Family Group sheets received from Terry Cowan, 603 Circle Drive, Bullard, Texas 75757 around 1990.
Terry Cowan Document #40-41
Letter from professional genealogist who searched records in Grundy County, TN (see Moses Cowan notes)
Middle Tennessee Genealogy
111 Oak Park Drive,
Tullahoma, Tennessee 37388
615-455-4098
25 March 1988. Dear Terry,
The Coffee County records (deeds, Chancery Court cases, county court minutes, wills, powers of attorney, settlements, guardianships, and all publications of the Coffee County Historical Society) have been searched for both William M. and Stewart Cowan. Enclosed are the results. There are only two early deed entries mentioning Stewart, both as witness to other Cowan deeds. In spite of the Surveyors Record Book entry I believe that Stewart's land was only briefly in Coffee County. The "head of hte Elk" and "on the Cumberland Mountain" definitely locates the land in Grundy County. The 1837 date from the Coffee County Surveyor is so early (less than 2 years after the county was formed) that I'm sure that the land in question was it eh part of Franklin County taken first into Coffee and then into Grundy when Grundy was formed in 1844. In fact, a close study of the 1830, 1840, and 1850 censuses show that Stewart actually had all the same neighbors in 30 and 40 but the county had changed from Franklin to Coffee. After 1840 he apparently moved to his land grant on the mountain in Grundy County.
If you wish to pursue Sewart (after reading the rest of this report), I believe any probate records existing on him will be found in Altamont - not in Coffee County. He does not have a will in Grundy County, but the Chancery County intestate proceedings or, as you mentioned, the powers of attorney may reveal something on his children. Land records need to be searched also, but William Cowan had also received 5000 acres (between Hillsboro and the top of the mountain) so may not inherit any from Stewart.
Besides checking the wills of Grundy County, I checked the marriages and the cemetery records, but found no entries for your family except hte following:
Sarah Rocksana (Roxanna) Cowin (Cowan) to G.W. Myers on 16 Nov 1848.
This makes for interesting speculation since their first son Francis S. was born in 1844. Of course Francis could have been a son of Griffin's first wife, and only the younger two children being Sarah' R.'s. There are NO Cowan burials in Grundy County.
There is a Moses Cowin who married Lousinda Fults, 16 June 1845 in Grundy County. This couple is in Warren County in 1850 and back in Grundy in 1860. No children in 50 or 60, but by 1870 he has acquired another (younger) wife and four children aged 5 to 14.
In the 1850 Census Stewart Cowan says that he was born in NC, with his wife Mary born in SC. The only other Cowan (Cowen, Cowin) born in NC from the 1850 census was Varner Cowan of Rutherford. Have you completely checked out the Rutherford County Cowans? Since your William M. was married in that county (10 May 1832) and there was obviously a Cowan family there early, might they not be his people rather than Stewart? (Incidentally, there is another marriage from a William Cowan in Rutherford County on 23 Apr 1833 to Mary E. Johns. Since you did not tell me the source of your information on your line, I can only speculate as to the importance of the above. There was a V.D. (Varner) Cowan in the 1830 Census of Rutherford who had FOUR males the age of your William D. in his household. On the premise (which I haved found to be true most times in genealogy) "An acorn does not fall far from the tree" I would recommend checking this Cowan family, if you have not done so already. It would have been unusual for William D. to have traveled freom the mountain to Rutherford County to find and marry a bride. More likely for he and his bride to move to Coffee/Grundy area to homestead after they are married.
If you wish to continue with Stewart Cowan, I'm afraid that you will have to get into that "awful mess" of Cowans in Franklin County, since all the entries on Stewart before 1835 are going to be there. There are numerous records on a Wm. M. Coan in Franklin County, all the way from 1814 to 1900. A William Cowan sells land to John Steples in 1816, indicating that the family was in the area very early. William M (1) died in 1850 leaving a will. William M Jr (2) sells land which he inherits from (1) in 1868. William M. (2?) deeds to his wife Catherine in 1879 land known as the James P. Cowan homeplace. William M. (3) and wife Simantha C. deed land in 1877 (in this he is called William M. SR.) William M. (4) and wife Kate sell land in 1898. (The numbers are mine). William M. is obviously a favorite family name.
