San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JOSHUA COWELL
It is generally known that Joshua
Cowell originally owned nearly all the land on which
the thriving town of Manteca now stands, and the appellation “Father of
Manteca” is well applied; he was also the first mayor of Manteca after its
incorporation in May, 1918. In 1910 Mr.
Cowell was harvesting grain from the land where now stands the modern city of
Manteca with her 1,200 inhabitants. He
has been most active in the upbuilding of this city, having erected a number of
Class A buildings in the business district.
He is now interested in general farming and is one of the leading advocates
of irrigation, having proved in his own farm operations the value of this
method in enhancing the productiveness of the land. So widely and favorably is Mr. Cowell known
that his record cannot fail to prove of interest to our readers.
A native of Tioga County, New York,
he was born on January 2, 1842, and is a son of Henry and Elida
(McMaster) Cowell, also natives of the Empire
State. The paternal grandfather, Joshua
Cowell, was a soldier in the War of 1812.
About 1845 the father, Henry Cowell, removed with his family from New
York to Grant County, Wisconsin, and there he lost his wife nine years
later. Joshua Cowell was reared in Grant
County, where he made his home until 1861, when at the age of nineteen years he
came to the west, making the journey across the great plains
with a train of emigrants. He left the
train, however, at the Carson River in Nevada and remained for a time in that
state. Subsequently he continued his
journey to California, where he arrived in January, 1863, crossing the Sierra
Nevada Mountains on foot and coming direct to San Joaquin County. He then took up his abode at the place where
he now resides and it has been his home continuously since. He had two brothers, Henry W. and Williston
Cowell, who also located with him on the ranch and for some time they conducted
farming operations there.
On November 25, 1868, Joshua Cowell
was united in marriage with Miss Vienetta Rachael
Graves, born in Grant County, Wisconsin, and who came across the plains in
1864. They became the parents of six
children: Elida
A. married James Salmon and died leaving one daughter; Mary E. became the wife
of Charles L. Salmon and they have two children; Clara C. is Mrs. Clifford
Wiggins and the mother of three living children; Otis M., the only son, is the
father of one child. Two children died
in early childhood. Some
time after the death of the wife and mother, Mr. Cowell was married a
second time, in September, 1884, when Miss Emily F. Sanders became his
wife. She was born in New York State in
1849 and came to California in 1876. By
this marriage there is one daughter, Hattie V., now the wife of Maxie Mewborn, and they have
three children. There are five
great-grandchildren in the Cowell family circle. In 1864 Joshua Cowell’s
father came to California, accompanied by F. Marion Cowell and Phoebe Cowell,
and he died in San Joaquin County aged sixty-six years.
After his marriage Mr. Cowell took
his bride to his farm, where he has since resided and has become one of the
best known and most progressive citizens of his locality. He has always been a strong advocate of
irrigation and with many others of the early settlers had the vision of water
on those thousands of fertile, sandy and thirsty acres, so they dug a canal
from above Knights Ferry, a distance of forty-five miles, taking water out of
the Stanislaus River and they brought it down into the hot valley. They were laughed at for their dreams. The attitude towards the project was
unfavorable, and the dream was unrealized and many of the promoters lost
fortunes in the early throes of the irrigation movement. A trace of the old canal may still be
seen. Then came
Charles Tulloch and his interests, with more water, taking over the defunct
concern’s water system, and finally the formation of the South Side Irrigation
District. For a number of years Mr.
Cowell was engaged as a contractor in the building of irrigation ditches and
levees mainly in San Joaquin County. His
ranch is devoted to general agricultural pursuits and stockraising, and both
branches of his business have proved profitable. He has also been extensively engaged in the
dairy business, and for five or more years served as president of the Cowell
Station Creamery, being the first incumbent in that position. Whatever he undertakes he carries forward to
successful completion, and while his labors have brought him prosperity they
have also been of a character that has promoted the general good. In his political allegiance Mr. Cowell is a
Republican, but while he renders unfaltering support to the party he has never sought
or desired public office for himself, preferring to give his attention to his
business interests. He was, however, a
candidate for the office of supervisor in the ‘80s. He belongs to the Brethren Church and never
withholds his support and co-operation from any movements that he feels will
contribute to the general good. His
business career exemplifies the force of industry and energy in the utilization
of opportunity. He certainly deserves
much credit for what he has accomplished, and though he started out in life
empty-handed he attained a high degree of success.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
504. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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