My Cowden ancestors include the Cowdens of Greene and Macoupin Counties, Illinois, and Allen County, Kentucky, and therefore likely include either the Clays or Keens of Franklin County, Virginia, and the Maxeys of Virginia. My wife's ancestors include the Mallows and Gortners of Rockingham County, Virginia, the Charltons and Crows of Montgomery County, Virginia, the Stacys of Virginia, the Hites, Bowmans, and Deyerles of Virginia, and the Piersons of Ohio, most of whom, migrated into southern Missouri. Most of the research I have done has been accomplished with U.S. Census records, Broderbund CDs, and the Internet, so beware. In this second version of my web page, I have avoided wholesale importation of relations from the WFT Trees and the attendant problems, which went with that in the first incarnation, but I have grabbed family names and dates when that data seemed consistent. I have generally not gone more than one generation up or down from the name I linked to in a WFT Tree, but there are exceptions, particularly when climbing up the family tree.
Several people deserve special mention and thanks here.
Cousin Fred Durham has lent me his copy of The Southern Cowdens by John B. Cowden, a valuable and highly used resource, and which will be returned to him. I was finding it difficult to match up names of eight or nine brothers and sisters with the limited number of four children Charles had according to the 1900 Census. If Mary or her descendents should happen upon this site, please let me here from you. Lastly, I thank the following people who I have never met, and have yet to even contact, although I will in the near future. If any of you happen across this site before I contact you, please drop me an email even if just to say Howdy.