The Herald reported on April 28, 1887 – “A license has been issued for the manufacture of smoking tobacco to Mr. Geo. C. Cowan who lives a few miles east of Rock Hill. Mr. Cowan raised a good crop of tobacco last year and feels the best way to make money from the crop is to manufacture the leaves for smoking.” Later the Herald wrote on May 19, 1887 – “Mr. George Cowan’s Tobacco Factory is now in full operation. A sample of his goods was available on our streets last week and is considered of good quality.”
City Directories and History: Rock Hill historian, Wm. B. White, Jr., shared the following with the current owner of the Cowan Farm in June of 2008. “I have been involved in local history and genealogy for more than sixty years, and I must say professionally that Mr. Will’s recollections are valuable historically and well-written…. I recall vividly the week when the old Cowan home burned to the ground. It was located not far from the highway that ran from Rock Hill to Lesslie Station — on the north side of the road. It was a big house set in a grove of magnificent trees.”
Will or William Cowan, a ginner, was a farmer but also operated an antebellum press and gin. See several receipts for said work via the George P. White and Ann H. White records.
See the attached PDF for the recollections of Will Cowan and the Historic Threads for additional data on Roots and Recall.
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