Cowan, Charles S.

Born: 1815-XX-XX New York, New York

Died: 1899-02-18 New York, New York

Flourished: 1838 to 1864 Oquawka, Illinois

Charles S. Cowan, court clerk and soldier, left his native New York City in 1838 and settled in Oquawka, Illinois. In 1846 he was a member of a partnership formed to manufacture furniture. Cowan was appointed clerk of the Henderson County Commissioners’ Court in 1847 and two years later became clerk of the Henderson County Court. He held the latter position until at least 1860. Cowan left Illinois for several months between late 1850 and the end of 1851 when he joined a company of men from the vicinity of Oquawka who traveled together to California in search of gold. In addition to serving as a court clerk, he was also town clerk of Oquawka from 1854 to 1857, and again from 1860 through 1861. In 1861, following the outbreak of the Civil War, Cowan raised a company of volunteers that joined the Tenth Illinois Infantry. He was selected as captain of the company, was promoted to major two years later, and mustered out in 1864. He apparently returned to New York City following his service. In 1865 Cowan’s wife Elizabeth, to whom he had been married nearly thirty years, sued for a divorce in Henderson County Circuit Court on the grounds that Cowan was a non-resident. Cowan lived the remainder of his life in New York City, where he engaged in the real estate business. In politics, he was first a Whig and later a Republican. He represented Henderson County at the 1858 Illinois Republican Convention. Cowan and his wife had children.

History of Mercer and Henderson Counties (Chicago: H. H. Hill, 1882), 882, 883, 900, 927, 941, 1014; The Oquawka Spectator (IL), 10 May 1848, 2:2; 16 January 1850, 2:2; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Oquawka, Henderson County, IL, 53; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 17 June 1858, 2:3; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Oquawka, Henderson County, IL, 304; Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; Oquawka Spectator (IL), 6 November 1850, 2:3; 26 February 1851, 2:2; 31 December 1851, 2:1; 28 September 1865, 4:2; 17 July 1879, 1:6; The New York Times (NY), 21 February 1899, 7:6; Gravestone, Forest Hill Cemetery, Utica, NY.