William Cowan and his Wife Margaret McMichael
Tintype of William M Cowan taken perhaps when married
To begin, little information is found about the early years of William Cowan and it is not known if he had any siblings. According to his marriage certificate, he was 25 years of age when he married Margaret McMichael on July 26, 1866 at Clinton, Ontario. This places the time of his birth at sometime during the 12-month period before July 26, 1841.
His parents are listed on his marriage certificate as Robert Cowan and his wife Eliza Gunston. Here also he enters his birthplace as Canada; however earlier censuses show Nova Scotia and Quebec as possible places of birth. William’s granddaughter Doris Randleman says that he was born 1841 at Seaforth.
The North Dakota Department of Health
public death index recorded at the time of William’s death however lists his birth as Sep. 22, 1842. I suspect that the day of the year is correct but there is a discrepancy regarding the year. I suspect that the actual date of his birth is Sep. 22, 1840 which coincides with the Clinton marriage record and not a later year as he reports while married to Dell. This also is consistent with the conversation I had back in the summer of 1972 with Dudley Cowan when he said that the Cowans arrived from Scotland in the summer of 1840 and that William was born “shortly upon their arrival.”
Further information regarding William’s date of birth can be found in the 1885 Dakota Territory Census and the 1900 North Dakota Census. He states in the 1885 census that he is 45 years of age and the corresponds to his birth in 1840. But later in the 1900 census when he was married to the much younger Delia Carr that he was born in September of 1843 and is 56. According to those numbers William aged only eleven years over that fifteen year period between these censuses! I believe the solution to this is that he was born in September of 1840 but fibbed about his age when he married Dell who, born in 1870, was thirty years younger than him. I might add that Dell’s father was sixty years old when she was born so a much older male figure in her family was not unusual.
The earliest reference to a William is five years prior to his marriage in an 1861 Hullett Township Census reference to a William Coan (a common spelling of the name). According to the record, William, age 22, was a laborer living on the farm of John and Janet McMillan. The McMillan’s, ages 37 and 30, had six children, the oldest being ten years old in 1861. The census states that William was born in Nova Scotia and that he was a member of the English Church. John McMillan, b. 1824, is the son of Walter McMillan and Mary Laidlaw; he came from Kirkconnell in 1843; and he married Janet McMichael, b. 1831, at Huron County. A significant event for the McMillans in 1861 is that their oldest daughter Grizel died that year at ten years of age.
The 1861 census record is an interesting reference since Janet McMillan is Margaret’s aunt: Janet’s brother Thomas is Margaret McMichael’s father! There are some inconsistencies with this record and the record on the 1871 Census discussed below and I suggest that these inconsistencies are because the questions for the earlier 1861 census were not asked of William but of John McMillan who was head of the household. John guessed William’s age and the spelling of his name; knew he was born in Canada to the east somewhere -but not exactly where; and, knowing his parents were from England, said he was a member of the English Church. This is all conjecture, of course.
The following is another possible scenario. I received a copy of photograph now in the possession of Sally Hausken of Detroit Lakes, Minnesotathat is of a man and woman and a child. On the back of the photograph is written the following:
“John, Walter & Janet McMichael Cowan 1831 - 1867 Constance Kinburn.” There is no question that this is a photograph of John and Janet McMillan and their son Walter. Walter, one of their six children by then, was born in 1856 and I would guess him to be four or five in the photograph. Thus the photograph was taken in about 1861 - the same year of the census. The dates 1831 - 1867 are the years of Janet’s birth and death and thus, one would think, the name Janet McMichael Cowan written immediately preceding these dates is a reference to her full name as was known. See A3-d7 Janet Ritchie McMichael in the McMichael family genealogy record for further discussion.
