Hi everyone, I am very much interested in the James Cowan who married Margaret Russell. Does anyone have information as to where they came from? My GGG grandmother was Elizabeth Cowan, born 1774 and married Josiah Ramsey about 1790. They lived in Wythe County, VA from about 1790 to 1799. In 1799 they removed to Lee County, VA and purchased property in Hawkins later Claiborne, now Hancock County, TN in 1801. This property joined the VA line. I have been unable to connect my Elizabeth Cowan to any Cowan family and can find no other Cowans living in the area with whom she may have been connected. There was one Mary Cowan in Wythe County who married Robert Graham, a widower whose first wife was Mary Craig?. Robert Graham and his first wife were originally from Mecklenburg County, NC. This Mary Cowan had an uncle named David Gibb who lived in Wythe County near Robert Graham. Margaret Russell Cowan married Francis Alexander Ramsey after the death of James Cowan. Ramsey had married first Peggy Alexander of Mecklenburg County, NC. Ramsey died while Margaret was pregnant with his son, Francis Alexander Ramsey, Jr. The Ramsey family was very prominent in the Knox County area and early Tennessee. Dr. J. G. M. Ramsey was the author of "Annals of Tennessee" which is a well known history of early Tennessee. Their home is still standing and is a state shrine. Unfortunately, I can make no connection to the Francis Alexander Ramsey family. Elizabeth and Josiah Ramsey had sons named Thomas, James, Joseph Josiah, David and William. Their daughters were named Elizabeth, Ellie, Margaret, Mary, Phoebe, Rachel, Hannah and Ruth. Several of their grandsons carried the name Cowan as a first or middle name. Any help locating parents of Elizabeth Cowan, born 1774, would be greatly appreciated. Rosemary Ramsey Cox