David W. Cowan‘s parents were William and Sarah Cowan. William was born 17 January, 1742 at the family homestead in Salisbury Township, Lancaster County, Province of Pennsylvania, about 45 miles west of Philadelphia. He was the first of our Cowan line born in the American Colonies. He fought in the Revolutionary War, in the Battles of Brandywine and Stony Point, and survived the Paoli Massacre. See the post William Cowan (c. 1742-1814) Revolutionary War Service for more details on my research into his military service.
Parents of William Cowan
William’s father David Cowan Jr. emigrated from Scotland in about 1720 with his father and brothers. The family was from Berwickshire, located just north of the English border on Scotland’s eastern coast. William’s mother Mary Fleming was born in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Her father hailed from Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland, and clues point to her mother being English, but more research is needed.
Children of William and Sarah Cowan
- Elizabeth Cowan (c. 1784-1815)
- Mary Cowan (b. Abt. 1787)
- David W. Cowan (b. 21 Jul 1790, West Fallowfield, Chester County, d. Abt 1845 Lancaster County)
- William Cowan Jr. (b. 4 July 1793, West Fallowfield, Chester County, d. Abt. 8 Sep 1853 Sadsburyville, Chester County
- Isaac Cowan (c. 1796-1847)
Land Inheritance
In 1757, at around 15 years old, William inherited the eastern third of his father’s 311-acre estate in Salisbury Township, except for five acres designated for his younger brother, Robert, then 14. His older brothers, David III and Henry, inherited the remaining two-thirds of the estate. The will also stipulated David Cowan Jr.’s “beloved wife” Mary Fleming should “live with my son David in the house that I now inhabit, as long as she lives single and be maintained free.”
Mary Fleming Cowan was widowed with 11 children, some already grown and others still minors. Henry, who was about 28, died three years later in 1760, as did Robert. In fact, many people in the area died that year, suggesting a possible disease outbreak. This needs further research.
Genealogical Challenges
I’ve found scant vital records for William Cowan. My research began with an entry in the often unreliable Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) lineage books and a biography of his grandson. The DAR entry lists Sarah’s surname as Cowan in place of a maiden name, suggesting she may have been a cousin, or perhaps a member of the other, unrelated Cowan family in town.
There are a number of pitfalls and obstacles in researching Cowans who lived in colonial Pennsylvania.
- Salisbury Township can be attributed to either Chester or Lancaster County.
- Nearby, there’s a Sadsbury Township full of Cowans with the same names (likely creating confusion in WillIiam’s Revolutionary War records).
- The Cowan and closely related Fleming families grew exponentially, and they reused the same names repeatedly. You couldn’t thrown a rock without hitting a David, William, or George Cowan; or a John, James, or William Fleming.
- There was an unrelated Cowan family descended from Hugh Cowan, a contemporary of David Cowan Sr.
- The unrelated Cowans favored many of the same names.
Property
The only thing the Cowan and Fleming families exchanged more often than DNA was property. I am working on a separate post about their Lancaster County property transactions. It’s quite a saga and requires a whole lot of untangling threads pulled from mountains of land deeds, tax records, orphans court records, wills, and intestate documents.
Death
