D. Atkinson, November, 2011 [edit] Related
[edit] PreambleThis information is being posted to assist others in researching this line. The following analysis is based on information from my own family, the work of other researchers over the past 30 plus years, and my own more recent work. There are multiple "Robert Cowan's" in northeastern TN during the settlement period, and data for these different individuals has become intermixed, making it difficult to sort out their individual identities. The identities of person:Robert Cowan (20) and Person:Robert Cowan (10) have, in particular, been commonly confused. The purpose of this analysis is to show what can be shown to be true about Robert Cowan (20) based on original source documentation. This is a work in progress and much additional work is still needed. [edit] Related
[edit] BackgroundAccording to early (1970s) research, Robert Cowan was born 6 Jan 1744 and died in 17 Sept 1826. Numerous researchers reported their work on Robert and his line in the pages of the family newsletter, Cowan Clan United. In their work Robert’s father was commonly identified as James Cowan and his grandfather as Samuel. With so many researchers, there was no reason to question the conclusions. Today, YDNA analysis shows that this ancestry is most likely incorrect. The family relationships for Robert Cowan as given by many genealogists, ares somewhat confused. Part of this confusion may have arisen because there is another Robert Cowan living in the same general area as Robert (20) about the same time. While Robert (20) lived in Sullivan County, Robert (10) lived in nearby Washington County, Tn. YDNA evidence suggests that Robert Cowan of Washington County is related to the James/Mary Cowan of the Knoxville Grouping. Need to check this. I thought Robert of Washington was in the 7B Group.Q 12:54, 19 November 2013 (UTC) Quolla: you are correct. I am saying that old research shows this connection and this is not correct. That incorrect information is still out on the net and very strong. It was wrong per dna. Deed records for Robert (20) suggest that he was an educated man. He signed his deeds with an "educated" form of writing which indicates education. He had a will that seems to be well-constructed and is signed and sealed. The descendants seemed to have knowledge of the legal system and tried to get an education. This gives evidence if an educated person versus someone who signs documents with an X and doesn't know the legal system. That being the case and during this time frame, he might have been educated in Scotland. Robert Cowan b. 1744 dna is only 2-3 markers off of the surnames of Napier, Jamieson, Templeton,and others at 111 and beyond. All results can be seen under Sullivan A on the Cowan dna website at familytreedna. Results put this dna as Pict of Northern Scotland.DNA tests DNA also match the McDonald lines of Scotland within 2 markers at 67. DNA for Robert Cowan is on MacDonald site of USA. The dna matches an MacDonald ancient ancestor per this dna site. Robert may have come from Scotland, but he could also have come from Ireland, or even England, and still shared a similar YDNA to the McDonalds. YDNA of his descendants may indeed be close to some descendants of McDonalds with clan McDonald connections, but there are probably many different independent lines of McDonalds, and they would not all share even similar haplotypes. </ref>Some of the children and grandchildren of this line were attending educational institutions even during these early years.Source? The assumption is made mostly from my own research and others. The wives of these families had wills, the families used the court systems a lot and many were doctors. The doctor profession appears to enter when the families intermarried with the Delaney lines which have doctors. See below for Dr. Robert S. Cowan, a great grandson. A grandson was a prominent doctor in the Greene County/Dade County area. Robert of 1744 could write and also seems to have knowledge of law and served on local committees indicating an "education" of some type. He is not typical of the "frontier adventurer" although he is on the edge of the colonies early. No documentation has been found to support this assumption. The identity of Roberts parents are unknown. The obituary of Dr. Robert Shelby Cowan, a great grandson of Robert, suggests that Robert Cowan came to America as an adult, and may have come alone. "ROBERT S. [sic, Should be S for Shelby]. COWAN, M. D., has been practicing medicine at Girard for more than twenty years,and his high professional standing among the physicians of this county is indicative of the success that he has attained in his career. He is a native of Sullivan County ,Tenn., born March 9, 1833, a son of George R. Cowan, a native of East Tennessee and a grandson of Robert Cowan, who was born in the North of Ireland, being a descendant of Scotch ancestry. He came to America before the Revolution in the prime of young man hood and when the war broke out between the Colonists and the Mother Country he entered the Continental army, and did brave service in the cause of liberty. He fought under Gen. Washington, and was with the army when it crossed the Delaware. When peace was declared he resided in Virginia for a time, and then removed to Tennessee, of which he was a pioneer, and there his life was brought to a close at a ripe age. The maiden name of his wife, great-grandmother of subject, was Nancy Rutledge. She is thought to have been born in South Carolina, and she died in Tennessee. She was the mother of five sons, James, Andrew, William, George and John. The three elder sons served under Jackson at the battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. [1]
