Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Cowing, John C. 
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Author: Past and Present of Will County, IL; 1907

John C. Cowing, deceased, made his home in Will county for half a century, 
being the oldest permanent resident of Peotone township, and he was largely 
familiar with the history of the county in that detail of life and experience 
with which none but actual participants are familiar. The more important 
events become a matter of record but the daily life of a community constitutes 
the real foundation of its history and with this Mr. Cowing was long 
conversant. He was born at Lisbon, New Hampshire, June 6, 1833, his parents 
being David and Polly (Jessemen) Cowing. The father, also a native of Lisbon, 
was born February 6, 1795, and became a minister of the Free Will Baptist 
church. He was married at Sugar Hill, Grafton county, New Hampshire, in 1814, 
to Miss Polly Jessemen, whose birth occurred June 24, 1795. They remained 
residents of the east until 1844, when they came with their family to 
Illinois, reaching Chicago on the 9th of November of that year. After a brief 
residence at Half Day, on the Desplaines river in Lake county, Illinois, they 
removed to Chicago and both died at Elk Grove, Cook county, Illinois, the 
father on the 17th of September, 1848, and the mother on the 3d of March, 
1850. John C. Cowing was seventeen years of age at the time of his mother's 
demise, after which he made his home in Richmond, McHenry county, Illinois, 
for a short time. In the same year, however, he removed to Twelve Mile Grove, 
Will county, and in 1852 went to Rockford, Illinois. He was married in Beloit, 
Wisconsin, December 29, 1853, to Miss Elizabeth Bradshaw, of Rockford, 
Illinois, who was born in Derry township, Columbia county, Pennsylvania, 
January 31, 1834, and died on their farm at West Peotone, Will county, 
September 22, 1896. She was a lineal descendant of Judge Bradshaw, who was one 
of the members of the court that tried King Charles II of England. Her father, 
George Bradshaw, was a teacher by profession in early life but afterward 
turned his attention to agricultural pursuits and on removing westward 
established his home at Rockford, Illinois. Some time later he removed to Lee 
county, this state, where his last years were passed. One of his sons, B. H. 
Bradshaw, was a prominent representative of the republican party, whose 
opinions carried weight in party councils and whose influence was an effective 
and far reaching factor in its success. He filled a number of positions of 
public honor and trust and several times represented his district in the state 
legislature. In 1854 Mr. Cowing settled in the township of Wilton, Will 
county, but on selling his property there removed to section 19, Peotone 
township, in February, 1855. His first investment in real estate made him 
owner of eighty acres of land, to which he added from time to time as his 
financial resources permitted until he became the owner of three hundred and 
twenty acres. He afterward disposed of much of this, but still retained 
possession of one hundred and twenty acres. For a long period he continued 
active in the management of the farm but for some years practically lived 
retired. He spent the last three years of his life in the village of Peotone, 
where he died on the 14th of March, 1904. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cowing were born 
the following named: Mary Luella, who was born in Wilton township, September 
29, 1854, and died in Peotone, July 16, 1885; Albert H., who was born in 
Peotone, May 29, 1857, and is the oldest surviving male child a native of that 
place; George J., who was born in Peotone township, March 25, 1859, and is 
mentioned elsewhere in this volume; John F., who was born in the same 
township, February 12, 1862, and died in Ann Arbor, Michigan, February 5, 
1884, while a student in the law department of the state university; Addie M., 
who was born in Peotone township, April 4, 1866. and is now residing in 
Joliet; Herbert H., who was born in the same township, January 9, 1869, and 
died on the 21st of September following; Arthur B., who was born January 10, 
1871, and is now engaged in the practice of law; and James R., who was born 
May 25, 1873, and now has charge of the home farm. In his political views Mr. 
Cowing was a stalwart champion of the republican party and was called upon to 
serve in various local offices, acting at different times as constable, 
commissioner of highways and school director. He belonged to the Methodist 
Episcopal church, in which he served as steward and as trustee and he was the 
organizer of the first Sunday-school in his district. During his long 
residence in Will county he made a host of warm friends and was honored and 
respected wherever known. 

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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