Will County IL Archives Biographies.....McCowan, Abel S 
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Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 February 2, 2008, 3:14 am

Author: Past & Present Will County, 1907

Abel S. McCowan, a farmer living in Channahon township, owns and cultivates 
one hundred and seventy-six acres of land on section 5. He also buys and ships 
stock and his business interests are carefully directed, while his farm is a 
well improved tract of land. He was born May 13, 1852, in the house which is 
still his home, and is the eldest of eight children whose parents were John 
and Sarah (Haynes) McCowan. His paternal grandfather was Peter McCowan, who 
came to this country from Dunblane, Scotland, and first settled in the east, 
being employed as foreman in a cotton mill at Fall River, Massachusetts, for 
he was a weaver by trade. Before coming west he married Arabella Tarrant and 
in 1835 they removed to Will county, Illinois. From the government he secured 
a tract of land which has since become the birthplace of three generations of 
the McCowan family. The father of our subject was born in the state of New 
York, December 2, 1826, and is a worthy representative of one of the old and 
prominent pioneer families of this county, whither he came with his parents in 
1835. Few settlements have been made on the prairies here and little had been 
done to develop the natural resources of the county. The family home was 
established on section 5, Channahon township, and after attaining his majority 
John McCowan engaged in farming on his own account on the old home place, 
where he carried on business successfully and continuously until 1874, when he 
removed to Joliet, where he still resides, now living a retired life. His 
wife, who was born in Pennsylvania, January 14, 1837, died in Joliet, July 3, 
1897. The surviving members of their family are Mrs. Nettie E. Brockway, now 
living in Joliet; Mrs. Julia Stage, of Blue Island, Illinois; Mrs. L. Foster, 
John F., Grant, Harold and Donald, all of Joliet. Abel S. McCowan was reared 
in his father's home and early became familiar with the tasks of plowing, 
planting and harvesting. In the winter seasons he attended the public schools 
and in the summer months aided in the work of the farm. He taught two terms of 
school in Troy township, Will county, and in Au Sable township, Grundy county. 
On attaining his majority, in fact on the very day on which he celebrated his 
twenty-first birthday, he was married to Miss Antoinette Buell, a daughter of 
George W. and Sarah J. (Schermerhorn) Buell. They were the parents of eight 
children, of whom four are yet living: Mrs. McCowan; Mrs. Emma H. Lewis, of 
Chicago; Rolland E. Buell, of Chicago; and George O. Buell, of Los Angeles, 
California. Mrs. McCowan's father was born October 4, 1826, in the state of 
New York, and her mother, a native of that state, was born November 15, 1831. 
They came to the west in 1835 with their respective families and settled in 
Channahon township. After their marriage they took up their abode on a farm on 
section 6 of the same township and there Mr. Buell carried on general 
agricultural pursuits for a considerable period or until 1873, when he removed 
to the village of Channahon, where he resided until 1894. In that year he took 
up his residence in Chicago, where he is now located. Unto Mr. and Mrs. 
McCowan have been born two sons. Floyd B., who was born March 24, 1876, and 
lives in Channahon township, married Miss Laura Neilsen and they have one 
child, Flossie E. Fred J., born June 24, 1883, is at home. Mr. McCowan owns 
one hundred and seventy-six acres of cultivable and richly productive land on 
section 5, Channahon township. He has good buildings upon it and the latest 
improved machinery and all the equipments of the place are such as facilitate 
the work of the farm. He buys and ships much stock and as he is an excellent 
judge of farm animals he is enabled to make judicious purchases and profitable 
sales. Mr. McCowan belongs to the Woodmen camp, to the Knights of Pythias 
fraternity and the Court of Honor, and he has always supported the republican 
party. He is a man of genial nature, of kindly disposition and social 
qualities, and is therefore popular with a large circle of warm friends.

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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