Clark County WA Archives Biographies.....Cowan, John A. 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com and   June 12, 2009, 1:02 am

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     JOHN A. COWAN.  One of the best known residents of Camas is John A. 
Cowan, who owns and conducts the principal confectionery and cigar store 
there. Having lived there many years, he is widely acquainted and is held in 
high regard throughout the community. He was born at Iron Mountain, Missouri, 
and is a son of Richard T. and Margaret C. (Eidson) Cowan, the latter a member 
of an old Missouri family. The father came to Clark county, Washington, in 
1884 and bought about fifty acres of land near Camas, which at that time was 
covered with timber but is now known as the Cowan addition. He became 
prominent in the affairs of this locality, serving as a member of the board of 
county commissioners, and was a member of the second state legislature in 1891-
93. During the hard times from 1893 to 1895 he lost heavily, and in the latter 
year returned to Missouri, where his death occurred in 1898. Of the children 
born to him and his wife, four are living, namely: John A., of this review; 
Florence, who is the wife of J. H. Girder, of a prominent pioneer family of 
Vancouver; Martha, the wife of F. J. Van Demar, of White Salmon, Washington; 
and Clara, the wife of Thomas Sampson, of Stevenson, Washington.

     John A. Cowan was reared and educated in southwestern Missouri and 
accompanied the family on their removal to Clark county, Washington. For 
awhile he was employed in a paper mill; was also connected with the lumber 
business; and from 1888 to 1895 was in the company store, in which he had a 
financial interest. In 1895 he resumed work in the paper mill. In 1894 he was 
appointed postmaster of Camas, under the Cleveland administration, and while 
filling that position ran a cigar and confectionery store. On retiring from 
the post office, he became a steward on the river boat Ione, which ran from 
Camas to Portland, holding that position about one year, and in the fall of 
1899 he established his present business, conducting a pool room and a 
confectionery and cigar store in connection. He has been successful in this 
business and in 1909 bought a lot and erected the building which he now 
occupies.

     In 1917 Mr. Cowan was united in marriage to Lulu Sanders, a former 
schoolmate of his in Missouri, of which state she is a native. She is a 
granddaughter of Judge Ritchey, of Missouri, after whom the town of Ritchey 
was named. Mrs. Cowan was formerly the wife of Dr. Privet, and to them was 
born a daughter, Lena, who is now the wife of Andrew J. Moore and lives in 
Kansas.

     Mr. Cowan has maintained a deep interest in the progress and welfare of 
his home city, of which he was mayor from 1909 to 1911, being its second mayor 
and the first to serve a full term. He has been a member of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows since 1904, belonging also to the Knights of Pythias, the 
Modern Woodmen of America, of which he has been clerk for twenty-nine years, 
and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Vancouver. He has lived up to 
his obligations of citizenship; has stood for the best things in the life of 
the community and has attained a well merited success in material affairs. 
Wherever known he is greatly esteemed for his excellent personal qualities and 
his genial and friendly manner.

Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, 
Pages 849-850

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