Based on the year that John and Janet’s first child was born (1851), they were likely married in about 1850. Why then is the name Cowan included in her name? Is it possible that Janet was previously married to widower Robert Cowan (Eliza died?) and that Robert then also died shortly thereafter leaving Janet to raise William, now her stepson? If this were so, then she would have to have been no more than about 16 - 17 and Robert about 48 when they married - not a likely scenario. But why would they have a young man living on their farm named Coan [Cowan] and why would that name also be attached to Janet’s name? Was John sloppy in his answers to the 1861 census recorder’s questions and does this suggest an attitude toward William and his wife’s previous marriage or was it that it was so long ago (ca. 1847)? Did William’s parents live in Hullett County area? Did he attend school in the county and are there school records there? Are his parents buried in the county and are their tombstones recorded? I believe that, if there is some relationship here, we can find his parents - Robert Cowan and his wife Eliza Gunston.
Margaret who five years later married William Cowan is listed on the same 1861 census living with her parents and age 17. Her age matches the later record on her marriage certificate. Margaret, who had eight brothers and sisters, lived on the family farm just a few farms away from her aunt’s farm and there is no question that she would have been acquainted with this young man William Cowan.
According to the Sheldon, North Dakota Centennial Book (1880-1980), William was called Bill and he was a wrestler in Ontario This was confirmed in my conversation with Dudley Cowan back in 1972. It may be possible to find further information about William in old sports news or records of wrestling during the 1860 - 70’s around Huron County.
The following is the marriage record of Margaret McMichael’s sister, Elizabeth McMichael, dated 1864, and the marriage record of Margaret to William Cowan, dated 1866:
Huron County Marriage Record,
1858 - 1869; Vol. 1, p. 124: WILLIAM GRIEVE, 25, of McKillop,
born McKillop Huron, son of John Grieve/Agnes Scott and
ELIZABETH McMICHAEL, 21, of Hullett, born Hullett,
daughter of Thomas McMichael/Elizabeth McMichael
married May 13, 1864 by Rev. Mathew Barr,
Canada Presbyterian Church.
Witnesses: Robert Scott and Robert Grieve, both of McKillop.
Huron County Marriage Record,
1858 - 1869; Vol. 1, p. 164: WILLIAM COWAN, 25, of Hullett,
born Canada, son of Robert Cowan and Eliza Gunston and
MARGARET McMICHAEL, 21, of Hullett, born Canada,
daughter of Thomas McMichael and Elizabeth McMillan
married June 26th, 1866 by the Rev. A. D. McDonald of
Clinton, Canadian Presbyterian Church.
The witnesses were Malcomb Campbell of Mckillop
[probably a relative] and Grace McMichael [Margaret’s sister] of
Hullett.
The church where they were married was the First Presbyterian church of Clinton, a frame building built eleven years earlier in 1855. It was located on the present site of St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church. The First Presbyterian church was later abandoned and sold, and in 1884 a new white brick building was built on East Rattenbury Street. The contractor was Mr. Henry Stevens and the first preacher in the new church was Rev. E. A. McDonald. There was no organ in the church for many years “as many of the early Scotch folk did not believe in that type of music.” A small hand organ was donated by “R. Irwin, who operated an elevator in the town’s early days”, and later a pipe organ was installed. One of the Willis Presbyterian Church’s ministers was Dr. A. Stewart who served the congregation for a record thirty-four years. Unfortunately, many of Willis Presbyterian church records were lost in the fire which destroyed Wesley-Willis church in 1928.
Wesley-Willis United Church was formed in 1925 with the joining of the congregations of Wesley Methodist and Willis Presbyterian. The story of each church goes back almost seventy-five years before that. At the time of church union in 1925, when Willis Presbyterian united with Wesley Methodist, some of the members remained with the Presbyterian Church of Canada. Eventually the former ‘Willis’ church became their church once again and the name changed to St. Andrews Presbyterian. St. Andrew’s (Clinton) Presbyterian Church (HP141) Box 1623 ClintonON Phone: (519) 482-7368
I suspect that William and Margaret had some association with the Willis Presbyterian Church in the fourteen years that they farmed at Seaforth. It is likely also that this was the church of Margaret’s family and that William and Margaret were members. Their three children were perhaps baptized there.
