Person:Robert Cowan (10)

Name	Robert Cowan, Sr.
Gender	Male
Alt Birth?	1732
Birth?	1746	Virginia or Scotland
Marriage	est. 1766	to Susannah Woods
Death[1]	1784	Jefferson, Tennessee, United States

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Related

Overview

Robert Cowan is said to have married Person:Susannah Woods (1), daughter of Person:Michael Woods (2) and Ann Lambert, by the year 1776 when her father identifies his daughter as "Susannah Cown" in his will. ^[2]Michael (2) previously lived in Albemarle County, VA, near a kinsman Person:Michael Woods (1), but moved to a parcel in Botetourt County about 1762. ^[3]

Susannah is commonly said to have been born in 1751, but documentation for this DOB has not been found. If her DOB was indeed 1751, than we can presume that the marriage occurred well after the move of her parents to Botetourt County. This implies that Robert's family was living in or close to that area. ^[4] See, however: [Analysis. Vita for the family of Robert Cowan and Susannah Woods|DOB Analysis]]

Note 1

There is much conflicting information on this Robert Cowan. Some sources claim that his marriage date to Susannah Woods is 1775, but that would have been AFTER the birthdates of three of persons sometimes identified as his children. Also, based upon Susannah Woods' birthdate in 1751 (which also has conflicting dates), she would have been too young to have been the mother of at least one of these children. Some speculate that he had a previous marriage, a fact not particularly consistent with his commonly cited 1746 DOB. Obviously, more research is necessary to sort it out.

This Robert Cowan has been identified as a son of Samuel Cowan and Ann Walker, but based upon Robert's birthdate and the birthdate of Ann Walker, it appears she would have been too young to have been this Robert's mother. (She could have been no more than approximately 12 years old at this Robert Cowan's birth. Moreover, Samuel and Ann are believed to have not married until about 1763, and their eldest was was John Cowan, who was not yet of age by about 1783 when Robert (10) already has a near adult.

From Rootsweb.com posts:

From: Rosemary Ramsey Cox Subject: Re: [COWAN-L] Cowan Tibits - Items to file Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 18:30:28 EDT

... John Cowan who was at Harrods very early....John and James Cowan who were at Harrods. John Cowan kept a diary which is often referred to. I believe there is quite a bit of information about him available. Carolyn said she has information that James Cowan a brother to this John was a surveyor and was killed by Indians about 1774 while trying to dry his papers which had gotten wet in a storm. If anyone knows anything more about this James Cowan....

Note 2

From Laura Cowan Cooper, on Cowan List

[Seeking]... info on Caption John Cowan's Journal dated 1777 - it appears to be about the time that Harrod's Fort in Kentucky was about 3 years old and this John Cowan is called one of the early settlers of Harrods Town. It talks about Squire Boone and Jared Cowan arriving and then Boonesborough - there is mention of Fincastle County, VA so... it ties into the early settling of Kentucky. Laura Cowan Cooper

Records

From Chalkley’s Augusta County Records:

• Delinquents, Augusta County Levy for 1779: Robert Cowden, gone to Holstein. (Note: this record may likely be for this Robert Cowan that removed to "Holstein" (later Tennessee).

1. ↑ See: Analysis. DOD for Robert Cowan of Jefferson County
2. ↑ Robert is commonly identified as Susannah's husband. While we know from her father's will that she married a Cowan, direct evidence beyond "common knowledge", is needed to confirm that his first name was Robert."
3. ↑ This is about the time of death of Michael Woods (1) and the relocation of his son Archibald and others to the Savannah River area, in SC. Many identified Michael 2 as a son of Michael (1), but the latter is not mentioned in the formers will, and this identification appears to be a confusion.
4. ↑ On the otherhand, the Woods family was connected to various Cowan lines, and if Michael (2) was indeed related to these other Woods family (probablly true), then its possible that the intoduction of Susannah and Robert came though other family connections; in those circumstances it would not be necessary for Robert to be living near Michael (2) in Botetourt County.