We reviewed this letter at PRONI. D/654/B1/2B Londonderry Papers Jan 1730 Out letter book containing copy letters from Robert Cowan, Bombay to seniors and colleagues including William Phipps, John Gould, and James McCrae in London. About events in the trading stations, the help given to Portuguese to combat the Marrattas, news of the Portuguese and their dealing in Africa, the Dutch and the maintenance of their posittion at Mocha, and about Angria's son who appear to be more destructive than their father. There is also information about Cowans private trading and the discovery of Brazilian diamonds and its effect on the commission Cowan received for diamonds sent from India to London, and on his chances of remitting his fortune to England. He refers to his brother William, who he employs on the China trade route, the provisions he has made for his father, appointing Benjamin Davis his attorney and his willingness to buy his cousin THOMAS STEWART'S estate in DONEGAL. Regards, Robert Cowan

My favorite Ulster ancestor is Sir Robert Cowan, son of Alderman John Cowan of Londonderry and grandson of Robert Cowan, presbyterian elder who was married 1662, St. Columb's (Derry) Cathedral. I am fond of him because he was kind enough to write a letter in 1733 discussing the family genealogy which confirmed what my "uncle" Dr. James B. Cowan wrote in 1895 from Tullahoma, Tn. when he too was writing a letter to a distant relative about the family genealogy. It sure helps to have ancestors who kept the family tree up to date and like I have said many times, "Skill in genealogy is good but luck is much better." Sir Robert Cowan made his fortune while employed with the East India Company and his younger sister Mary inherited it after his death. She married yet another Stewart, Alexander Stewart of the Ards, and they lived in the BIG house called Mount Stewart which is on the National Trust. >From The Cowans of Stirling who provided goods to the royal family at Stirling Castle to the Derry Cowans including merchant John Cowan and his son Sir Robert Cowan we seem to have always been in the mercantile trade. Perhaps that is why two of my 5th great uncles, Nathaniel and Samuel Cowan opened the first store in Knoxville, Tennessee continuing on the tradion of their fathers. Regards, Robert Cowan My kids all call me "Sir"

It's just like Robert Cowan to select a Cowan from his Derry line as his favorite Ulster ancestor. Surely, a reasonable Cowan-kin with a knowledge of the facts of the matter would select from my line John Cowan of County Down as the favorite Ulster Cowan. My John Cowan certainly ruffled more feathers, having relocated from Scotland to settle in Sheepstown to the north of Newry "in 1637 in consequence of a duel," according to Ashworth P. Burke, FAMILY RECORDS. Only the scions of the better families resolved their differences by dueling in that distant century. No farther complaints have been recorded from the Cowan contestant. This swordplay seems not unlike the antics of John Cowane of Stirling in the late 1580s who was rebuked and reprimanded by the Stirling Council for "brandishing his wanger." In his maturity, by 1653, John Cowan had gained notoriety as an individual who, by his "known attachment to monarchial and Presbyterian principles, and by [his] station and influence" had become "most obnoxious" to the Cromwellian Parliament in Dublin, and designated for transportation to Munster. [Declaration by the Commissioners for the settling and securing the province of Ulster; dated at Carrickfergus, the 23rd of May 1653.] In the 1700's the Cowans of Newry were prominent merchants in the linen industry. Robert Cowan, advocate of Sir Robert Cowan as his favorite Ulster ancestor, is not alone in having a distinguished Cowan attend to the family line, for my fourth great uncle, Robert W. Cowan, is noted in the HISTORICAL CYCLOPEDIA OF INDIANA AND ARMSTRONG COUNTIES PENNSYLVANIA [Philadelphia, 1891], as stating that his "paternal grandfather, John Cowan, was born in county Down, Ireland, and settled in [1796] at Cowan's, Armstrong county." My Cowans, too, followed the mercantile tradition, by maintaining a country store along the railroad line, in the village named for them, Cowansville. Interestingly, my son, somewhat like a homing pigeon, now resides in Havertown, Pennsylvania, in Chester County, where Hugh Cowan of Co. Down, the first Down Cowan immigrant, settled in the 1720s. John Cowan Cowan of Cowansville My kids call me "Collect"

