Van Buren-Cleburne County ArArchives Biographies.....Cowan, T. J. ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ar/arfiles.html ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Robert Sanchez http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00027.html#0006574 July 20, 2009, 11:13 pm Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922) T. J. COWAN. T. J. Cowan of Clinton, now county superintendent of schools in Van Buren county, has reached a creditable and enviable position in educational circles in his native state. He holds to high standards in his chosen profession and has inspired teachers and pupils under him with much of his own zeal in the work of public education. Mr. Cowan came to Van Buren county from Cleburne county, where his birth occurred January 31, 1888, his parents being William F. and Mary Etta (Vaughn) Cowan. The father was also born in Cleburne county, while the mother's birth occurred either in White or Cleburne county. William F. Cowan was a minister of the Presbyterian church and preached at Heber Springs, Arkansas, and also in Van Buren county for a number of years, devoting his life to that holy calling. He departed this life at the age of forty-seven years. His wife died when but twenty-eight years of age. They were the parents of five children: Lulu, the wife of W. Bradford, residing at Morrillton, Arkansas; Lela, the wife of Hebert Mix, a farmer of New Mexico; Mrs. Thonia Moore and Cicero, both deceased, and T. J., of this review. T. J. Cowan was reared in a home of culture and Christian refinement, where the verities of life are rated at their true value. He was educated in Choctaw, Arkansas, attending the public schools and passing through consecutive grades to his graduation from the high school. He later spent a year in study in the State Normal School at Ada, Oklahoma, and next pursued a course in bookkeeping and banking in Draughon's Business College at Dallas, Texas. His youthful days were largely passed on the home farm, with the usual experiences of the farm bred boy, until he entered the office of county superintendent on the 1st of January, 1921. He is proving most competent in the educational field, having put forth earnest and effective efforts in systematizing the work of the schools and in introducing higher standards for the pupil and also in the methods of instruction. On the 1st of September, 1914, Mr. Cowan was married to Miss Minnie S. Rogers, whose family history is given in connection with the sketch of Judge O. E. Rogers on another page of this work. They have become parents of two children: Thomas Wynne and Zane Steele. Professor Cowan votes with the democratic party, which he has supported since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He is a Royal Arch Mason, holding membership in the lodge of Clinton and the Royal Arch Chapter of Marshall. He and his family are members of the Christian church and are most highly esteemed in the locality where they reside, for their influence is ever given on the side of those forces and projects which make for intellectual and moral progress. Additional Comments: Citation: Centennial History of Arkansas Volume II Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company 1922 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ar/vanburen/bios/cowan283bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/arfiles/ File size: 3.5 Kb