William and Margaret lived in Hullett Township for fourteen years, from the time of their marriage in 1866 to March of 1880, during which time they had three children: William James (1874), Thomas (1877) and Robert A (1879). I have wondered why they were childless during their first eight years of marriage and then had three children over the next five years.
The Federal Census of 1871 (Ontario Index) shows the following entry:
District: HURON NORTH ( 026 ), Sub-district: Hullett (E ), Division 3, page 4,
Microfilm reel: C-9931, Reference: RG31 — Statistics Canada
William Cowan and Margaret. Hullett, age 30, born Quebec, Presbyterian, parents - England. The age reference for William matches the marriage records. The birth reference to Quebec is specific and is corroborated by a statement made to me back in 1972 by Dudley Cowan that Grandpa Jim’s father was born in Quebec. The reference to his origin in England could be a reference to Britain or in fact his parents were English. If his parents were from Scotland- as Margaret’s parents were - I would certainly think that he would have been specific and said “Scotland.” In the 1910 U.S. census he does specify Scotland as their origin. At the time of this Canadian census William and Margaret had been married for six years and were farming near Seaforth. Bill also made the rounds of the pubs and local arenas in the county as a Wrestler. There are no children listed on the census as none are yet born.
A farm described as Concession IX, Lot 1owned by Wm. Cowan is shown on an 1879 Huron Atlas map of Hullett Township and it is located about six lots from four farms owned by the McMichaels. E___ McMichael had two lots and Robert, G___ and William each had one lot. In Ontario, townships are divided into concessions and each concession is a strip of land 1 and 1/4 mile wide. Concessions are divided into lots that use Arabic numbers (3, 4, etc). Originally lots were 200 acres, which could then be easily divided into parcels of 100 acres. The lots ran parallel to the road.
Land record for Hullott Twp in 1879.
Full record for Cowan, William
Last Name Cowan
First Name William
Post Office Constance Township
Hullett County Huron
Atlas Date1879
Consession IX, Lot 1
So after fourteen years of their marriage and in the spring of 1880 when the children were six, three and 11 months, William and Margaret loaded all of their possessions and horses onto the train, left their land and headed west to the Dakota Territory to begin a new life on the frontier.
His parents are listed on his marriage certificate as Robert Cowan and his wife Eliza Gunston. Here also he enters his birthplace as Canada; however earlier censuses show Nova Scotia and Quebec as possible places of birth. William’s granddaughter Doris Randleman says that he was born 1841 at Seaforth.
The North Dakota Department of Health
public death index recorded at the time of William’s death however lists his birth as Sep. 22, 1842. I suspect that the day of the year is correct but there is a discrepancy regarding the year. I suspect that the actual date of his birth is Sep. 22, 1840 which coincides with the Clinton marriage record and not a later year as he reports while married to Dell. This also is consistent with the conversation I had back in the summer of 1972 with Dudley Cowan when he said that the Cowans arrived from Scotland in the summer of 1840 and that William was born “shortly upon their arrival.”
Further information regarding William’s date of birth can be found in the 1885 Dakota Territory Census and the 1900 North Dakota Census. He states in the 1885 census that he is 45 years of age and the corresponds to his birth in 1840. But later in the 1900 census when he was married to the much younger Delia Carr that he was born in September of 1843 and is 56. According to those numbers William aged only eleven years over that fifteen year period between these censuses! I believe the solution to this is that he was born in September of 1840 but fibbed about his age when he married Dell who, born in 1870, was thirty years younger than him. I might add that Dell’s father was sixty years old when she was born so a much older male figure in her family was not unusual.
The earliest reference to a William is five years prior to his marriage in an 1861 Hullett Township Census reference to a William Coan (a common spelling of the name). According to the record, William, age 22, was a laborer living on the farm of John and Janet McMillan. The McMillan’s, ages 37 and 30, had six children, the oldest being ten years old in 1861. The census states that William was born in Nova Scotia and that he was a member of the English Church. John McMillan, b. 1824, is the son of Walter McMillan and Mary Laidlaw; he came from Kirkconnell in 1843; and he married Janet McMichael, b. 1831, at Huron County. A significant event for the McMillans in 1861 is that their oldest daughter Grizel died that year at ten years of age.
