31 Facts About Edgar Cowan

Edgar Cowan was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

Edgar Cowan represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate during the American Civil War.

Edgar Cowan studied law with Henry Donnel Foster, was admitted to the bar, and practiced in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

Edgar Cowan became active in politics as a Whig, and campaigned for the party's presidential candidates beginning with William Henry Harrison in 1840.

In 1860, Edgar Cowan was a delegate pledged to Simon Cameron at the Republican National Convention, and backed Cameron until Cameron gave his support to Abraham Lincoln.

In early 1861, Edgar Cowan was the Cameron-backed candidate for a US Senate seat, and won the election held by the Pennsylvania legislature.

Edgar Cowan served one term, 1861 to 1867, and was chairman of the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office for most of his Senate career.

Edgar Cowan became a supporter of Andrew Johnson's plan for post-Civil War Reconstruction, which cost him the support of Cameron's Republican organization in Pennsylvania.

Edgar Cowan was defeated for reelection to the Senate, and Radical Republicans who opposed Johnson then blocked Edgar Cowan's appointment as US Minister to Austria.

Edgar Cowan became ill with mouth and throat cancer in 1884.

Edgar Cowan died in Greensburg on August 31,1885, and was buried at St Clair Cemetery in Greensburg.

Edgar Cowan was born in Sewickley Township, Pennsylvania, on September 19,1815.

Edgar Cowan was educated in Westmoreland County, taught school and worked as a carpenter, draftsman, and cargo boat builder and operator before deciding to continue his education.

Edgar Cowan received his degree in 1839, and delivered the valedictory address for his graduating class.

Edgar Cowan became a Republican when the party was founded, and was an organizer and speaker for John C Fremont in the 1856 election.

Edgar Cowan was a supporter of Simon Cameron, and as a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention, he supported Cameron for the presidential nomination until Cameron gave his support to Abraham Lincoln on the second ballot.

Edgar Cowan was one of Pennsylvania's presidential electors, and cast his ballot for Lincoln for president and Hannibal Hamlin for vice president.

Edgar Cowan argued in favor of a change to legislation that authorized the construction of a new railroad bridge over the Ohio River at Steubenville, Ohio.

Concerned that the bridge would limit the ability of boats and ships to transport cargo on the river, and opposed to what he saw as the expanding power of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Edgar Cowan supported revising the initial proposal, which resulted in lengthening the span to 300 feet and raising the deck to 90 feet above water level, which ensured that steamboat smokestacks would be able to clear it.

Edgar Cowan was especially concerned that the law would allow women the right to enter into contracts independently of their husbands.

Senator Edgar Cowan cautioned against the Civil Rights Act of 1866 as a bill that would threaten this order.

Edgar Cowan was a candidate for reelection with the support of Democrats in the Pennsylvania legislature, but lost to former ally Simon Cameron.

Johnson then nominated Edgar Cowan to be US Minister to Austria, but Edgar Cowan's Radical Republican opponents in the Senate tabled the nomination, so it was never acted on.

Edgar Cowan's reasoning was Antiziganism, he claimed that the American Romani "infested" society.

Therefore, Edgar Cowan did not want the Fourteenth Amendment to pass, because it would have allowed the Romani to become American citizens.

Edgar Cowan continued to support the Democratic Party, and supported Horace Greeley, the Democratic and Liberal Republican nominee for president in 1872.

Edgar Cowan supported the presidential candidacy of Democrat Samuel J Tilden in the election of 1876, and was a supporter of Winfield Scott Hancock for president in 1880, including attending that year's Democratic National Convention as a delegate.

In 1884, Edgar Cowan was diagnosed with cancer of the mouth and throat.

Edgar Cowan's condition deteriorated in 1885, to the point where he had difficulty eating and lost the ability to swallow.

Edgar Cowan died in Greensburg on August 31,1885, and was buried in Greensburg's St Clair Cemetery.

In 1842, Edgar Cowan married Lucitra Oliver of West Newton, Pennsylvania.