Robert Edwin Cowan (November 9, 1830 – July 14, 1887) was a Virginia lawyer and politician who served in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...

and the

Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 The Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 was called in Richmond to determine whether Virginia would secede from the United States, to govern the state during a state of emergency, and to write a new Constitution for Virginia, which was subsequent ...

and as a

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

officer. After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, he moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where he resumed his legal practice and was elected a judge before his death and burial in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Early and family life

Descended from the

First Families of Virginia First Families of Virginia (FFV) were those families in Colonial Virginia who were socially prominent and wealthy, but not necessarily the earliest settlers. They descended from English colonists who primarily settled at Jamestown, Williamsbur ...

, Robert Cowen was born in Staunton, Virginia on November 9, 1830 to Arthur Cowan (1807–1879) and his wife, the former Elizabeth Floyd who married in

Monongalia County, Virginia Monongalia County, known locally as Mon County, is located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 105,822, making it West Virginia's third-most populous county. Its county seat is at Morgantown. The coun ...

on August 9, 1829. Cowen's ancestors had moved from northern Ireland to Pennsylvania early in the 18th century, and by the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

were attempting to settle in the Shenandoah and

Clinch River The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than through the Great Appalachian Valley in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee, gathering various tributaries, including the Powell River, before joining the Tennessee River in Ki ...

valleys. They had at least three sons: Robert E. Cowen, John T. Cowen and James P. Cowen, and many grandchildren. Robert E. Cowen married the former Susan Louisa Cresap (1833-1919), whose ancestors had explored and settled in the Appalachian foothills of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia and whose grandfather

Thomas Cresap Colonel Thomas Cresap (17021790) was an English-born settler and trader in the states of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Cresap served Lord Baltimore as an agent in the Maryland–Pennsylvania boundary dispute that became known as Cresap's War. Lat ...

also fought for independence in the American Revolutionary War. Their children included Arthur Cresap Cowan (1858-1927), Charles Perry Cowan (1860-1902), Robert Cowan (1862-) and Ada Lee Cowan Woodson (1866-1953).

Career

After admission to the Virginia bar, Cowen became a clerk in the Virginia General Assembly. While the legislature was not in session, Cowan lived and practiced in Kingwood the county seat of

Preston County Preston County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population was 34,216. Its county seat is Kingwood, West Virginia, Kingwood. The county was form ...

(in what became

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

after the

). Beginning in 1857, Preston County voters elected Cowen as one of two men to represent them (part-time) in the

. He first won election alongside J. C. Kemble in 1857, and re-election in 1859 alongside John Scott (Virginia), and during most of the American Civil War served as that county's only delegate in Richmond. Months after the Virginia Secession Convention expelled Unconditional Unionists William G. Brown (a former Virginia General Assembly delegate and U.S. Congressman) and James Clark McGrew on June 29, 1861 because of the

Wheeling Convention The 1861 Wheeling Convention was an assembly of Virginia Southern Unionist delegates from the northwestern counties of Virginia, aimed at repealing the Ordinance of Secession, which had been approved by referendum, subject to a vote. The first ...

that May (in which many men from Preston County but not they, participated), five men from Preston County at a Confederate camp in Pocahontas County on October 24, 1861 elected this Robert E. Cowan (another Confederate officer of the same name and distantly related, but from Russell County, Virginia would die months later) to replace Brown, and his brother-in-law and newly admitted lawyer Charles J. P. Cresap to replace McGrew. During the Civil War, Cowan left Preston County and moved to Richmond, where in addition to his part-time legislative service, Cowan served as a Captain, assistant Commissary and Subsistence officer. Major A.G. Regar recommended him for the job, and he was appointed on January 26, 1862 as of January 18. Reassigned on June 5, 1863, as the ACS was disbanded, Cowan then applied to become 3rd auditor in the post office on December 23, 1863, and to become a clerk in the Treasury Department on April 9, 1864. Cowan was the only delegate representing Preston County (part-time) in Richmond between 1861 and mid-1863. Beginning on September 7, 1863 until the war's end, he and Charles J. P. Cresap both represented Preston County in the House of Delegates in Richmond.

Postwar Missouri years

After the war, Cowan moved his family (and sister in law Mary Cresap) to Kansas City, Missouri, where he practiced law together with former CSA Major Blake L. Woodson (b. 1835), formerly of

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is ...

and who had studied under John Brockenbrough in Lexington, Virginia. In 1884 Kansas City voters elected Woodson their prosecuting attorney and re-elected him in 1886. Their legal partnership had continued until Cowan was elected a judge (and Woodson would later become a judge).

Death and legacy

Judge Cowan died in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

on July 14, 1887, and is buried in Bellefontaine cemetery.findagraveNo. 39909701 By then, his son Arthur had moved to Jacksonville, Florida, but Charles and Ada Lee remained with their widowed mother.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Robert Edwin 1830 births 1887 deaths Virginia lawyers Missouri lawyers 19th-century American judges Virginia Secession Delegates of 1861 Members of the Virginia House of Delegates People from Kingwood, West Virginia People from Staunton, Virginia 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American lawyers