Am sorry that I have not been able to solve your problem yet. I worked several hours over because I hated to send you a report without finding something "thrilling", but Coffee County did need to be checked out.
Thank you so much for allowing me to work on this very interesting family. Please let me know if I may be of further service to you.
Sincerely, Betty M. Majors.
P.S. Franklin County deeds were checked also (For Wm. M. & Stewart Cowan)
Terry Cowan Document #36
Letter from professional genealogist who searched records in Grundy County, TN (see Moses Cowan notes)
Middle Tennessee Genealogy
111 Oak Park Drive,
Tullahoma, Tennessee 37388
615-455-4098
22 June 1988, Dear Terry,
Well the trip to Grundy County is complete. Good news and bad news. Good news - I now know what happened to the 5000 A that Stewart Cowan had - it went to Moses S. Cowan. Bad news - there is no record of your William Cowan in Grundy County. I have enclosed the list of County records which I checked - including those which I went thru page at a time for any mention of the families.
The younger members of Stewart Cowan's household in Coffee County in 1840 are probably Moses S. And wife Lucinda. Their ages in later censuses fit. The lawsuits indicate that Moses died before 1885 and that he and Lucinda had no bodily heirs (also indicated from the census records). The land in question (ie the 5000 A tract evidently changed hands several times for $100 or less, indicating that there was either a question about the validity of hte title, or that it was some of the mountain land - probably the latter. Much of Grundy County is very mountainous, and if it did not have coal outcrippings, was considered worthless.
I did not have time to check the Meyers family in Grundy county. The name is so common in the county it would be a time consuming task.
Since the first two deed books are missing (before 1844), as well as the adminiatrators settlement book from 1857 - 1882, we had to work around the problem. Those, had they been availabble, would probably hav answered the Stewart Cowan heirs question. There is a possibility that some records on Stewart could be found in Warren County (McMinnville) since it is really closer tied to Grundy County in Both background and eography, and an older courthouse, than Coffee County.
Sorry I was unable to find an answer to your problem. After you read the enclosed, please send your comments. I feel that we might try Warren County briefly, then possibly on to Rutherford. Also rememer that Wm Cowan who sued Charles Woods, admr of estate of James B. Cowan, dec's, 29 May 1833 in Franklin County, was awarded $50.00 and costs, indicating that a Wm. was an heir of James B. Cowan.
Again, thank ou for allowing me to work on your family.
Sincerely, Betty
http://bellsouthpwp.net/C/a/CanCofHist/coffee/goodcoff.htm
The Goodspeed History
of
Coffee County
From the Earliest Time to the Present; Together with an Historical
and a Biographical Sketch of from Twenty-five to Thirty
Counties of East Tennessee, Besides a Valuable
Fund of Notes, Original Observa-
tions, Reminiscences, Etc., Etc.
ILLUSTRATED
Chicago and Nashville
THE GOODSPEED PUBLISHING CO.
1887
PLEASE NOTE
This document was transcribed by Jan McFarlin in 1999. The text and grammatical construction
appears as in the original. Names appear as spelled and no effort has been made to modify the
document to fit today's accepted literacy form.
The other early settlers of the county were as follows:
Robert Bean, James Cunningham, Isham Womack, James Sheid, John Crockett, Sr., Stewart Cowan and P. T. Stephenson in the Eleventh District;
Since the close of the war up to the present time the following physicians have practiced in Tullahoma, in about the order named: Drs. W. T. Allen, Seth Hart, A. M., and Joseph Holt, W. M. Fariss, A. W. Booth, J. B. Cowan, J. W. Phillips and J. C. Smith, the last five being those of the present.
Franklin County, TN
1820 Census
Stewart Cowan, 320001-20011
John Cowan, 230010-20011
William Cowan, 200010-50010
John Cowen 001201-01120
James Cowen 000010-10010
James Cowen, Sr. 110201-11100
Samuel Cowen, 000100-10100
Robert Cowen, 300010-22010/3
1830 Census, Franklin County, TN
p. 56. A.M. Cowan, 00012-01001
p. 58. James Cowan, 10101001-110112
William Cowan, 00001-00001
James P. Cowan, 100101-111001
Mary Cowan, 1111-1101201
p. 60. John Cowan, 002010001-0001
p. 61. Robert Cowan, 01210001-01021001
p. 84. Thomas Cowan, 00001-0001
Stuart Cowan, 00112001-0211001
John Crockett, 00002001-00120001 next door to Stewart)
p. 107. William Cowan, 0100001-11
Terry Cowan Document #42
In George Davidson Sherrill's pension application S3902, Franklin County, TN, 30 Aug 1832, Stewart Cowan and Samuel Handley, Esq. are listed as knowing Sherrill.