(Added 3-2-2012) Portrait and Biographical Record of Macoupin County, Illinois-Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County together with Biographies of all the Governors of the State, and of the Presidents of the united States. Chicago Biographical Publishing Company 1891:Page 320 Robert S. Cowan, M. D., has been practicing medicine at Girard for more than twenty years and his high professional standing among the physicians of this county is indicative of the success that he has attained in his career. He is a native of Sullivan county, Tenn., born March 9, 1833, a son of George R. Cowan, a native of East Tennessee and a grandson of Robert Cowan, who was born in the North of Ireland, being a descendant of Scotch ancestry. He came to America before the Revolution in the prime of young manhood (note: this is same as obit above) and when the war broke out between the Colonists and the Mother Country he entered the Continental army (This would probably be the First or Second Continental Army, not the State Militias that became the Continental Army much later) and did brave service in the cause of liberty. He fought under Gen. Washington, and was with the army when it crossed the Delaware. When peace was declared, he resided in Virginia for a time, and then removed to Tennessee of which he was a pioneer and there his life was brought to a close at a ripe age. The maiden name of his wife, great-grandmother of subject, was Nancy Rutledge. She is thought to have been born in South Carolina, and she died in Tennessee. She was the mother of five sons, --James, Andrew, William, George, and John. The three elder sons served under Jackson at the battle of New Oreleans during the War of 1812. The father of our subject was reared and married in Tennessee. Mary May becoming his wife. She was a native of that State, and a daughter of Dr. Samuel and Catherine (Shelby) May. Her father was a native of England, and a surgeon by profession. Mr. Cowan early learned the trade of a tanner, and engaged in the business at Paperville, Sullivan County. He also had an interest in a paper mill and other manufacturing industries. He was a man of marked energy of character, of many resources, and very capable. In 1838, he resolved to try his fortunes in the State of Missouri, that was still in the hands of the pioneers, his bold, resolute spirit, hardy nature and powers of endurance fitting him to cope with the many difficulties to be encountered in settling in a new country. With his wife and six children he embarked on a flat-boat and floated down the Holston River to the Ohio, where he boarded a steamer that bore him and his family down the waters of the Ohio and up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers to Boonville, Mo. He located in Polk County and entered large tracts of Government land in different counties, which he subsequently improved with slave labor. He resided for some years in that part of Polk County now included in Cedar County, and then sold his property there and removed to St. Clair County (Note: St. Clair is right next to Dade County in this area) where he had previously entered land. He erected suitable buildings and improved a large farm, which he made his home until 1854. In that year he went to Bolivar, the county-seat of Polk County to reside, and soon after he was appointed Judge of Probate, and held that office with distinction until the breaking out of the war. He then retired to private life, and passed the remaining days in the home of a daughter at Sarcoxie, Jasper County, Mo., dying January 1, 1874. He had been bereaved of his wife many years before, she dying in St. Clair County, Mo. in 1852. She was the mother of his six children, of whom these are the names.--Catherine, George, Nancy, Robert S., Mary and Salina. Our subject was but a child when his parents migrated to Missouri, and he was reared under pioneer influences. There were no free schools in Missouri in his younger days, and he gained the preliminaries of his education in the school house that his father erected on his land, under the instruction of a teacher that his father employed. Later he became a student at Ebenezer College, ten miles north of Springfield, Mo., and there he laid a solid foundation for his medical studies, which he commenced at the age of twenty-three, under the tuition of Dr. Samuel B. Bowles, of Greenfield. He afterward further prepared himself for his profession by attending lectures at the Missouri Medical College, and he began upon his career as a physician in Dade County. From that county the Doctor went in a short time to Newton County, where there seemed