John Kissig Cowen (October 28, 1844 – April 26, 1904) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and a railroad executive. Born near

Millersburg, Ohio Millersburg is a village and the county seat of Holmes County, Ohio, United States located south of Cleveland. The population was 3,025 at the 2010 census. Holmes County Airport, located two miles southwest of Millersburg, serves the county. ...

, Cowen attended the public schools and the local academies at Fredericksburg and Hayesville,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. He graduated from

Princeton College Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

in 1866 and from the law department of the

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

of Ohio in 1868 and commenced practice in

Mansfield, Ohio Mansfield is a city in and the county seat of Richland County, Ohio, United States. Located midway between Columbus and Cleveland via Interstate 71, it is part of Northeast Ohio region in the western foothills of the Allegheny Plateau. The city ...

, including service as prosecuting attorney of Holmes County. Cowen moved to

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, in February 1872 and was appointed counsel of the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

(B&O). From 1876 to 1896 he served as the general counsel. He was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

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. He died in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and was interred in Oak Hill Cemetery in his home town of Millersburg.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowen, John Kissig 1844 births 1904 deaths Baltimore and Ohio Railroad people American railroad executives Ohio lawyers Maryland lawyers People from Millersburg, Ohio Princeton University alumni University of Michigan Law School alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American businesspeople

See also

References