John Cowen/Cowan b. abt 1720 d. 1775 NC. Wife Margaret (maiden name unknown) John was granted 270 acres acres of land on May 17, 1754, in Anson County, NC on the north side of the Catawba River. The 270 acres are located in present day Mecklenburg County NC where the Duke Power Company's Cowan's Ford Hydroelectric and McGuire Nuclear Stations are located. It is also the location of the Revolutionary War Battle on February 1, 1781, when Militia General William Lee Davidson was killed. John's will was recorded in the April 1776 session of the Mecklenburg County Court in Will Book A, on page 179. The will was dated April 12, 1775, and names the following: ...youngest son William Cowen all my present Dwelling Plantation; Wife Margaret Cowen; Daughter Hannah Cowen; Son Joseph Cowen; oldest son John Cowen, with Robert Gault to be Executors....witnessed by Joseph Galit (Gault) and Patrick Crawford. William, the youngest son of John and Margaret Cowen, became the owner of the Cowen property at "Cowan's Ford" (NC) as designated by the Will of John Cowen. Myself, and many cousins, would love to find the parents of this John. Becky Big Lake, Alaska Cowen Family Genealogy http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~rebalee/ Surnames: . Askew, Cannon, Cowan, Cowen, Cullen, Edmundson, Fox, Grace, Harden, Huddlestone, Johnson, Lawhon, Long, Looney, Manor, Martin, McLean, Mitchell, Quinn, Shemwell, Sims, Smart, Stanton, Ward, White, Williams, Wood, and Wright.
I also descend from John and Margaret (maiden name unknown) Cowan, the same as Becky Cowen-Cornelius, except that I descend from their daughter, Mary Cowan, who married a James Clark. Mary and James moved from the York Co., SC area to Lincoln Co., Tennessee by about 1814, I believe - certainly by 1820. I'm assuming that Mary had previously been in the Anson/Mecklenburg Co., NC area. Wish we knew who John's parents were and what Margaret's maiden name was. We (well, me, anyway) had thought that we descended from one of the four brothers - David Cowan, which was research done by Susan Clark Slaymaker - a cousin of mine; however, I guess now we have thrown that part of her research out as not being correct. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I live in New Hampshire and am not able to do any real research from this vantage point. There's absolutely nothing in this local library on my Southern ancestors. Sue Howard [email protected]