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Cowen, Benjamin Rush

soldier, public official, was born Aug. 15, 1831, in Moorfield, Ohio. In 1861 he enlisted in the volunteer army, and became an additional paymaster, serving under McClellan and Rosecrans, and in the same year was elected secretary of state, but resigned in 1862. He was appointed adjutant-general of Ohio in 1864, and served as such for four years, receiving three brevets. He was also an inspector of military prisons, and subsequently went into the iron and coal business at Bellaire. He was a delegate to the National Philadelphia convention of 1866, and the Chicago convention of 1868, of which he was secretary. In 1871 he was appointed assistant secretary of the interior department, and was also a leading member of the republican committee of Ohio, and chairman of the state committee.