Edgar Cowan
U. S. Senator, Pennsylvania, 1861-1867
Born: September 19, 1815, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
Died: August 29, 1885, Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
- Franklin College, Ohio, graduate, 1839.
- In order, became a raftsman, boat builder, schoolmaster, and a student of medicine.
- Studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced law practice in Greensburg, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, 1842.
- Presidential elector on the Republican ticket of Lincoln and Hamlin, 1860.
- Elected from Pennsylvania as a Republican to the U. S. Senate, serving from March 4, 1861 - March 3, 1867.
- He disagreed with his party on its Reconstruction policy, and was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election to the Senate.
- Delegate to the Union National Convention at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1866.
- Appointed by U. S. President Johnson as Minister to Austria, January 1867, but was not confirmed by the U. S. Senate.
- Resumed the practice of law.
Buried: St. Clair Cemetery, Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
(Source: U.S. Congress. House. Biographical Directory Of The American Congress 1774-1949, 85th Cong., 2nd sess., H. Doc. 607 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950), pp. 759-2057.)