James Cowan (November 3, 1803 – May 22, 1900)https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/182786571/james-s-cowan was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

farmer, businessman and political figure.

Biography

He was born in

Peeblesshire Peeblesshire ( gd, Siorrachd nam Pùballan), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lan ...

, Scotland in 1803. Cowan came to

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

in 1834 and settled on a farm at

Galt Galt or GALT may refer to: Biology and biochemistry * Galactose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase, an enzyme * Gut-associated lymphoid tissue, a subset of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue People and fictional characters * Galt (surname), a list o ...

. In 1846, he helped found the Provincial Agricultural Association and Board of Agriculture for

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

. He purchased a share in the firm Lutz and Cook which manufactured agricultural implements and became a partner after the death of Mr. Cook. When

Waterloo County Waterloo County was a county in the Canadian province of Ontario from 1853 until 1973. It was the direct predecessor of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. Situated on a subset of land within the Haldimand Tract, the traditional territory of ...

was created, he was part of a group lobbying to have Galt named the chief town instead of Berlin (later Kitchener). Cowan ran unsuccessfully for the seat for Gore division in the legislative council in 1858. In 1860, he was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper C ...

for South Waterloo; he was reelected in 1863. He originally supported the Reform Party but later joined the Conservatives. He ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

in 1867. Cowan was appointed to the Dominion Board of Arbitration, later becoming chairman. He died at Galt in 1900.

References

External links

City of Cambridge Hall of Fame''Reminiscences of the early history of Galt and the settlement of Dumfries, in the Province of Ontario'', J Young (1880)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, James 1803 births 1900 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada West Scottish emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Politicians from Cambridge, Ontario Immigrants to Upper Canada