Coffee County, TN Deeds. Book A, p. 400.
G.W. Cowan to John Morrow, bill of sale #324. Deed of Trust $300.00. 7 May 1839. Test: Stewart Cowan
Book A, p. 501. James S. Cowan of Coffee County, TN to Pleasant G. Davenport of Lauderdale County, TN #418. 100 acres of land in Lauderdale County on waters of Big Hatchy, Section 9 Range 3. 25 Oct 1839. The right and claim of James "for himself and his heirs or his wife or her heirs". Signed James S. Cowan and Caroline Cowan. Witnesses Jesse Wooten and Stewart Cowan.
Terry Cowan Document #43 & 63 (more extract in 63)
1835, Stewart Cowan witnesses Wm. Hodges's will in Franklin County.
Terry Cowan Document #33
Franklin County, TN Court Minute Book
[This is the book that is missing from the courthouse in Winchester, but is on microfilm in TN State Archives.]
Stewart Cowan held elections in Franklin County from 1830 to 1840. He was also Justice of the Peace. He served as Judge of the Presidential election in Nov 1840 in the 11th dist of Franklin County. [This makes me think that we may have 2 Stewart Cowan's. Remember one Stewart is listed as living in Coffee County in 1840. He could not have held an election in a district in which he was a non resident. In fact, he should be by law a resident for a number of years.]
Terry Cowan Document #71
Coffee County, TN, p. 358, survey of Robert Argo 5000 acre tract, which borders, on the east, Stewart Cowan's tract. Witnesses: Geo. Cowan, J.S. Cowan. S.C.C.
1840 Census, Coffee County, Tennessee
Steward Cowen 000010001-00021001
Washington Cowen 000001-00001
William Cowen, 010001-11001 next door to: This is definitely the best fit. Looks like they had a daughter who died before 1860.
1850 Census, Grundy County, TN
Terry Cowan Documet #82
135/135 Stewart Cowan, 76, Farmer, 300, N.C.
Mary A., 65, S.C.
Elizabeth, 37, TN
Griffin M. Myers, 29, TN
Sarah R. Myers, 26, TN
Francis M. Myers, 6, NC ?
Stewart Myers, 2, TN
William K. Myers, 7/12, TN
136/136 Martha Howard, 33
Nelson M., 14
Virginia, 11
Mary M. 15
James P., 8
Philip A. Howard, 7
Henry C. 5
William M. 3
Pleasant Myres, 23, farmer
137/ Robert Myres, 35, TN
Casper, 21, M, TN
Griffin Myres, 13, TN
Anthony Brown, 37, TN
Terry Cowan Documents #208 - 209
Letter, February 16, 1989, from William Albert Cowan Jr. to Terry Cowan
[partial text; complete text is in file]
I have heard my father (William Albert) recite the story about the land in Tenn. I am not certain about the year, however as he related the story it must have been in the horse and buggy days - said that he and his brothers and sisters (Roy, Dee, J.B. Albert, Solon; sisters Sybil and Bertie) (Solon would have been a baby as he was the youngest) were sitting on the front porchafter having lunch and before returning to the cotton field when they observed the mail being delivered by buggy down the dirt road which runs north and south west of their old residence. Daddy stated that father George instructed one of the children to go and get the mail, which consisted of a letter from the county authorities in Tenn., that the Cowan property was going to be sold at public auction for back taxes - uinless said taxes were paid by a certain date. I have heard my father and also my uncle (George Dee Cowan) state the land consisted of one thousand acres at teh foot of the Cumberland mountains in Tenn. south of Winchester. As some of the hirs were located in Arkansas, it is my understanding that Grandfather Cowan went to Arkansas and consulted same regarding th matter; however due to the lack of funds they did not recover their propertyl.