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/DMQ.2ACIB/801.2.1 Message Board Post: Jesse R Cowan was born on Kansas on Feb 26, 1881. His parents were listed on his birth certificate as Frank William Cowan born in Missouri. His mother was listed as Mary E. Foster born in Kansas. Once again I am at a dead end. I have a feeling from what I have been told Columbus Kansas seems to be an area where some family lived at one time. However I can not locate any connections regarding Jesse's parents. Any help would be greatly appreciated.. Thanks Lori

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Cowan Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/DMQ.2ACIB/145.151.562 Message Board Post: Do you have any of the names of the children of Andrew and Mary Walker Cowan?

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Cowan Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/DMQ.2ACIB/145.151.153.154.155.157.590.1 Message Board Post: Do you know any of the names of Andrew and Mary Walker Cowan's children?

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Cowan, Kaston, Stanard Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/DMQ.2ACIB/809 Message Board Post: Looking for links to David Burnett COWAN (b.1873). He married Phoebe Amy EDWARDS in NY circa 1897. His parents were David James Andrew COWAN (b. NY abt 1846) and Henrietta SHERMAN ( b. New Jersey abt 1846). From 1880 Census he had one brother - John C (1889) and one sister - Marian G. (1877)

Hi all. On another genealogy e-list I read about this site. These people specialize in repairing and rebinding Bibles and other books. I have no experience with them and I'm not recommending them, but the site certainly looked interesting and useful. http://www.bookmenders.com/

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: COWAN Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/DMQ.2ACIB/808.1 Message Board Post: While I'm not related to this family I do have an old CDV of Emiline from about 1875-79. I'd like to get it to a family member. Thanks.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: COWAN Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/DMQ.2ACIB/808 Message Board Post: Anyone with any knowledge of this Cowan family? They were living in Pontiac, Livingston, IL in 1900. Emiline was born in 1872. Augustus listed his "occupation" as capitalist. Thanks. Joe McDonough

Does anyone connect to a James C. Cowan b. 1879, son of William A. and Jane S. Cowan. In 1880 census Fannin Co. TX.? Would appreciate hearing from you. Thanks, Betty

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/DMQ.2ACIB/611.2 Message Board Post: Hi Lee, My wife is descended from William Cowan and Mary Moloy. Do you know the parents of William? Best anton

