And So We Sojourn Together
Larry Cowan
We're each here for only for a while but, for sure, we’re in this together. Indeed, we sojourn together.
This ancestral family record starts at my great- great grandparents Robert and Eliza Cowan of Scotland and their son William M. Cowan of Huron County, Ontario, Canada and of Ransom County, North Dakota. Included are the families of McMichael, McMillan, Laidlaw, Carr, Nead, Van Horn, Donovan, Akre, Ovre, Bidne, Christiansen, Penfield, Clairmont, Bowen, Siems, Christensen and many others.
It continues with a series of books that tell the stories of my family and it includes many genealogical records. The series concludes with a memoir of youth and some poetry and essays that help tell my story. The texts were pretty much completed in 1996 but there have been a few updates.
Thank you for joining me along on the road a while. See copyright information below. - Larry Cowan
Introduction
For everyone’s life there is a story - - a tale that is meaningful and important; for in its fabric is woven the very fact of existence. But after a while that story is forgotten. Hopefully, I have preserved here for future folks some of the fabric of our heritage by telling stories about a few who have come before.
This work began on a long summer afternoon of 1972 when first I visited with my grandpa’s nephew Dudley Cowan in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. I went to visit with him specifically to ask about our family history. We sat in the back yard and, over lemonade, he reminisced and told me story after story of years gone by. Many hours later when I got home I sat down and wrote down everything that he said. I was enthralled and so it began.
This book begins with an accounting of how the Cowan name came to be over the centuries and a description of the lands that comprise our roots (I’ve since moved this further back in this work). It is then that I begin a specific account of some of the family and descendants of William M. (Bill) Cowan who was born Sep. 22, 1840 and died June 4, 1918. Other than the brief 1833 marriage record of William's parents Robert and Eliza at Quebec City, I have not located other specific records of them. Also, there are assuridly other family members and siblings of whom I have as yet no information.
William and his first wife Margaret McMichael began life together in 1866 at Seaforth in Huron County, Ontario and they later homesteaded at Shenford Twp near Sheldon in Ransom County of Dakota Territory. After Margaret died (1890) Bill married (1898) Delia Carr whose family lived nearby and they then lived at Shenford for the balance of his life. Bill and Margaret have roots in Scotland and Dell’s roots are in England and we will examine some of their ancestry.
I estimate that at this time in 1995 there are about six hundred descendants of William M. Cowan and most of the earlier names are listed in this anthology. Included is a fairly complete genealogical record of William’s first wife’s family, the McMichaels of Dumfriesshire, Scotland which dates back to the early 1700’s. I have listed also a record of the family of the wife of his son James - the John Johansen Akre family of Norway. The stories and genealogical records are compiled from information that has been received in the mails and from conversations. It represents work and research done by several people. Mostly, my job has been to collect the information and put it together. It is far from complete and, I am quite sure, inaccurate in some instances. Please, if you see errors or corrections that need to be made or items you would like to see included, I will make the changes.
By far, the most interesting aspects of collecting a family record are the stories about the lives of people and I’ve tried to include many. These are stories of both of good times and difficult times; and of both joys and of sorrows. More importantly, however, these stories teach us about who we are and, I believe, give us some focus on the direction of our own lives for today and for the future as our grandchildren pass into the twenty-first and twenty-second centuries.
Listed on these pages are names of over 600 persons whose stories, of course, all would be impossible to tell. Of that dilemma St. Augustine in the 3rd century wrote, “O Good Omnipotent Lord, who cares for every one of us, as if you care for him only; and so for all, as if they were but one!” Thank goodness Someone is keeping track!! (See St. Matthew 10: 26 - 33 in your Bible.)
This anthology is dedicated to the children and young folks in our families who died before their time and I have recorded these children in the following pages. I am sure that I have missed some children’s names and for that I am sorry. As I become aware of these, the names will be acknowledged.