to be a wider field of usefullness, and he was engaged in active practice there when the war broke out. Having been reared in a slave state his sympathies naturally went out to the Southern cause and he offered his services to the Confederate States in 1861, many of his life-long fiends enlisting at the same time, and he was appointed Assistant Surgeon of the Third Missouri Calvalry. (Note: These records are available at the Missouri State Archives in Jefferson City, Missouri) He was soon promoted to be Surgeon of his regiment, and did valuable service in that capacity in Price's army for three years, gaining an experience in those trying times that added to his professional knowledge and increased his reputation for skill and ability. (Note: his uncle, Robert Cowan of this narrative, was in the Union Army as 1st Lieutenant) At the expiration of that time he resigned his position and went to Mexico (Note: probably because he was a Confederate and had been defeated)where he spent six months. After that he staid in New Oreleans until the spring of 1865, when he came to this county (Macoupin)and opened an office at Nilwood (Il). In 1869, he came from there to Girard (Il), and has been in continuous practice here since. The Doctor's success may be partly attributable to his frank, generous nature, and his courteous and thoughtful treatment of all with whom he comes inc ontact, his manner gaining him popularity and friendship on all sides. He is a member of the Macoupin County Society for Medical Improvements, and also of the State Medical Society. Dr. Cowan was happily married in 1854 to Elizabeth Weir, a native of Cooper County, Mo., and a daughter of the Rev. Samuel and Mary B. (Stephens) Weir. (Note: the Stephens family is well-known in Cooper County)Our subject and his wife have five children living, namely: George R., a graduate of the St. Louis Medical College, and now his father's assistant; Mary, wife of Ed. E. McCoy, of Springfield, Ill,; Florence; Dollie and Elizabeth G. Robert Cowan was buried in the Old General Delaney Cemetery (now the Cowan-Delaney Cemetery)in Sullivan County, Tn. Per Sullivan County Historical Society the Old Delaney Cemetery of Sullivan County is near the Rooty Branch Road and Lakeview Road near Bluff/Bristol, Tn. A Pemberton Road is nearby. The Pemberton name is associated with this family.In 2011, the cemetary was not visible from the road but is in undergrowth on a hillside covered with trees. It is possible the cemetary would be visible from a nearby church cemetary but due to undergrowth, time restraints and inclement weather, access was not made in 2011. Robert Cowan's will is on file in Sullivan County, Tennessee. It is typewriten. Since typewriters weren't in use in 1826, the question was raised about the authenticity of this copy. When the "aggressors" came through in the Civil War, documents were burned according to a historian of the area. After the war, families were asked to bring in documents for transcription. According to both Washington County, Va and Sullivan County, Tn Historical Societies, some families changed these documents. Further information states that rebuilding the courthouse files was done through a WPA project. This note was obtained along with a copy of the will online. A confirming copy of the will was obtained from Sullivan County, Tn Probate: Nancy and Robert Cowan are buried at the Old General Delaney Cemetery which is near their farm. Nancy's father, William(George per some sources) Rutledge, is also buried there . General Rutledge’s body was moved at time of the death of Nancy's mother. None of their original gravestones are legible. The DAR Marker reads Robert Cowan, Pennsylvania, Pvt 1 Bn, Lancaster Co., Mil. Revolutionary War,(Revolutionary War Service proven to be in the 7th Continental Line of North Carolina in 2013) June 18, 1754 Feb 16, 1840. (Note: The dates of 18 Jan 1854 16 Feb 1840 appear to be a mix of birth and death dates of Robert’s wife, Nancy Rutledge Cowan.) It appears that the bronze marker contains incorrect dates for Robert from his wife Nancy’s dates and now has been carried forward as Robert’s death dates. According to old research, a DAR application was placed in the 1930s for this marker but the application was rejected, the marker remained. A check of DAR records does not show a Robert Cowan as a DAR Patriot. The stones have become worn and unreadable in 2011. However, older researchers could read these stones and the dates shown on the stones were those given above for birth and death. The lines of all of the children have been carried down either by Bibles, research or other families. To date, 2014, nothing more is known of this Robert Cowan. The children married into the Susong, Delaney, Willet, King, Sharpe, Carlock,Carmack, Netherland, Moss, McConnell lines of the Sullivan County/Virginia area. Most of these families are well-researched and documented in the Sullivan County area. Robert Cowan is not mentioned except as a husband to Nancy Rutledge. The silence in this area may prove to be important in discovering just who he is and where he came from. [edit] Footnotes
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