History of Bellaire, (Belmont County) Ohio United States of America

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Soldier and Banker, was born August 15th, 1831, and is a son of the late Hon. Benjamin S. Cowen (whose biographical sketch will be found in this volume, as also that of his brother, D. D. T. Cowen). He received an English and classical education at "Brook's Institute" and another school of similar character in St. Clairsville, whither his father had removed in 1832; and this was supplemented by a practical printer's education in the office of the Belmont Chronicle, of which journal he became editor and sole proprietor when twenty-one years of age. He also studied medicine, but never practised that profession. He disposed of the paper in 1857 and removed to Bellaire, where he was engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1860, meanwhile having served as Clerk of the House of Representatives and Secretary of State of Ohio. At the outbreak of the civil war he enlisted as a private soldier in the 15th Ohio. After serving in various important offices he was appointed Adjutant-General of Ohio, in which position he had charge of organizing, equipping and forwarding to the field the troops known as the "Ohio National Guards;" and it was for "meritorious services" in this connection that he received the successive appointments of Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, Brevet Colonel and Brevet Brigadier-General, to date from the 15th of March, 1865. Immediately after the close of the war he returned to Bellaire, where he resumed his mercantile business; and thence, shortly afterwards, removed to Cincinnati to embark in the grain trade. While a resident of the latter city be was appointed Supervisor of Internal Revenue for the Southern District of Ohio. In 1873 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Washington, District of Columbia, which position he honorably filled, and resigned, without the least stigma or suspicion resting upon his good name, so common in these scandal-mongering days. He is now a resident of Bellaire, where he is engaged in the banking business. He was married in September, 1854, to Ellen Thoburn, of Belmont county, Ohio.

From: The Biographical Encyclopedia of Ohio of the Nineteenth Century. Columbus, OH, USA: Galaxy Publishing Co., 1876.

History of Bellaire, (Belmont County) Ohio

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