Library of Congress

COWAN, Edgar, a Senator from Pennsylvania; born in Westmoreland County, Pa., September 19, 1815; graduated from Franklin College, Ohio, in 1839; became a raftsman, boat builder, schoolmaster, and a student of medicine; studied law; admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pa., in 1842; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1861, to March 3, 1867; unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Senate; chairman, Committee on Patents and the Patent Office (Thirty-seventh through Thirty-ninth Congresses); appointed by President Andrew Johnson as Minister to Austria in January 1867, but was not confirmed by the Senate; resumed the practice of law; died in Greensburg, Pa., August 31, 1885; interment in St. Clair Cemetery.