Benjamin Rush Cowen was Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 general and a Republican politician who was Ohio Secretary of State

Ohio Secretary of State

The Secretary of State is responsible for overseeing elections in the State of Ohio. The Secretary of State also is responsible for registering business entities and granting them the authority to do business within the state, registering secured transactions, and granting access to public...

.

Benjamin Rush Cowen was born in Moorefield Township, Harrison County, Ohio

Moorefield Township, Harrison County, Ohio

Moorefield Township is one of the fifteen townships of Harrison County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 420 people in the township.-Geography:Located in the southern part of the county, it borders the following townships:...

. His father, Benjamin S. Cowen

Benjamin S. Cowen

Benjamin Sprague Cowen was a U.S. Representative from Ohio.Born in Washington County, New York, Cowen attended the common schools, and later studied medicine. He served in the War of 1812 as a private. In 1820, he moved to Moorefield Township, Harrison County, Ohio, where he practiced medicine...

 was later elected to Congress

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

. He grew up in St. Clairsville

St. Clairsville, Ohio

St. Clairsville is a city in Belmont County, Ohio in the United States. It is part of the Wheeling, West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,057 at the 2000 census. This county seat of Belmont County has been nicknamed "Paradise on the Hill." St. Clairsville was named after...

, Belmont County, Ohio

Belmont County, Ohio

Belmont County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is part of the Wheeling, West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 70,400. Its county seat is St. Clairsville...

, where he attended a classical institute, and served an apprenticeship in printing at the Belmont Chronicle, where he became owner and editor at age 17. He completed studies in medicine, but never practiced.

On September 19, 1854, Cowen was married to Ellen Thoburn of Belmont County. She had eight children, three of whom survived him. In 1856, as an alternate, he attended the National Convention of the Republican Party in Philadelphia, which Nominated Fremont for the Presidency. He sold the Chronicle in 1858 and was in real estate in Bellaire

Bellaire, Ohio

Bellaire is a village in Belmont County, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Wheeling, West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,278 at the 2010 census. The village is located along the Ohio River...

. In the 54th General Assembly, he was Chief Clerk of the Ohio House of Representatives

Ohio House of Representatives

The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate....

, and served during the 1860 and adjourned 1861 session. In October, 1861 he was elected Ohio Secretary of State, but resigned for War duties in May, 1862.

Civil War

Whitelaw Reid

Whitelaw Reid

Whitelaw Reid was a U.S. politician and newspaper editor, as well as the author of a popular history of Ohio in the Civil War.-Early life:...

 in Ohio in the War had this to say of Cowen's service:

Post war

In 1867, Cowen was a candidate for Governor at the Republican State Convention, but lost out to General Hayes

Rutherford B. Hayes

Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...

. He was offered nomination as lieutenant-governor

Lieutenant Governor of Ohio

The position of lieutenant governor of Ohio was established in 1852. The lieutenant governor becomes governor if the governor resigns, dies in office or is removed by impeachment. Before 1852, the president of the Ohio State Senate would serve as acting governor if a vacancy in the governorship...

, but declined. In 1868, he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention

Republican National Convention

The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...

. In 1869 he was appointed supervisor of revenue for California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

, Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

, and Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, and transferred the following year to the southern district of Ohio. From 1871 to 1876 he was assistant secretary of the interior

United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior

The Deputy Secretary of the Interior, in the United States government, advises and assists the Secretary of the Interior in the supervision and direction of the Department of the Interior and its activities, and succeeds the Secretary in his or her absence, sickness, or unavailability. The Deputy...

 under President Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

. Grant gave Cowen a number of special assignments, and he is credited with helping to establish Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...

.

From 1877 to 1882 Cowen engaged in business in Bellaire and Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

. From 1882 to 1884 he was editor of the Ohio State Journal in Columbus

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

. From 1884 to his death he was Clerk of the United States Circuit and District Courts for the Southern District of Ohio, and lived in Cincinnati.

Cowen became a member of the Literary Club of Cincinnati, and was a frequent public speaker on matters historical an patriotic. He died at Cincinnati January 29, 1908.