James Cowel, a respected early settler of Southeastern Nebraska, died on July 4, 1903, at age 50 in Bedford precinct, Nemaha County. Born in Delaware County, Ohio, on December 13, 1852, he moved to Nebraska in 1865. He farmed in Nemaha County and bought his 160-acre homestead in 1888. On August 21, 1880, he married Margaret Hughes, with whom he had four children: Oliver, Clara, Dollie, and Neva. Both James and Margaret died in 1903. James was a Master Mason and initially a Democrat, later a Populist. His children have continued to honor their parents’ legacy through their own achievements.
James Cowel, who died at his late home in Bedford precinct, Howe post office, Nemaha County, July 4, 1903, at the age of fifty years, was one of the honored old settlers of Southeastern Nebraska, having come here before the admission of the state to the Union. Although he finished his life’s work early, his career was filled with useful efforts and was successful from every point of view. His citizenship and manhood were above reproach, and to his family he was generous in fatherly devotion, kind in action, and himself a high ideal for their subsequent life. Both he and his wife were taken from their children when their parental affection and counsel and aid were indispensable, but the son and daughters have bravely taken up the duties of home and life and are carving for themselves honorable places in the world.
Mr. Cowel was a son of Reuben Cowel, who was a farmer of Ohio, from which state he came to Cass County, Indiana, and in 1868 followed his son to Nebraska, where he farmed during the rest of his life. He was a soldier in the Civil War, and was a man of character and ability in every sphere of life. He was twice married, having ten children by his first wife, who died in Delaware County, Ohio. Of the eight sons and two daughters, two sons died in infancy, and the four now living are: Lida, wife of Adam Wilson, at Red Oak, Iowa; Jay and Andy, farmers of Oklahoma, and the latter a stock-dealer; and Uriah, in Lawrence, Michigan.
James Cowel was born in Delaware County, Ohio, December 13, 1852. He came to Nebraska in 1865, and began as a tenant farmer in Nemaha County. He came to the present homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in 1886, and in 1888 bought it for thirty-five dollars an acre, but it is now worth considerably more. He was a good farmer, and longer life would undoubtedly have made him one of the most prosperous men of the county.
August 21, 1880, Mr. Cowel was married in Sheridan (now Auburn) to Miss Margaret Hughes, a daughter of A. D. T. Hughes, one of the pioneers of this part of the state, and whose brother William homesteaded the Cowel farm. Mr. and Mrs. Cowel had four children: Oliver C., who since his father’s death has assumed the conduct of the home farm and is doing well; Clara E., who is a teacher and living at home; Dollie C., who is just out of school; and Neva N., aged eleven years and in school. They were all educated in Auburn, and Oliver graduated in 1901, and the two sisters were in the classes of 1903 and 1905 when their parents died. Mrs. Cowel died February 13, 1903, of dropsy, while her husband was afflicted with rheumatism and Bright’s disease. Mr. Cowel was a Master Mason, and in politics a Democrat, but later a Populist. His wife was a Methodist, and he was reared in the Lutheran church, but throughout life placed deeds above creeds. By his will he left his estate to his children, and notwithstanding their sore bereavement they are reflecting credit on their noble and worthy parents by the manner in which they have taken up the burdens of life.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company, A Biographical and Genealogical History of Southeastern Nebraska, 2 volumes, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904.