Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/386

 PROMINENT PERSONS

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four years. He wrote a "Digest of .the Laws of Ohio/* and also published addresses on •'Payment of Bonds of the United States f' "Reconstruction of the Southern States," and "Payment of the Principal of the Pub- lic Debt/' He married Elvira Wright, of Missouri. He died in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sep- tember 20, 1870.

Cowardin, James Andrew, born near Hot Springs. Virginia, October 6, 181 1, the son 01 John Lewis and Polly (Rhodes) Cowar- din. and grandson of Abraham Cowardin, who married Miss Lewis, daughter of Mrs. Lewis (who at one time owned the famous Warm Springs in Bath county), and who was of the numerous family of Lewises of Virginia, of which Gen. Charles and Meri- wether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clarke Rocky Mountain explorers, were members. At the age of thirteen years James entered the oriike of the Roanoke "Sentinel," Dan- ville, \'irginia, to serve his time at the "art preservative of arts.'* In 18J7 or 1828 he removed to Lynchburg, Virginia, and at iwcnty-one became foreman of the "Jeffer- sonian Republican," and occasionally wrote for it. He held this position until 1834. when he removed to Richmond, Virginia, where he became chief and confidential clerk Oi Thomas Ritchie, editor and owner of the "Daily Enquirer," and the Nestor of South- ern journalism. Politically they were far aj.art, but Ritchie's heart was won by the cheerful and willing spirit, the active and oMiging disposition of young Cowardin. Letters which passed between them when ti.ey stood in good relation of employer and employee, and after they had separated, siiow Mr. Ritchie's high estimate of his vimng clerk, and his sincere desire to see

him advance in life. Mr. Cowardin held his clerkship in the "Enquirer" office until 1838, when he bought out the interest of John S. Gallegher in the "Times and Com- piler,'* W. H. Davis being the remaining partner, the firm becoming Cowardin & Davis. Later, desiring to engage in finan- cial pursuits, he disposed of his interest in the "Times and Compiler," to W. C. Car- rington, and embarked with his brother-in- law, Charles \V. Purcell, in the banking and brokerage business. Of this he soon tired, and on October 19, 1859, in connection with William H. Davis, Mr. Cowardin started the "Daily Dispatch," which was independ- ent in politics, and the first penny paper ever published south of Baltimore, Mary- land, and after years of toil he established it upon a firm foundation, and made it one of the most progressive and prosperous papers in the Southern states. At the close of the civil war, Mr. Cowardin associated with himself H. K. Ellyson, who became half-owner in the "Dispatch." In the Whig campaign of 1853 Mr. Cowardin was nomi- nated by the old Whig party as one of the candidates to represent the city of Rich- mond in the house of delegates of Virginia, and was elected. In the g^eat struggle of 1869. when Virginia was seeking to release herself from military rule and secure read- mission to the Union, he again consented to take an active part in politics and helped to organize the committee of nine, and went with it to Washington in the interest of the "Walker movement." His letters from Washington to the "Dispatch" measurably prepared the \'irginia mind for the accept- ance of "the new depanure.'* and finally to its success. He was a great friend of in- ternal improvements, and wrote well upon

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