Cowgill, William B.

Born: 1833-03-29 Springfield, Illinois

Died: 1900-08-19

William B. Cowgill was a bookkeeper, merchant, real estate investor and salesman, and member of the Springfield Odd Fellows. His father, William M. Cowgill, was a well-established merchant in Springfield, and William B. worked as a bookkeeper in his father's business before turning to real estate. He lived in Petersburg, Illinois for a short time, but spent the rest of his life in Springfield. In 1853, he became secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association organized by the Reverend James Smith of the town's First Presbyterian Church. In May 1855, he married Margaret D. Sprigg, with whom he eventually had three children. In 1864, he enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army. He served in both Company A of the 77th Illinois Infantry and Company B of the 130th Illinois Infantry. He signed on for a term of three years but mustered out on August 15, 1865. He died in Spokane, Washington.

John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 233; History of Sangamon County, Illinois (Chicago: Inter-State, 1881), 652; Illinois Daily Journal (Springfield), 18 June 1853, 2:2; Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Gravestone, Greenwood Memorial Terrace, Spokane, WA.