Portal:Indian Captivity Stories/JB Cowan Letters

(From a letter dated "Tullahoma, Tenn,, March 28, 1895," by Dr. Jas. B. Cowan, addressed to Dr. E. H. Cowan, Crawfordsville, Ind.) Prom PD Cowan "In the Shadow of the Chillhowie"

"My father was Samuel Montgomery Cowan. My great-great-grandfather was Samuel Cowan. My great-grandfather was John. He was the eldest or second son, I am not sure which. He was a major in the Continental Army, in the War of Independence. The father, Samuel, and all his sons were in the army and fought to the end. My great-grandfather, as stated, was Major John Cowan. He was killed by the Indians at some point in East Tennessee. At the time he was killed, his wife, a daughter and son (my grandfather), James Cowan, were captured. The Indians adopted my grandfather into their tribe (Cherokee). He was only fifteen years old. His mother was taken by another tribe (Shawnee). His

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sister was killed. My grandfather was kept a year and made his escape. His mother was carried north, and kept seven years. Her maiden name was Walker. My grandfather had but one brother, John. He moved at an early day to Indiana. His son, Judge John M. Cowan, has visited my father and myself before the late war, at our home in Mississippi."

(At the time of the attack, killing and capture, an old family letter says, "the son John barely escaped by fleetness of foot, getting inside the fort just as an Indian's tomahawk was raised to kill him." This was the brother who in later years moved to and settled in Indiana, from whom there are a number of descendants in the State.)