|
|
Pg 34
HISTORY OF CLEVELAND 37
and Latin and for a period of forty-six years continued in active connection with
this school in different capacities, his labors constituting a strong and forceful
element in the growth of the college and the extension of its usefulness.
Rev. Henry Cowles was married in 1830 to Miss Alice Welch, whose parents
were Dr. Benjamin and Louisa (Guiteau) Welch of Norfolk, Connecticut. The
maternal ancestry was French Hugenot, representatives of the Guiteau family
fleeing to America at the time of the religious persecution of the Hugenots in
France. Dr. Ephraim Guiteau, the maternal great-grandfather of John G. W.
Cowles, was a physician, under whose direction Dr. Welch, later his son-in-law,
studied for some time. Following their marriage the Rev. and Mrs. Henry
Cowles came at once to Ohio and Mrs. Cowles proved her great usefulness as
principal of the ladies' department of Oberlin College. Her pleasing personality
and culture made her a favorite in the social circles there and her influence was
a dominating factor for development in intellectual and moral lines.
It was in the classic atmosphere of Oberlin that J. G. W. Cowles spent his
youthful days. He was there born March 14, 1836, and after pursuing his
studies in the public schools of the town pursued a preparatory course and in
1852 was matriculated in the college, being at that time but sixteen years of age.
He was graduated in 1856, at the age of twenty years, and soon afterward entered
upon preparation for the ministry. It had been his original purpose to
become a member of the bar but his plans of life changed in his senior year and
he took up his theological studies, depending, while pursuing that course, as he
had while pursuing his classical studies, upon his own labors for the money
necessary to meet his college expenses. The vacation periods were devoted to
teaching and in later years he also had charge of classes in the academic or preparatory
departments of the school, his special branch being elocution. While
pursuing the work of the senior year in the theological school he began to preach
as a licentiate, filling the pulpit of the Congregational church at Bellevue, Ohio,
in the fall of 1858. The following spring he was graduated and at that time
not only entered the ministry but also laid the foundation for a happy home life
in his marriage to Miss Lois M. Church, of Vermontville, Michigan, who had
also graduated from Oberlin in 1858. Accepting a regular call from the Bellevue
church, Mr. Cowles continued his work there until 1861, when he offered
his services to the government, then engaged in the Civil war, that he might carry
religious messages and ministrations to the boys in blue in the field. He was
elected chaplain of the Fifty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which had been
raised among his old neighbors in Huron, Erie, Sandusky and adjoining counties
and was commanded by Colonel John C. Lee, afterward lieutenant governor
of Ohio.
With the regiment Mr. Cowles went to West Virginia and saw service under
General Robert C. Schenck, General Milroy and General John C. Fremont in
the active campaigns of 1861-2. In the spring of the latter year he was with Fremont in
his famous pursuit of Stonewall Jackson up the valley of the Shenandoah
and was with the Fifty-fifth Ohio at the battle of Cross Keys in June,
1862. In the fall of that year he resigned as chaplain to accept the pastorate of
the Congregational church in Mansfield, Ohio, where he continued his ministerial
labors until the spring of 1865. In that year he became pastor of the Congregational
church at East Saginaw, Michigan, and during the six years which he there
spent not only greatly increased the spiritual strength of the people but also was
instrumental in erecting a fine church at a cost of sixty-five thousand dollars.
For a year while at East Saginaw ill health prevented his public speaking and
during that period he was editorially connected with the Saginaw Daily Enterprise,
a republican paper. Owing to continued physical disability that prevented
his preaching, he accepted a position as associate editor of the Cleveland
Leader, then owned and managed by Edwin Cowles. In January, 1871,
therefore, he came to this city and for about three years wrote the leading editorials
for that paper. He possessed superior literary style and his writings
Pg 38
|
|
