My great grandfather Charles A. COWAN was born in Legaginny, Ballintemple, County Cavan about 1864 to John and Fanny (WEIR) COWAN and immigrated to New York City circa 1881, where he settled on Staten Island, the borough of Richmond. In 1987 He was a founding member of the Wyandotte Hook and Ladder #5 on Castelton Avenue on Staten Island - how cool is that? And not only was he a volunteer fireman, he married the sister of William Henry JANES, another founding member. Williams sister's name was Lily JANES and I'll be darned if I can find out where she and her parents Francis JANES and Mary Jane (MACKEN or McCann or other variant) came from in Ireland. They were members of an Episcopalian church on the North Shore of Staten Island so if anyone reading this knows of any JANES people in Ireland I would love to hear from you.
Charles and Lily had only one child, my grandmother, May COWAN, actually Mary Jane to be specific, named after her paternal grandmother. Charles died in 1942 from heart problems and was living with May and her husband William F. JOHNSON at the time.
| Additional Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 2nd May 1864 | VIEW SOURCE |
| Date of Death | 2nd Aug 1942 | VIEW SOURCE |