Our Northern Ireland adventure is over, the answers found and it is time to move on; to Stirling in Scotland with the prospect of new "finds"and more adventures. For almost six years I have researched the Presbyterian Ulsterman and in doing so found four obscure out of print publications that should be included in every library. Before my focus changes to Scottish research I am offering to interested researchers ONE last time the opportunity to purchase (cost of copies and postage) the following items. All items have either expired copyrite provisions or in the case of the Hagy thesis I have the authors permission to reproduce the document. They are: The Laggan and its Presbyterianism and In the Days of the Laggan Presbytery, 1905, 1908, by the Rev. Alexander Lecky, B.A. member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Belfast, Davidson & McCormack, 54 King St. 211 pages. On our trip we met JB Shannon age 90, who assisted in the 1975 reprinting and he was a window to the past. He is the last living person who had anything to do with these books and says they are still the BEST source for Ulster presbyterian research. From Lecky I quote, "The lists of names of former generations of Lagganeers, and their places of abode, that are given in the Appendixes, and which NEVER before appeared in print, whilst they may of necessity prove dull reading to those who have no acquaintance with the locality, will not, I hope, be altogether uninteresting to those who bear the same name, or live in the same places...." If I send this post to your list it means your surname is listed in the appendix. Cost: $25.00 Fighters of Derry, Their Deeds and Descendants, being a Chronicle of Events in Ireland during the Revolutionary period 1688-1691, by William R. Young, 1932, Eyre and Spottiswoode, London 350 pages. Contains the following biographical sketches: (1500) 1. The leaders of the County Associations, who with their levies took part in the Preliminary operations and contributed much of the man power for the Defence. 2. The Apprentice Boys and those responsible for shutting the gates on the 8th Dec. 1688. 3. The actual Defenders during the 105 day siege (over 1200 genealogical sketches) 4. Those engaged in the relief of the city. One of the most difficult sources to locate, in fact almost impossible. Months worth of reading and packed with great genealogy. Cost: $25.00 A History of the Siege of Londonderry and Defense of Enniskillen in 1688 and 1689, with Historical Poetry and Biographical Notes, by the Rev. John Graham, M.A. Rector of Magilligan in the Dicese of Derry. Includes the Battles of the Boyne, Athlone, and Aughrim and the siege and Capitulation of Limmerick by Lord Macaulay, Toronto, 1869 The historical poems are family genealogies about those who were at Derry and where they came from. Along with "Fighters of Derry" these two sources contain more actual genealogical information than any others that I have seen. 311 pages Cost: $25.00 Castle's Woods: Frontier Virginia Settlement, 1769-1799, A thesis presented to the Faculty of the Department of History, East Tennessee St. University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts, by James W. Hagy, 1966, 150 pages. The most popular of the documents offered it covers the families who settled in Russell county, Virginia when it was considered the frontier. If your ancestors came through southwest Virginia this document is the history of your family. Contains information of specific families as well as the farmers, speculators, artisans, and preachers who resided there. Lots on the Indian battles that were a daily feature of life on the frontier. Names like Russell, Walker, Porter, Cowan, Houston, Boone, Montgomery, Fraley, Thompson, Anderson, Kilgore and 50 or so other "Scotch-irish" families make this an invaluable resourch for your family history. Cost: $25.00 I only post these offerings to a tiny fraction of the lists and only to those lists where your surnames are mentioned. After I make the offering I insubscribe because my e-mail box will fill up in about ten minutes. I am always on the Cowan and Wigton-Walker lists and you can e-mail me at [email protected] and ask any question you like. I will always attempt to answer your questions although it is unlikey I hold the key to who your great grandma was. If you are interested in the results of our trip to Donegal and Belfast please check the COWAN-L archives and you will see the posts we made during the last week or so. Thanks for your interest and I hope making this information available has helped some of you. I always enjoy getting e-mails from fellow researches. Also a big thanks to those of you who sent family information to us before our trip. It was appreciated and a special thanks to Alex Latta from Canada who turned us on to James Fleming. The trip would not have been the same without that piece of the puzzle. Regards, Robert Cowan 525 Harrogate Rd. Matthews, North Carolina 28105 (704)847-4081

How do we relate to our ancestors? How do we gain the empathy to have personal feelings for these individuals at the head of one chart, the tail end of another? Robert Cowan and I talked with many individuals on our research journey: in the comfort of their homes into which we were so graciously invited, in automobiles as we where shown the byways and the sites off the highways; in research institutions, in coffee shops and pubs, at tourist locations, in the field and on the street. Our ears were open, and as we drove about, our eyes recorded what the textbooks just don't seem to get. I realized a few hours ago I had grown. Growing hurts. It is painful, disruptive, it causes a reassessment. It's unsettling and makes one tentative, protective of new growth. We had planned our research and implemented our plans. Our research went well, incredibly well. We had worked hard, we had worked smart and we spent what we needed to succeed. We had been lucky. And we were touched by what we were told. I noted a tone almost of apology in what we were told by our conversationalists. The skilled tradesman thatching a roof at the Ulster Folk Museum talked with us over an hour explaining his trade, showing us samples. The flax grown in Donegal is suitable only in the cordage industry. Do you understand those economic implications? The Bushmills guide explained that the grain for the distillation of Bushmill products came from the south of Ireland where the whether was more consistent, the sun hotter and the crops more reliable than in the north of Ireland. What does that tell us about the North of Ireland, the north of Donegal, the north of Antrim and Derry? Fleming explained. The sun in Donegal does not get hot enough to bring grain crops to a proper ripeness. There is too much cold rain. There are too many cloudy days. There is not enough sun. Typical crops rot in the field. Field crops don't grow to seed and ripen. They are grown for fodder, for silage for cattle. This is O.K. This is what is known now and treated scientifically. Under all is the land. Over time, land will be used for its highest and most productive purposes. The land in Donegal is for pasturage, not for grain and garden crops. It is so now. It was so 100, 200, 300 years ago and more. This is truth. The land was and is an extension of the Scottish Highlands. Sheep thrive there. Cattle do well. It is not a garden. It is not the land of milk and honey. They do not have fruit trees; there are no groves. It is not England. The wind rakes the blossoms from the boughs. The 1609 Plantation efforts were a terrible failure in that part of Ireland. Read Hanna. He makes the Plantation project into the desert that blossomed under the efforts of the protestant work ethic and the happy gestation place of American freedoms and liberty. Hanna is propaganda. We know now the manifold conditions under which our ancestors left Ireland. The rents, the trade conditions, the political situation, the religious entanglements, the crop failures. THE CROP FAILURES. The land simply would not produce a level and consistent market product to sustain the population. I could see this with my eyes. I could hear this with my ears. I knew this was the living truth, the cold, damp reality from which our ancestors turned their backs to the inhospitable cold, the hunger, the dank clouds of depression. They could not stay and stay the same. They had to move, they had to grow. There were few alternatives. This is what I saw, this is what I really came to understand. The wind rakes the blossoms from the boughs. Stand in their shoes, feel the anger, the sadness, the frustration of working year after year all for naught. This is a way to know them, those men and women of the 1700's who came here, who left Ireland, who cut that Gordian knot for new cordage and newer ties that bind. jcmaclay

