The Grant-Burr Families
The Cowles
Samuel Cowles (1735-1815) was the head of the family in Norfolk, Connecticut. His daughter Zilpah (1762-1824) married (1782) Joel Grant (1756-1796). The couple were the grandparents of Daniel Grant.
Samuel Cowles' son, Samuel (1771-1845), Zilpah's brother, had a large family, a number of whom are represented in the Deacon Grant Farm Papers. He married (1800) Olive Phelps. They purchased a tract of land in the Western Reserve. When the family arrived to settle they found the land very desirable but Samuel felt the educational facilities were inadequate. He sold the property and returned to Connecticut.
The couple had eleven children, two of whom graduated from Yale. Many of the children were albino. John became blind yet continued to teach. Henry, Eliza, Roxana, Martha, Helen and Olivia were all albinos. The children:
Louisa Cowles (1802-1885). She married (1822) Amos Corbin.
Henry Cowles (1803-1881). He was a professor at Oberlin College and member of the Board of Trustees. Graduate of Yale (A.B.) and Hillsdale College (D.D.) He married (1830) Alice Welch.
John Phelps Cowles (1805-1890). Yale M.A. 1826, valedictorian. He was ordained at Princeton, Mass. and later became Principal of the Ipswich Seminary. He was a classical scholar and linguist. He married (1838) Eunice Caldwell (1811- ).
Maria Jane Cowles (1806-1843). Unmarried, she taught at Oberlin College 1837 and 1838.
Eliza Cowles (1808-1895). She married (1833) Augustine Austin Smith (1806-1891). He was the president of Northwestern College for 21 years.
Roxana Cowles (1810-1904). She married (1834) Raphael Marshall ( ). They resided in Painesville, Ohio.
Rachel Cowles (1812-1858). She married (1835) Lysander Mix Cowles ( ). Their only child died in infancy.
James Cowles (1815-1904). He graduated Yale A.B. 1837. He taught vocal and instrumental music in Ohio, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. He was a staunch abolishionist. He married (1842) Rhoda Barnum (1821- ).
Mary Ann Cowles (1817-1874). She married (1838) Ebenezer Benton Chamberlain (1810-1882). He was a minister in Connecticut, Ohio and Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Oberlin Theological Seminary in 1838.
Helen Keziah Cowles (1819-1903). She married (1839) Francis M. Leonard.
Olivia W. Cowles (1822- ). She married (1844) Henry Emerson Knapp.