The 1861 census record is an interesting reference since Janet McMillan is Margaret’s aunt: Janet’s brother Thomas is Margaret McMichael’s father! There are some inconsistencies with this record and the record on the 1871 Census discussed below and I suggest that these inconsistencies are because the questions for the earlier 1861 census were not asked of William but of John McMillan who was head of the household. John guessed William’s age and the spelling of his name; knew he was born in Canada to the east somewhere -but not exactly where; and, knowing his parents were from England, said he was a member of the English Church. This is all conjecture, of course.
The following is another possible scenario. I received a copy of photograph now in the possession of Sally Hausken of Detroit Lakes, Minnesotathat is of a man and woman and a child. On the back of the photograph is written the following:
“John, Walter & Janet McMichael Cowan 1831 - 1867 Constance Kinburn.” There is no question that this is a photograph of John and Janet McMillan and their son Walter. Walter, one of their six children by then, was born in 1856 and I would guess him to be four or five in the photograph. Thus the photograph was taken in about 1861 - the same year of the census. The dates 1831 - 1867 are the years of Janet’s birth and death and thus, one would think, the name Janet McMichael Cowan written immediately preceding these dates is a reference to her full name as was known. See A3-d7 Janet Ritchie McMichael in the McMichael family genealogy record for further discussion.
Based on the year that John and Janet’s first child was born (1851), they were likely married in about 1850. Why then is the name Cowan included in her name? Is it possible that Janet was previously married to widower Robert Cowan (Eliza died?) and that Robert then also died shortly thereafter leaving Janet to raise William, now her stepson? If this were so, then she would have to have been no more than about 16 - 17 and Robert about 48 when they married - not a likely scenario. But why would they have a young man living on their farm named Coan [Cowan] and why would that name also be attached to Janet’s name? Was John sloppy in his answers to the 1861 census recorder’s questions and does this suggest an attitude toward William and his wife’s previous marriage or was it that it was so long ago (ca. 1847)? Did William’s parents live in Hullett County area? Did he attend school in the county and are there school records there? Are his parents buried in the county and are their tombstones recorded? I believe that, if there is some relationship here, we can find his parents - Robert Cowan and his wife Eliza Gunston.
Margaret who five years later married William Cowan is listed on the same 1861 census living with her parents and age 17. Her age matches the later record on her marriage certificate. Margaret, who had eight brothers and sisters, lived on the family farm just a few farms away from her aunt’s farm and there is no question that she would have been acquainted with this young man William Cowan.
According to the Sheldon, North Dakota Centennial Book (1880-1980), William was called Bill and he was a wrestler in Ontario This was confirmed in my conversation with Dudley Cowan back in 1972. It may be possible to find further information about William in old sports news or records of wrestling during the 1860 - 70’s around Huron County.
The following is the marriage record of Margaret McMichael’s sister, Elizabeth McMichael, dated 1864, and the marriage record of Margaret to William Cowan, dated 1866:
Huron County Marriage Record,
1858 - 1869; Vol. 1, p. 124: WILLIAM GRIEVE, 25, of McKillop,
born McKillop Huron, son of John Grieve/Agnes Scott and
ELIZABETH McMICHAEL, 21, of Hullett, born Hullett,
daughter of Thomas McMichael/Elizabeth McMichael
married May 13, 1864 by Rev. Mathew Barr,
Canada Presbyterian Church.
Witnesses: Robert Scott and Robert Grieve, both of McKillop.
Huron County Marriage Record,
1858 - 1869; Vol. 1, p. 164: WILLIAM COWAN, 25, of Hullett,
born Canada, son of Robert Cowan and Eliza Gunston and
MARGARET McMICHAEL, 21, of Hullett, born Canada,
daughter of Thomas McMichael and Elizabeth McMillan
married June 26th, 1866 by the Rev. A. D. McDonald of
Clinton, Canadian Presbyterian Church.
