Elliot Christopher Cowdin I (August 8, 1819 - April 12, 1880) was an American businessman and politician. He served one term in the New York State Assembly in 1877, representing the 11th district.
Life
Elliot C. Cowdin was the son of Angier and Abiah (Carter) Cowdin. He born in on August 8, 1819, in
Jamaica, Vermont
Jamaica is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,005 at the 2020 census. The town includes the villages of Jamaica, East Jamaica and Rawsonville.
Its ZIP code is 05343. The town is home to Jamaica State Park, ...
, but grew up mainly in
Boston, Massachusetts, where the family moved to after his father's death.
Cowdin became involved in the silk trade in the 1840s and, in 1852, he moved to New York City to establish his own business, Elliot C. Cowdin & Company, an importing firm that specialized in "ribbons, silks, flowers and other Paris novelties."
The business had a branch office in Paris, France and Cowdin maintained a second home there. He was also active in politics; as a speaker and lecturer; and in several civic organizations, including the
New York Chamber of Commerce
The New York Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1768 by twenty New York City merchants. As the first such commercial organization in the United States, it attracted the participation of a number of New York's most influential business leaders, in ...
, the
New England Society of New York, the Bedford Farmers' Club, and the
Union League, which he had helped to found.
Cowdin married Sarah Katharine Waldron (1827-1903), the daughter of Samuel W. and Martha (Melcher) Waldron, on September 13, 1853. They had six children: Katharine W.,
John Elliot, Martha G., Winthrop, Alice, and Elliot.
[
Elliot Cowdin died at his home in New York on April 12, 1880.]
Political career
Cowdin held some appointed posts in government, including that of U.S. Commissioner to the Paris Expedition in 1867. He was also a member of the 100th New York State Legislature
The 100th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 2 to May 24, 1877, during the first year of Lucius Robinson's governorship, in Albany.
Background
Under the provisi ...
in 1877, elected to the New York State Assembly as a Republican representative of the 11th District (New York County). His interests as an Assemblyman, as indicated by the bills he introduced, included government reform, taxation and finance, and trade and commerce.
References
External links
Elliot C. Cowdin
at The Political Graveyard
The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations of ...
*
Guide to the Report to the Department of State on Silk and Silk Manufacture 1868
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowdin, Elliot C
1819 births
1880 deaths
People from Jamaica, Vermont
Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly
19th-century American legislators