Andrew Cowan was born in Scotland and emigrated to Virginia before the Revolutionary War and took part in that struggle. His son, Silas, married Phildera Burnes. Her father was also a Revolutionary soldier. After the Revolutionary War, the Cowan family went to Tennessee and lived there a number of years. John Wesley Cowan was born there in 1816 and married Margaret P. Stearns in 1835. In 1837 Silas and his wife, Phildera, their son Tillman; John Wesley Cowan and his wife Margaret, their daughter Nancy; Silas' brother-in-law, Alfred Burnes and wife Mary, their sons John and Samuel and daughter Emily, located in Marion County, Arkansas.
They were the first settlers in what has been called Cowan Barrens since that time. The land was a high, rolling prairie with only fringes of timber here and there. The prairie grass was almost as high as a man's head and full of deer, bear, wolves and other wild animals. ne Buffalo River bottoms were covered with a canebrake that kept livestock fat all winter with no other feed.
Silas Cowan was the father of three sons: Alexander, Tillman and John Wesley. Alexander went to Texas during the Tutt and Everett War. He had been on the side of the Everetts. He reared a large family in Texas. Tillman died during the Civil War in the Barrens in 1862. His wife, Caroline Adams--sister of Mary (Mrs. Robert J. Hurst) had one son, Tillman. After her husband's death, she married Jeff White and went to Texas.
John Wesley and Margaret were the parents of twelve children: Alfred, Silas, Alexander, Nancy, Salithia Ann, Lucinda Phildera, Barbara, Sarah, Mary, Emily, Julia and Isabel. Alexander died at the age of two; Salithia Ann married Marvin Brown and they were the parents of William and Anna. Salithia died, leaving the children to be reared by their grandmother. Anna .married James Dean and moved to Texas.
Nancy remained in Marion County. She married three times and reared three families. Her husbands were Marvin Hudspeth, James Hudspeth, and John Dunlap.
Lucinda Phildera married M. J. Brown and they had one child before M. J. died. She then moved to Missouri and was married two more times.
Barbara married Bithan Allen; Mary married Daniel Magness; Emily married Robert Goodall; Sarah married Ransom Burnes; Julia married William T. Doshier; and Isabel married Thomas Allen. All except Julia moved to Texas. Julia and William stayed in Cowan Barrens and had two children: Tom and another son who died young.
Tom Doshier married Eliza Jane Sims and reared a large family, all of whom are living.
Alfred Cowan married Louisa Elizabeth Mears and they were the parents of Alex, John, Amos, Martha Ann (Dean), Laura (Dunlap), Mary (Thomp- son) and Fldilene (Thompson).
Martha Ann and Richard Dean lived in Texas and were the parents of seven children, the youngest of whom was Myrtle. Her first husband was Aud Melton, son of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Melton. They lived in Yellville and were the parents of twins, Lucian and Lillian. After Aud's death, she married John Q. Adams, son of John W. and Emma Keeter Adams. Mary Thompson was the wife of John H. Thompson. Their children were: Lula, Minnie, Gertrude, Anne, Harry and Bea. Bea is the only living member of this family.
Alex Cowan married Nora Doshier, ,daughter of and Martha Doshier. Their children were: Scott, who married Evelyn Callahan; Alex, who lives in California; Orville, who died in Kansas; and Faye, who married a Bruce. Faye is also deceased.
Amos Cowan married Daisy Doshier and their children are: Leta, wife of Walter Petty; Bernice, wife of jester Jefferson; Arlene, wife of Ewell Ott; and J. E. (Abe), who married Obeta Jones. Abe and Obeta's children are: Rita (Mrs. Billy Baker, son of Letha (Mrs. Eli) Baker); and Russell Wayne whose wife is Bertha Faye Mears. Bits of this information were in a letter from Alfred Cowan, printed in the MOUNTAIN ECHO in 1912 and submitted by Scott and Abe Cowan.
Reprinted with permission from History of Marion County edited by Earl Berry, copyright 1977.