I did not know about the dates folks, and thought you might not either... This information came from a genealogy mailing list. How many of us have failed to read the instructions for searching the census? I know I've been guilty of just assuming what I see was the truth, and subsequently, may have dismissed some census, especially those in the time period previous to 1850, as not being the correct line, because it didn't fit my preconceived notions of the number of people in that family. Of course, people being people, these instructions may not have been totally followed by every > census taker, but it does help to know about this surprising instruction. Here are some details about the mechanics of taking a census that most of us probably haven't paid much attention to. Beginning with the 1790 (first) federal census and continuing with every census thereafter, each enabling law authorized by Congress specified a census day for gathering the census information from every household in America. From 1790 to 1820, the census day was the first Monday in August. The census day was NOT the day the enumerator arrived at a household, it was the day for which all the statistics of the census were collected. The actual instructions given to all the U.S. Marshals right before the 1820 census explains: "....all the questions refer to the day when the enumeration is to commence; the first Monday in August next. Your assistants will thereby understand that they are to insert in their returns all the persons belonging to the family on the first Monday in August, even those who may be deceased at the time when they take the account; and, on the other hand, that they will not include in it, infants born after that day." Similar instructions have been given for every census since 1790, but with different census days. Census day for each census, 1790-1920, and the time allowed to take the census: 1790 2 August 9 months 1800 4 August 9 months 1810 6 August 10 months 1820 7 August 13 months 1830 1 June 12 months 1840 1 June 18 months 1850 1 June 5 months 1860 1 June 5 months 1870 1 June 5 months 1880 1 June 1 month 1890 1 June 1 month 1900 1 June 1 month 1910 15 April 1 month 1920 1 January 1 month Genealogists should record two dates when copying information from the censuses: the census day and the enumeration date. No matter how many months it took for an enumerator to reach a house, he was supposed to gather the information as if time had stopped on the census day. Every person whose regular abode was in a particular household on the census day was to be enumerated, even if a person were away at the time of the enumeration. Understanding the impact of the census day versus the enumeration date may explain why certain people appear in a census listing, even though you have other evidence to show the person died before the household was enumerated. If a person were alive on the census day, that person was to be included - even if it took some time for the enumerator to get around to the house to take the census. The person could have been dead for several months. Or, you may wonder why that youngest child in a family was not listed in a census. If a child were born after the census day, that child was not to be included - even if the census taker had visited the house and was aware of a playful little toddler crawling around in front of him. For example, on the 1880 Census the information was to be as of 1 June 1880. Births before 1 June would be counted; those coming after 1 June would not be counted. People dying before 1 June would not be enumerated but those dying after 1 June would be enumerated. That means if someone died June 2 but the census was not enumerated until 15 September, the person would be enumerated as though he were living.

