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Biography

Rev. Hugh Cowan

Presbyterian & United Church minister, author, editor, and historian
(1867–1943)

Overview

Hugh Cowan is a great-grandfather of John Fairley. A Presbyterian—later United Church—minister in Canada, he was also an author, editor, and historian who wrote local histories of Windsor–Essex County and Chatham–Kent.

He was born May 20, 1867 in Bentinck, Grey County, Ontario, the son of John and Mary (McLean) Cowan. John was born in Oban, Scotland in 1828 and died in Grey County on November 14, 1903; both John and Mary are buried in Owen Sound, Ontario.

Education & Ordination

Cowan completed a Bachelor of Arts at Manitoba College (later the University of Manitoba) in 1893. He earned a Master of Arts at Knox College, Toronto (class of 1896), and a Bachelor of Divinity at Queen’s Theological College, Kingston, in 1905.

He was ordained by the Chatham Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Canada on August 17, 1897.

Church Ministries

  • 1897–1900: Pastor at Oakdale Presbyterian Church (North Dawn; now Oakdale United Church) and Rutherford Presbyterian Church (Dawn Centre), Lambton County near Dresden, Ontario.
  • 1900–1905: St. Andrew’s Church, North Easthope and Shakespeare, Ontario.
  • 1905–1913: Three-point charge — St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Harwich, Ontario; Bethel Presbyterian Church, Mull; and The Ridge Presbyterian Church.
  • 1914–1916: Haynes Ave. Church (now Westminster United), St. Catharines, Ontario.
  • 1919–1921: Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Toronto.
  • 1922: High Park Presbyterian Church, Toronto.
  • 1925 → Entered ministry of the United Church of Canada.
  • 1925–1931: Minister at Bethel United Church near Chatham, Ontario.
  • 1931–1934: Pastor at MacLennan, Desbarats, and Portlock near Sault Ste. Marie.
  • 1935–1937: Sault Suburban Church area charge, Sault Ste. Marie.
  • 1937: Retired.

Author, Editor & Historian

Selected works include:

  • Mer Douce, Volume 1 — The Story of Ontario, The Algonquin Historical Society, 1921–1923.
  • La Cloche — The Story of Hector MacLeod and his misadventures in the Georgian Bay and La Cloche districts, Algonquin Historical Society of Canada, Toronto, 1928.
  • The Detroit River District (Canadian Achievement in the Province of Ontario), Algonquin Historical Society of Canada, Toronto, 1929. Reissued as Ontario and the Detroit Frontier, 1701–1814 during the War of 1812 bicentennial.
  • Canadian Achievements of Kent County, by Rev. Hugh Cowan.
  • Gold and Silver Jubilee, Sault Ste. Marie — year book, 1937.
  • The Great Drama of Human Life, 1937 — reflections on major themes in Christianity; now available again via online booksellers.

Personal Life

He married Jean Eloise Wood in London, Ontario, on October 31, 1899. Together they had nine children, including James A. Cowan.

Later Years & Passing

Rev. Hugh Cowan died at Owen Sound, Ontario, on April 19, 1943, aged 73.