Person:James Cowan (35)

Name	James Cowan
Gender	Male
Birth^[1]	1761	prob. Augusta County, Virginia
Marriage	1795	prob. Tennesseeto Margaret Christian Russell
Death^[1]^[2]	15 Jun 1801	Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee

Smoky Mountain Cowan Tapestry

Records of James Cowan

Nathaniel Cowan for 125 pds, 2 sh. by Jas Cowan to Marg. Humes & David Campbell who has married Jane Glascow Cowan, now dec. heir of Jas Cowan, Dec., 2 parcels of land in Knoxville; David get 1/3 of live on, Margaret Humes gets 1/3, other 2 heirs 1/3; they get all on deaths of David Campbell and Margaret Humes; Ack 2 May 1817; rec 12 Dec 1817; Wit: Robt Campbell, Wm. Hockton ? Jas. White to Nath Cowan, Book Q, Vol. 1, p. 268--1/2 A. near Knoxville, l0 Jan 1818, $35, beg S side of River St. to corner of Lots 1 & 16...to Hugh L. White's line; 17 Jan 1818; reg 30 Jan 1818; Wit: H. Ramsey, R. M. Miller. [Source: Knox County, Book N, p. 214].

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Worth S. Ray. Tennessee Cousins: A History of Tennessee People. (Various - printed 1950, 1968, 1980 (Genealogical Pub. Co.))
pg. 242.

The old Churchyard of the First Presbyterian Church at Knoxville and its tombstones, are crammed with East Tennessee History. Here lie many "Tennessee Cousins" and their ancestors. Here begins the history of some of the first families of our beloved state. They read: (among others)

James Cowan - died June 15, 1801 in his 40th year.

Margaret Ramsey, born June 15, 1777, married James Cowan 1795; (2) Thomas Humes, 1802; and (3) A. Ramsey, 1820 - died April 10, 1854. (Note: Margaret's surname was "Russell" according to other sources).
↑ Rothrock, Mary Utopia, and East Tennessee Historical Society. Knox County History Committee. The French Broad Holston country, a history of Knox County, Tennessee. (Knoxville, Tennessee: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1946, c1972)
pg. 401 .

Cowan, James Hervey (Dec. 23, 1801-Oct. 25, 1871), merchant, was the son of James and Margaret (Russell) Cowan who married in Jefferson County, Tennessee, and removed to Knoxville in the early part of 1801. James Cowan's brothers, Nathaniel and Samuel Cowan, who conducted a store at Jonesboro were the first to establish a mercantile business in Knoxville. James, also opened a store but died in June of the same year.