Great information, Linda! Having been an enumerator in 2000, I would add: Also take into account the enumerator or the informant NOT understanding the instructions. Of course, we moderns have it easier, in a way, because we have cars instead of horses, and census staff to do mapping work, etc. But where the rubber meets the road is the enumerator speaking to the informant, the informant answering the questions, and the enumerator correctly noting down that information. Because all of the participants are human, there WILL be errors. Valorie Linda Baker wrote: > > I did not know about the dates folks, and thought you might not either... > > This information came from a genealogy mailing list. How many of us > have failed to read the instructions for searching the census? I know > I've been guilty of just assuming what I see was the truth, and > subsequently, may have dismissed some census, especially those in the > time period previous to 1850, as not being the correct line, because it > didn't fit my preconceived notions of the number of people in that > family. Of course, people being people, these instructions may not > have been totally followed by every > census taker, but it does help to > know about this surprising instruction. > > Here are some details ... <snip>

I liked Queen's University Library in Belfast. Two no non-sense twin towers of ten stories each connected by a covered bridge. It was a Tuesday, the Queen's Jubilee following the Bank Holiday on Monday. Library open. Priorities right - pursuit of learning takes precedence over the Queen's Jubilee. PRONI - closed. The Linen Hall - closed. Fisherwick Place - closed. I had a short list of books and old periodicals to check on. After a short time of fumbling for my passport and a minimal registration procedure, I crossed the floor to the well-organized bank of computers to check the catalog against my List. The Irish Genealogist, London. The Ulster Journal of Archaeology - all my numbers. Check. Over the bridge, up the elevator to the 10th floor. Nobody home except an elderly gent reading the shelves. Found a study carrel, my books and set to work. Copies - no problem. Elevator down to the basement. Copy room - at least six large state of the art copiers. Fed pound coins and others into the tally card machine. Pulled out my debit card and to copying I go. Ate lunch at the nearly empty Student Union. Grand buffet, 1st class service. Linens. Silver. Real plates. Clusters of professorial types eating and reading. Found out what the High Sherriffs of Derry did --- or one of the duties --- was to collect the hearth money tax. Across the street at the University Bookstore I stocked up on more coins. I was disappointed. The OS Survey Memoirs for Donegal were not in stock and there were so many different volumes for Derry I couldn't determine which were the ones or the one I needed. Also, the Place Name volumes ... nothing new there that I wanted, neither Donegal or Derry. Found an interesting book, the Streets of Derry. Checked it out. Historical maps of the city streets and well indexed ... found Cowan's Lane. SOLD. Another ... Dictionary of Ulster Place Names ... SOLD. Could not find the OS Survey of Derry I wanted or the Directory of Presbyterian Churches ... will have to order that one from Fisherwich Place to complete by Laggan Presbytery materials. Back then to the Twin Towers. Found Robert who had been looking up his former textile buyers downtown. Got him checked in at the Desk. Found out we couldn't copy the materials in the special collection library ... understandable. Left with a good feeling about the Library, excellent resources and holding. Helpful staff. Will plan better for it next time ... they have a special map division. Need an OS survey map for 17th century for Down, Derry and Donegal. And they can copy the hunks I want from their repository. Went back to THE AVENUE Guest House. Robert and I talked with Steven a long while. Interesting man. Found out that the Mountains of Mourn aren't what they seem, but are really just an earthern coverlet for Finn McCool, the Irish giant who is sleeping on his side. Alice is a barrister, non-practicing. We were not able to decide if she keeps Steven out of trouble or if she extracts him from the thresholds of thorns. The last time I was there I had the front large room on the third floor. This time I had the little room on the third and Robert had the small room on the 2nd. The Rates were still a reasonable 35 pounds. Great place and location for a researcher, within stumbling distance of the Bot and the Egg. As Linda remarked, even she can drink Guiness in Ireland. They draw it properly through clean lines so the pint has time to work and the pint isn't served until the head is about 3/4 of an inch of rich, smooth amber cream. No hangovers. No gas. Sacked out, looking at LIVING STONES. It's a history of each of the Church of Ireland facilities in the Laggan. Great local history source, too. You won't find it in North America. Roll over, Finn. You're snoring! Or maybe it was me I heard. jcmaclay

