Cowell family

Joshua Cowell was born in New York around 1820 and was a farmer in Fulton, Wisconsin, in 1860. He and his wife Mary had four children, all born in New York: Albert, Chancy (or Chauncey), Anna, and Emma. In the late 1860s, Joshua Cowell sought work in Denver, Colorado, and Cheyenne, Wyoming, then part of the Dakota Territory. Mary and her children lived in Meridian, New York, while Joshua was away. He returned to New York before 1880 and was a laborer in Cato. William Cowell, Joshua's brother, owned a grocery store in Denver.

From the guide to the Cowell family letters, 1867-1869, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)