John Cowin was another attorney who was instrumental in the development of Omaha. I'd always admired his marker and was happy to find a picture of him as well as a biography. He was in many of the decisive battles of the Civil War, through which he rose to the rank of Captain.

John C. Cowin was born in Warrensville, Ohio, on the 11th day of January, 1846. At an early age his father, a farmer of very limited means, died, and he was brought to face the world for himself in the encounter for daily existence. His first employment was upon a farm, the meagre income from which was set aside for the procurement of a better education than was afforded in the neighboring district school. He entered Hiram Electic Institute, of which James A. Garfield, afterwards the Chief Magistrate of the nation, was president, and was the recipient of many kindnesses at his hands in the struggle for an education on limited means. On the breaking out of the war Mr. Cowin enlisted as a private in the Twenty-third Ohio Infantry, and participated in numerous engagements, among the more notable being those of Carnifax Ferry, the second battle of Bull Run, South Mountain and Antietam. When the war had terminated he had risen to a captaincy. He returned to Ohio, taking a law course in the Ohio State and Union Law College, at Cleveland, Ohio, at the same time entering the law office of Backus & Estep. On graduating and receiving his diploma, in the spring of 1867, he moved West, reaching Omaha in April of that year, and here he has since remained. He was elected to the office of District Attorney in the fall of 1868. Two years later he was re-elected. It said of his official service that he was the most effective Prosecuting Attorney the district ever had, being a terror to criminals and offenders against the law. On retiring from the Prosecutor's office Mr. Cowin's friends brought him forward in 1876 as a candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress, Nebraska at that time having but one member in the national House of Representatives. After a vigorous canvass, in which the then dominant railroad power was pitted against him, Mr. Cowin was barely defeated in his party convention. He had incurred the hostility of the railroads because of his vigorous and successful conduct of a suit against the Union Pacific Railroad, to which the Treasurer of Douglas and other counties were parties, the point at issue being the taxability by the State and municipalities of the lands granted by the Government, and which involved many hundreds of thousands of dollars. The case was taken to the Supreme Court at Washington, and decided in Mr. Cowin's favor, a triumph of which he is still justly proud. In the campaign of 1882 Mr. Cowin was again brought forward by his hosts of admiring friends as a Republican candidate for United States Senator. When the Legislature was convened and balloting for Senator began, an intense strife developed. Mr. Cowin led all other candidates in the party caucus, and during two weeks of balloting was within one or two votes of the requisite number, but as is usual in such intense strife, a combination was made against the strongest candidate, which resulted in a compromise, and General Manderson was chosen. Mr. Cowin has been remarkably successful in his profession, ranking among the very foremost members of the bar of Nebraska. He is of a genial, kindly nature, a man of fine intellectual attainments, great oratorical powers and distinguished presence. He commands the respect and confidence of the people in a marked degree, and should ambition move him to it, may yet enjoy high political distinction. Mr. Cowin was married in 1870 to Ella L. Benton, of Cleveland, and enjoys the domestic bliss of a charming family.