A few miles from Strabane is the Ulster American Folk Park and we almost did not go because it sounded kind of hokey. What a mistake that would have been. This place is professionally done, it is educational, entertaining and very accurate in every detail. You begin in Ulster in and old house and work your way down tree-lined paths from building to building including a school, church, farm, until you come to a town where you get on the ship which takes you to America where you start in the city and work your way out to the Tennessee/Penn. frontier. All the buildongs are either original and moved to the site or replicas so well done you wouldn't know. The one thing I will never forget is the ship and how little room each family had below deck. One kid gets the measles and its all over. You can have the good old days. I prefer SUV's and dollar gas. Regards, Robert Cowan 21st Century Man

Perhaps this post will help explain the relationship between the Londonderry Cowans and their connection to County Down. We decided that the last day in Northern Ireland should be devoted to a drive from Belfast over to the Ards and a visit to Mount Stewart, ancestral home of Alexander Stewart and his wife Mary Cowan followed by the short ferry trip from Portaferry to Strangford and a leisurely drive through the Mourne mountains ending up that night just outside of Dublin. We arrived Mount Stewart around ten, parked the car and wandered up to the big house just to learn that it did not open until 12:00. The gift shop was open as was the tea room but since it was Sunday the house did not open to the public until noon. We were a bit depressed because our schedule was tight and waiting for two hours was not part of the program. I struck up a conversation with the lady at the entrance desk and told her we were related to the folks who built this place and it was a shame we were not going to be able to see it. She disappeared for a couple of minutes and when she returned she was with the house manager, a young girl who was in charge of the entire property. She asked if we would like a private tour of the house and after thinking about it for about two nanoseconds said "hell yes" For the next hour she took us all through the house and we received a grand tour. She even explained that the beautiful set of china in the tall corner cabinet was that of Mary Cowan and had been in the Cowan family for generations. If you look on page 4 of the "Discover Mount Stewart" guide published by The National Trust you will see a picture of the china. The pattern consists of an impressive crest containing the St. Andrew's cross, the flag of Scotland. They may have lived in Ireland, but they were Scots. Alexander Stewart came from Presbyterian Scottish planter stock. When he married Mary Cowan (youngest daughter of Alderman John Cowan of Derry), the sister of Robert Cowan (the guy from Bombay, her older brother), her hugh fortune allowed the family to move from Donegal to County Down. He was described as "a man of polite and pleasing manners, a clear and comprehensive understanding and principles truely liberal in politics and religion." Just how did Mary Cowan come into this pile of money? Laura, you provided some of the best information on the Stewart-Cowan relationship by finding the two films from the LDS #0908972, and 0908973 titled Stewart Family records which are the writings of the Rev. Samuel Stone to Mary Cowans son Robert Stewart, Lord Londonderry. I have written extensively about these two films. Remember that Alderman John Cowan, merchant of Derry was married to a Stewart and his daughter married a Stewart. Robert Cowan son of Alderman John Cowan made his money while employed by the East India Company and when he died it was to pass to his younger brother William. Problem was, William died in India at almost the same time Sir Robert died in England. This left the entire fortune to sister Mary who received it after a protracted legal battle. One good thing about legal battles is that they produce lots of written records. Lucky again! The marriage agreement between Alexander Stewart and Mary Cowan is one of the most beautiful documents I have ever seen. Written on some sort of animal skin it is as clear now as it ever was and the wax seals are bright red and still intact. We held it in our hands and it made us feel rich! The connection to Stirling is an interesting one and the Stirling Cowans are well documented because of a gentleman named John Cowan who was Dean of the Merchant Gild and was the Cowan who began the merchant tradition in Scotland by providing goods to the royal family at Stirling Castle. There is a book that details these relationships but I have never made it available because I was not sure our Cowans were part of the Stirling-Londonderry-Va. Cowans until now. It is: The Stirling Merchant Gild and Life of John Cowan(e), Founder of Cowan's Hospital in Stirling, David B. Morris, Town Clerk, Stirling, Jamieson and Munro, 1919 There are two know copies of this book outside of Scotland and they are both in my library. Perhaps it is time to release this information to those interested or related. Regards, Robert Cowan Merchant

