COWAN - John M. - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

The Indianapolis News gives the following interesting sketch of a former Crawfordsville citizen:

“John M. Cowan, of Springfield, Mo., one of the pioneers of Indianapolis, is spending a few days with S. M. Houston, of Irvington. Mr. Cowan thinks he was the first white child born at Indianapolis. The date of his birth was December 6, 1821. His father, John Cowan, came to what is now the site of the city when there were only two or three families here. In 1822 he moved to what is now Crawfordsville. The son attended Wabash College, where he was graduated in 1842. He is now the oldest surviving graduate of the school. His classmates were Charles Canby, James Wilson, at one time a congressman, and Thomas Lowry. Mr. Cowan was graduated from the law school at Bloomington in 1845 and in 1858 was elected judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, then composed of seven counties—Clinton, Boone, Parke, Vermillion, Fountain, Warren, and Montgomery. He was re-elected in 1863 and served altogether twelve years on the bench. In 1881 he went to Springfield to live on account of Mrs. Cowan’s health.”