Talk:Analysis:Henry Cowan of early Lancaster County, PA

Henry vs Henry [9 February 2010]

Terry

I guess I hadn't realized (or didn't understand the significance of some of Lightners letter), that David, John, and William were the sons of a David Cowan. Which makes it plausible that Henry was a fourth son. Did David the father immigrate to America? Is this the reason we have TWO David Cowans in the early Pequea Creek tax records?

Bill--Q 18:58, 8 February 2010 (EST)

Bill,

The William Lightner Cowan letter does state that David Cowan--the father of John, David and William--did come to the colonies, ca. 1719/1720. This conformed nicely with what is shown on the early Pequea tax rolls--the 2 Davids. One is obviously the David who died in 1758. None of the brothers were old enough themselves to have had sons old enough to be adults in 1724. So, the other David must be of the previous generation--the father David as stated by William Lightner Cowan. It is funny to think that many of us have been searching for this name for years and years, and it was generally known all the time among the descendants of Thomas Cowan, son of John (Dr. Cowan being a grandson of Thomas.)

I do not think it particularly unusual that Henry Cowan showed up first on the tax rolls. What is odd is the fact that John does not show up at all until his 1733 witness to the Fleming deed and his 1734 land warrant. He was the most "well-fixed," you might say of the 3 known brothers, so you would expect him there early on the tax rolls. Perhaps he lived in another area, and came in after the other brothers.

Henry Cowan as older brother is the likeliest--but not the only--possibility. He could have been a brother to the elder David, and thus uncle to the 3 brothers. The fact that he lived on, apparently, at least up until the late 1750s, however, suggests he was of the same generation as the known brothers. His close association with them suggests a sibling, rather than uncle/nephew relationship. The naming patterns of the known sons are interesing: John had sons John, Thomas, William and Henry; David had sons John, William, Henry, David, James and Robert; William had sons George, William, Benjamin, Joseph and Isaac. There are a number of Cowans in our R1b1b2 DNA group who are very closely matched to the descendants of the 3 known brothers, and who absolutely CANNOT be descended from one of the 3 brothers. They being descended from this Henry (through his possible son George, who moved to NC) is the likeliest scenario.

For now, this is the best quess.

Terry--Tjohncowan 10:23, 9 February 2010 (EST)

Terry, Glad to get your perspective on this. Placeing this kind of insight here, where its directly callable from a relevant person article, means we can recover this at will---But I think we want to place this information directly into some of the person pages. I don't believe we have a page for David the father. Perhaps we need to search elsewhere in PA for John at an earlier date---he might be nearby. However, note that John's land on Pequea Creek is sandwiched in between William and David's. This suggests to me that he was present when William and David settled their property---otherwise the land probably would not have been available. Q 12:06, 9 February 2010 (EST)