".....Samuel Cowan's father came at quite an early date. He came from Londonderry, Ireland and our family came from Scotland to Ireland." JB Cowan, Tennessee 1895 When you get to PRONI they make a quick search of your car and you check in at reception and get a reader number and then off you go to do research. It is confusing for about ten minutes and after that if makes sense. You start by going to a card catalog which is organized by name or place. If you find something it directs you to either a blue binder (documents) or a red binder (manuscripts) and you leaf through the binders until you find the item that is interesting to you. Someone has taken the time to write brief descriptions of whats in various groupings of letters, deeds, maps etc. I decided to look at a blue binder D/654/ titled Londonderry papers which is an assortment of 12,000 items. Start at page one and keep going. After an hour and a half I turned a page and read the following: D/654/B1/2D April 1733 Papers of Sir Robert Cowan Out letter book containing copy letters from Robert Cowan, Bombay, to Edward Harrison, John Gould, Josiah Wordsworth, and Charles Boone in London about trade in toothinague, camphor, carmenia wool and indigo; and about internal affairs in India-the death of the Seid of Rajapore (a descendant of Mohammed) and the attempt of the Rustumjges to damage company trading privileges in Surat. There are also comments on the activities of station chiefs, in particular, William Wake, whose application wins Cowans praise. There is some indication of plans for his retirement in England; the possibiltty of entering Parliament, and buying land near his friend John Stert, around Plymouth. In a letter to his cousin William Cowan, he mentions the origins of the Cowan family, who came from Stirling and settled in Londonderry a century before the time of writing. He also mentions his Godson, Robert Cowan Kellett, and his education. I was beside myself and could not believe the possible good fortune to find yet another Cowan writing genealogical letters to a relative. I got John and we ordered up the document and were assigned table 23 and fifteen minutes later a stack of original 1733 letters from Robert Cowan were deposited on our table. I excused myself and went back to looking at the binder 654 for more good stuff leaving the hard work to my travel companion. It is always helpful to travel with the former Curator of Rare Books at UNC who has a Master's degree in 17th century British literature and who can read Elizabethan english. It took him over an hour to locate the following passage: Jan 8, 1733 Wm Cowan to be left at Mr William Rumbold at India House "I received your letter of the 14th Nov. 1732 directed to John Cowan, but you will have been informed at the India House that my name is Robert. Our family is originally from Stirling in Scotland but has been for above a century settled at Londonderry in the north of Ireland. I have spent the most of my time in foreign countries and for these 14 years past have resided in these eastern parts of the world in the service of the East India Company. My father is still alive at Londonderry and Alderman of that city and possessed of a small estate of between 300-400 Sterling per year. I have a younger brother with me here, your name sake (William) and I am your most humble servant. Bombay Castle 8 Jan 1733 In genealogy it is good to be skillful but far better to be lucky. What are the chances of having TWO relatives who decide to write genealogical lettes to their relatives? I find it fascinating to see what time does to information. Robert Cowan knew when the family got to Derry and from what city in Scotland they originated. Amost 170 years later Dr. Cowan remembered Londonderry (but not the date they arrived) and Scotland (but not Stirling) After four years of service with General Forrest and approaching old age I think I will go easy on him. While researching at PRONI a genealogist named Joan Petticrew took a shine to us and seemed to be always in the process of bringing us little bits of stuff and we were flattered for the attention. There is a litle cafe next to PRONI where you can get a bowl of soup and a sandwich and we found ourselves sitting next to her at lunch. She began telling us stories of her childhood where she spent summers high in the Mourne mountains and that on a clear day she could look out and see the church spires of Derry. It is a small country. Regards, Robert Cowan Londonderry was my home