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[edit] Related
[edit] IntroductionThe following is based on readily available online records for the Albemarle, Augusta, and Bedford County areas, as pointed to in the "Related" section above. While records for Augusta are voluminous, the online records for Albemarle and Bedford seem quite limited. Additional records for these areas are available in microfilm format, and a thorough search of those sources may yield better insight into the problems discussed below. Note that while the following discussion uses the "Cowan" spelling of the surname, the "Cowen", "Cowon", and "Cowin" have also been searached in those online sources immediately available. Occasional records recovered may include other surname variants, such as McCown and Cown, etc, but variants such as these have not been systematically searched. [edit] OverviewMembers of the Seven Brother Cowans settled in Albemarle and Bedford probably by 1734. They are believed to have come from Pennsylvania with Person:Michael Woods (1) and his extended family. That extended family included of the Campbell, Wallace, Cowan, and Gass lines who had originally settled in the Lancaster and Cumberland portions of Old Chester. About prior to 1733 they moved westward into the Cumberland Valley area. Beginning about 1734 they passed south through the Shannandoah Valley to settle either in what became Augusta County on the west side of the Blue Ridge, or in Albemarle/Bedford Counties on the east side of the Blue Ridge. Those who settled in Albemarle County are found clustered in a relatively small area between the Meachum River to the east, the Blue Ridge to the west, and between Rockfish Gap to the south and Woods Gap (now Jarmans Gap) to the north. Land and court records place them there after 1734. Members of the Cowan branch of this family are documented to be present in the area west of the Blue Ridge, around Staunton, by 1741, when some of their children are baptized by the Reverend John Craig of Tinkling Springs Meeting House.[1] They were probably in the area before this date, but their presence earlier than 1741 has not been documented.
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