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[edit] IntroductionCowan's Gap in Fulton County, Pennsylvania is named for an early settler in the area, Samuel Cowan. Samuel secured a 104 acre parcel at Cowan's Gap through a 1785 land warrant. The property was surveyed and patented a few years later. Nearby a Hugh Cowan took out a warrant on the same day that Samuel took out his own warrant. It seems highly likely that the two men were brothers, or at least close kin. Hugh dissappears from the tax records after 1791, and is not present in the 1800 census. He is presumed to be either dead, or to have left the immediate area. [1] On the otherhand, tax and census records show that Samuel continued to occupy this property up until about 1829 (See Data. Cowan Tax Records for Air and Dublin Townships, Bedford County, PA). An 1848 land transfer [2] shows that Samuel's property had passed into the hands of his son James. In 1848 James transferred this property to the sons (William, Hugh, and David) of his fathers unnamed brother, in exchange for past and future assistance. In 1850 Samuel is absent from the census record, but the three brothers are present on the property. At that time the head of household is listed as 72 year old Mary Cowan. Ten years later Mary and Hugh are missing, and William is listed as HOH, with David and 102 year old Margaret Cowan also shown as present. The presence of 72 year old Mary Cowan (born 1778) in 1850, and 102 year old Margaret Cowan (born 1758) in 1860 introduces considerable confusion in to the family picture. While we don't know the identity of the father of William, David, and Hugh (per James Cowan's land transfer to them), we at least know that they were the nephews of Samuel Cowan. We have no such certainty about Mary and Margaret. Mary seems to be too young to be the wife of a man who acquired the property at Cowan's Gap in 1784, and certainly too young to be the "old woman" of Maurer's "Romance of Cowan's Gap". Margaret, on the otherhand, is appropriately aged to be Samuel's wife, but if Samuel's wife, why wasn't she present in the 1850 census? The most common interpretation is that Mary and Margaret are the same person (perhaps "Mary Margaret Cowan"), and (tacitly) assume that the 1850 census age for this person is in error. This seems to receive acceptance because it conforms with the age (102) of "the old woman" in Maurer's 1899 article. Why "Mary" takes precedance over "Margaret" is not yet clear. In anycase, while this interpretation is commonly accepted (perhaps unthinkingly) it is likely that neither Mary nor Margaret were the wife of Samuel, the settler of Cowan's Gap. Rather, one or the other is most likely the wife of Samuel's unnamed brother, and mother of William, David, and Hugh. [edit] ConfusionGiven the number of steps in the transmission chain, and the considerable age of some of the parties involved (not the least of which is the original interviewee who was 102 at the time she related the above story), there would seem to be ample room for error to have crept into this story. Some elements can be verified, others can not. For example census records show that there was a "Margaret Cowan, age 102" present in this area in the 1860, just two years after "Mrs Cowan. age 102" gave her testimony. Even here, though, confusion abides; while we can confirm the age of Mrs. Cowan, we can't confirm her given name---Margaret Cowan may have been age 102, but none of our primary sources ever identify "Mrs. Cowan" as Margaret. Story elements that are problematic include the following:
[edit] ConfusionGiven the number of steps in the transmission chain, and the considerable age of some of the parties involved (not the least of which is the original interviewee who was 102 at the time she related the above story), there would seem to be ample room for error to have crept into this story. Some elements can be verified, others can not. For example census records show that there was a "Margaret Cowan, age 102" present in this area in the 1860, just two years after "Mrs Cowan. age 102" gave her testimony. Even here, though, confusion abides; while we can confirm the age of Mrs. Cowan, we can't confirm her given name---Margaret Cowan may have been age 102, but none of our primary sources ever identify "Mrs. Cowan" as Margaret. Story elements that are problematic include the following:
[edit] NotesOrigin of Cowans Gap According to: wp:Cowans Gap State Park citing PA State Parks literature: Cowans Gap is named for John and Mary Cowan, who settled there just after the American Revolution. The Cowans met in Boston in 1775. John Samuel Cowan was from a Loyalist family and Mary Mueller was from a Patriot family. Cowan reached the rank of Major in the British Army during the war, and returned to Boston at the conclusion of the war to ask for Mary's hand in marriage. The Mueller family forbade the marriage and John and Mary eloped. At first they settled in Chambersburg, where they lived for a few years before heading out for Kentucky. Their wagon was disabled while crossing Conococheague Creek near Fort Loudoun, so John Cowan traded his horses and broken wagon to a Tuscarora chief for the land that is now known at Cowans Gap. Cowan received a peace pipe and tomahawk rights, which entailed marking a large chestnut tree on his property with three slashes, as a sign of peace with the Tuscarora. John Cowan secured a deed for the land from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1785. The Cowans built their home along Forbes Road near the present day intersection of Aughick Road and Stumpy Lane. The land warrant for this property was issued to "Samuel Cowan" about 1785. A Mary Cowan appears in the 1850 census as a HOH in what is believed to be the general area of Cowan's Gap; she could could be the "Mary" in this story, but from the age she gives her DOB would have been about 1779. Also in this household is an adult William Cowan. He appears in the 1860 census as HOH, with a Margaret Cowan age 102. The age of this margaret matches that stated by B.L. Mauerer in his 1899 article about the "Romance of Gowans Gap". Perhaps this is the same person as "Mary" in the 1850 census, but with a different given age. In any event no independent record for a John Cowan,m of the right age, has been found in this area. Note/U> From: Madeline Whitney
John Cowan, b 1753 Dublin, Ireland, d unknown son: Samuel Cowan b 1792, Cowan's Gap, Franklin CO. Pa., d 1863 Franklin CO. PA. |