Acknowledgments
Above all, I want to thank my dear wife, Nancy Ellen Dornfeld, for being beside me; for your love and patience as I have endeavored over these many years in our family genealogical record. You are my treasure.
I thank all of the many persons who have contributed their stories, genealogies, photographs, maps and copies of certificates to make this anthology possible. For information regarding the McMichaels in Scotland, and the Cowan and McMichael families in Canada and in North Dakota: I thank Agnes Schroer of Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Dale McMichael (deceased) of Florida; Dennis Lloyd Cowan of Salem, Oregon; and Mabel McMichael of Walton, Ontario; and my sister, Mary Ann Jordan of Minneapolis. For information about Jim and Inga Cowan, Robert and Anna Cowan, and of the Cowan family of North Dakota and of their children, I thank Lawrence W. (Dudley) Cowan (deceased) then of St. Louis Park, Minnesota; Dennis Lloyd Cowan of Salem, Oregon; Myrtle Peterson (deceased), formerly of South Minneapolis; Gary Cowan of Detroit, Michigan; Paul Nead of Independence, Missouri, Madelyn Dodd of Desert Hot Springs, California; and Doris Randleman of Toledo, Oregon. Dennis’ work has been particularly helpful in pulling this together.
I thank Beverly Christiansen of Mercer, North Dakota, and Pat Mohrbacher of Denver, Colorado for information about the Akre, Ovre and Christensen families; Sylvia Akre of Decorah, Iowa, Bobbe Akre of Coralville, Iowa and Margaret Akre Pearson of San Leandro, California for information on the Akre families; and of course my mother, Esther M. Cowan with whom I’ve had many conversations; and many others.
For the stories of my parents, Walter and Esther Cowan, I particularly want to thank my mother for our many conversations over the recent years; for the stories which she has shared; and for allowing me to read through and review her papers and letters. One of things for which I feel particularly privileged is the opportunity I’ve had in reviewing these papers to understand some degree of the grief that my father and mother felt on loosing children Shirley, Betty, and Wayne; and to feel, for the first time, some of that grief.
. . . And So We Sojourn Together
Begotten of a place I never have seen,
From long ago toils upon a road much forgotten;
You are my friend, my neighbor, my lover.
Let us hold hands, hold tight, don’t let go;
For when it’s time to go, it was good holding hands.
Ah, youth, reach out thy sovereign hand;
Hold tight to the ring; hold it high!
Flex your sinews and shout your song,
Dance in the meadow and dance on the sea,
And embrace her glory with all thy might!
From the depths of sorrow and the abyss of grief,
Comes the dawn of knowing the breadth of great joy.
Joy! Oh Joy! Catch the ring! Hold my hand!
What is joy but an opposite measure of grief;
For sorrow and joy meet in the Presence of God.
A collage of families across this broad this Earth;
Unique, diverse and remarkable;
From high desert sands and high mountain slopes,
To low windy coastlands and low fertile plains;
Join hands in a circle; we’re one in this place.
Until one approaches the face of death’s battle,
Courage is a shallow thing.
At the deathbed of one loved, or when faced by one’s own;
Courage is not to lay fault or say who is to blame;
Courage is to say I forgive, I have loved, hold my hand.
Brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers,
Let us bear one another’s burdens; bless; celebrate and delight.
Let us hold hands as we sojourn together.
Let us hold hands, hold tight, don’t let go;
For when it’s time to go, it was good holding hands.
Six verses on our walk through life
written during the winter of 1994 - 1995
Larry Cowan
This Genealogical record is Copyright 2011, Oakdale, Minnesota - First
edition 1996. This work is the culmination of research that began back
in 1972 and is a work for all of us. The material content may be copied,
printed and shared. However for the purpose of a collaborative and uniform
preservatation, I just ask that that credits be preserved and that text
corrections, changes and additions be shared back. I always appreciate
your input because that is what has made this document what it is.
Thank you all,
Larry Cowan, Oakdale, MN
[email protected]