lawyer politician railroad administrator
John Kissig Cowen was born on Ocober 28, 1844 near Millersburg, Ohio, United States. He was the son of Washington and Elizabeth (Lemmon) Cowen, Pennsylvanians of Scotch-Irish descent. They early moved to Holmes County, Ohio, where John was reared under the discipline which comes from religion, poverty, and hard work.
Cowen's earliest education was gained in the public schools at home, his preparation for college in private institutions. In the academic year 1863-1864 he matriculated at Princeton. A fellow student described him as then being “six feet tall, big-shouldered, and strong-looking all over, ” with a “big round head covered thickly with reddish hair. ” This Western youth likewise had a humorous philosophy and an amiable disposition which won him many friends. He soon excelled in his studies, especially in Greek and mathematics, and, in 1866, graduated at the head of his class.
Following graduation he studied law, first, by himself, while teaching in the Millersburg, Ohio, high school and while principal of an academy at Shreve, and then as a student in the law school of the University of Michigan. In 1868 he passed the bar examinations at Canton, Ohio.
About 1868 Cowen began to practise in Mansfield. In addition to the rarely combined qualities of unusual eloquence, clarity of expression, and sound judgment, Cowen had a fine perception of the spirit of the law. He soon became a leading member of the profession in Ohio, and gained an extensive practise, always preferring civil to criminal cases.
In 1872 he was offered the position of counsel for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, which he accepted. From 1876 to 1896 he served as the general counsel. He was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-fourth Congress, serving from March 4, 1895 to March 3, 1897, but was not a candidate for renomination in 1896 to the Fifty-fifth Congress.
In January 1896, Cowen was chosen to be president of the B&O Railroad, a position he served in until June 1901.
Cowen was an able lawyer, a well-trained scholar, and a forceful speaker. In assuming the unpopular position that he took on public questions he contended that he did that which he believed to be constitutional. Possessed of strong convictions, he had the courage to be true to them.
