COWDERY, Jonathan, surgeon, b. in Sandisfield, Mass., 22 April, 1767; d. in Norfolk, Va., 20 Nov., 1852. He was appointed assistant surgeon, 1 Jan., 1800, and surgeon, 27 Nov., 1804. He served in the frigate “Philadelphia,” which was stranded on the coast of Tripoli, 31 Oct., 1803, and was a prisoner in the hands of the Turks nearly two years. In 1806 he published a journal of his captivity.
COWELL, Benjamin, jurist, b. in Wrentham,
Mass., in 1781; d. in Providence, R.I., 6 May, 1860.
He was graduated at Brown in 1803, studied law,
and settled in Providence. He was a clerk of the
Federal courts, and for a time chief justice of the
court of common pleas. In 1850 he published a
volume of history, entitled “The Spirit of '76.”
COWELL, Joseph, comedian, b. in Kent, England,
7, Aug., 1792; d. in London, 14 Nov., 1863.
He made his first appearance, 23 Jan., 1812, at
Davenport, England, as Belcour in the “West
Indian,” and first appeared in London in 1812, at
Drury Lane theatre. In October, 1812, he acted
on the American stage as Leclair in “Foundling
of the Forest,” and Crack in “Turnpike Gate,”
at the Park theatre in New York. Cowell was
distinguished in low comedy, and as a comic vocalist.
He appeared in Philadelphia as manager of Walnut
street theatre circus. Kate Bateman is his grand-daughter.
He wrote “Thirty Years among the Players
of England and America” (New York, 1844).
COWEN, Benjamin S., physician, b. in Washington
county, N.Y., in 1793; d. in St. Clairsville,
Ohio, 27, Sept., 1869. He was educated in his
native place and studied medicine. In 1820 he
removed to Moorefield, Harrison co., Ohio, subsequently
studied law, and was admitted to the bar
in 1829. He removed to St. Clairsville in 1832,
and after a time edited the Belmont “Chronicle,”
of which he was proprietor and principle editor
until 1852, when he relinquished it to his son , now
Brig.-Gen. B.R. Cowen. In 1839 he was a delegate
to the convention that nominated Gen.
Harrison
for president, and in 1840 was elected to
congress by the whigs, where he succeeded
Joshua R. Giddings
as chairman of the committee on
claims. He took strong ground in favor of the
tariff of 1842, and throughout his congressional
career was looked upon as a consistent anti-slavery
man. During 1845-'6 he was a member of the
Ohio legislature, and from 1847 till 1852 was
presiding judge of the court of common pleas. At
the beginning of the war he was active in raising
men and money, and during its continuance his
efforts to aid the government never relaxed.
COWLES, Edward Pitkin, jurist, b. in Canaan,
Conn., in 1815 ; d. in Chicago, III, 2 Dec, 1874.
He was graduated at Yale in 1836, studied law,
and was admitted to the bar in 1839, and entered
into practice at Hudson, N. Y., with his brother,
Col. Cowles, of the 128th New York volunteers,
who was killed at Port Hudson. In 1853 he re-
moved to New York, and was soon afterward ap-
pointed judge of the supreme court by Gov. Clark,
and, at the end of his first term, was reappointed
to fill a vacancy created by the death of Judge
Morris. On leaving the supreme court, he engaged
in practice with Chief-Justice Barbour, afterward
of the superior court. While on his way home-
ward from California, he died at Chicago, from
gangrene, resulting from a slight injury of the foot.
COWLES, Griles Hooker, clergyman, b. in
Farmington, Conn., 26 Aug., 1766; d. in Austin-
burg, Ohio, 16 July, 1835. He was graduated at
Yale in 1789, entered the ministry of the Congre-
gational church in May, 1791, and was installed
pastor of the first church at Bristol in 1792. In
1810 he was appointed by the Connecticut mission-
ary society to travel through Ohio, and formed or
assisted in forming most, if not all, of the Congre-
gational churches in the northeastern part of that
state. He became pastor at Austinburg and Mor-
gan, Ohio, in 1811. Williams college conferred on
him the degree of D. D. in 1823.
COWLES, Henry, clergyman, b. in Norfolk,
Conn., 24 April, 1803 ; d. 6 Sept.. 1881. He was
graduated at Yale in 1826, and held Congregation-
al pastorates from 1828 till 1835. He was a pro-
fessor of theology at Oberlin from 1835 till 1848.
He published "Notes" on the Bible (16 vols., New
York, 1867-'81) ; " Hebrew History " (New York,
1873) ; and other works.
COX, Abraham Siddon, surgeon, b. in New
York in 1800 ; d. at Lookout Mountain, Tenn., 29
July, 1864. He had been for many years one of
the most eminent medical practitioners of New
York city. At the beginning of the war he be-
came a surgeon in the army, and at the time of
his death was surgeon-in-chief of the 1st division,
20th corps. Army of the Cumberland.
COX, Edward Travers, geologist, b. in Cul-
pepper county, Va., 21 April, 1821. His father,
when the boy was only four years old, moved to
New Harmony, Ind., and joined Robert Owen's com-
munity. He was educated in the schools belonging
to the community, and pursued studies in geology
and chemistry under Dr. David Dale Owen, whom
he subsequently assisted in making the geological
surveys of Kentucky and Arkansas, both in the field-
work and in the laboratory. Mr. Cox continued
with Dr. Owen until the death of the latter in 1859.
He was sent by a party of capitalists in 1864 to
New Mexico for the piirpose of examining mining
property, and investigations of other geological lo-
calities were made, including the examination of the
Spanish Peak coal, the Raton Mountain coal, and
the hot springs of Ojo Caliente, the water of which
was qualitatively analyzed on the spot by him, and
the copper mines at the head of Gila river, as well
as the deposits of magnetic iron-ore in that vicin-
ity. A detailed report of this expedition was pub-
lished by the U. S. government in 1865. During
1865 he made an examination of the coal-seams
in Gallatin county, 111., at the request of A. H.
Worthen, state geologist of Illinois, and established
their order of sequence. Later he examined cer-
tain of the coal-measures of southern Illinois, and
a report of his results was published in the sixth
volume of the " Geological Survey of Illinois "
(Springfield, 1875). He was appointed in 1868
state geologist of Indiana, and held that office
until 1880. Under his direction the work accom-
plished was published as eight " Annual Reports
of the Geological Survey of Indiana" (1869 to
1878). He was the first to make a correct column
of the coals of western Kentucky, southern Illinois,
and Indiana, and also filled the chair of geology
in the University of Indiana in virtue of his office
on the geological survey. After his resignation
he spent some time in California examining min-
ing property as an expert, and in this capacity
visited many of the gold, silver, copper, and anti-
mony mines in the west and in Mexico. More
recently he has made New York city his residence.
COX, Hannah, centenarian, b. in Preston, Conn., 25 June, 1776 ; d. in Holderness, N. H., 29 Aug., 1881. Her father was an officer in the Revolutionary war, and lived to the age of eighty-six. When she was thirteen years old her family Removed to Holderness, which was her home until
her death. In her twenty-second year she married Robert Cox, who died in 1822, leaving her with