The witnesses were Malcomb Campbell of Mckillop
[probably a relative] and Grace McMichael [Margaret’s sister] of
Hullett.
The church where they were married was the First Presbyterian church of Clinton, a frame building built eleven years earlier in 1855. It was located on the present site of St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church. The First Presbyterian church was later abandoned and sold, and in 1884 a new white brick building was built on East Rattenbury Street. The contractor was Mr. Henry Stevens and the first preacher in the new church was Rev. E. A. McDonald. There was no organ in the church for many years “as many of the early Scotch folk did not believe in that type of music.” A small hand organ was donated by “R. Irwin, who operated an elevator in the town’s early days”, and later a pipe organ was installed. One of the Willis Presbyterian Church’s ministers was Dr. A. Stewart who served the congregation for a record thirty-four years. Unfortunately, many of Willis Presbyterian church records were lost in the fire which destroyed Wesley-Willis church in 1928.
Wesley-Willis United Church was formed in 1925 with the joining of the congregations of Wesley Methodist and Willis Presbyterian. The story of each church goes back almost seventy-five years before that. At the time of church union in 1925, when Willis Presbyterian united with Wesley Methodist, some of the members remained with the Presbyterian Church of Canada. Eventually the former ‘Willis’ church became their church once again and the name changed to St. Andrews Presbyterian. St. Andrew’s (Clinton) Presbyterian Church (HP141) Box 1623 ClintonON Phone: (519) 482-7368
I suspect that William and Margaret had some association with the Willis Presbyterian Church in the fourteen years that they farmed at Seaforth. It is likely also that this was the church of Margaret’s family and that William and Margaret were members. Their three children were perhaps baptized there.
William and Margaret lived in Hullett Township for fourteen years, from the time of their marriage in 1866 to March of 1880, during which time they had three children: William James (1874), Thomas (1877) and Robert A (1879). I have wondered why they were childless during their first eight years of marriage and then had three children over the next five years.
The Federal Census of 1871 (Ontario Index) shows the following entry:
District: HURON NORTH ( 026 ), Sub-district: Hullett (E ), Division 3, page 4,
Microfilm reel: C-9931, Reference: RG31 — Statistics Canada
William Cowan and Margaret. Hullett, age 30, born Quebec, Presbyterian, parents - England. The age reference for William matches the marriage records. The birth reference to Quebec is specific and is corroborated by a statement made to me back in 1972 by Dudley Cowan that Grandpa Jim’s father was born in Quebec. The reference to his origin in England could be a reference to Britain or in fact his parents were English. If his parents were from Scotland- as Margaret’s parents were - I would certainly think that he would have been specific and said “Scotland.” In the 1910 U.S. census he does specify Scotland as their origin. At the time of this Canadian census William and Margaret had been married for six years and were farming near Seaforth. Bill also made the rounds of the pubs and local arenas in the county as a Wrestler. There are no children listed on the census as none are yet born.
A farm described as Concession IX, Lot 1owned by Wm. Cowan is shown on an 1879 Huron Atlas map of Hullett Township and it is located about six lots from four farms owned by the McMichaels. E___ McMichael had two lots and Robert, G___ and William each had one lot. In Ontario, townships are divided into concessions and each concession is a strip of land 1 and 1/4 mile wide. Concessions are divided into lots that use Arabic numbers (3, 4, etc). Originally lots were 200 acres, which could then be easily divided into parcels of 100 acres. The lots ran parallel to the road.
Land record for Hullott Twp in 1879.
Full record for Cowan, William
Last Name Cowan
First Name William
Post Office Constance Township
Hullett County Huron
Atlas Date1879
Consession IX, Lot 1
So after fourteen years of their marriage and in the spring of 1880 when the children were six, three and 11 months, William and Margaret loaded all of their possessions and horses onto the train, left their land and headed west to the Dakota Territory to begin a new life on the frontier.