George R. Cowan represented Russell and Buchanan counties at the Convention of 1867–1868. The son of a General Assembly member, Cowan served with Confederate forces during the American Civil War (1861–1865) until wounds led to an 1862 furlough. On the first day of 1863 he was elected Russell County’s clerk and held the position until 1869. In 1867 he earned one of three spots as a delegate for the convention that would write a new state constitution. Described as “unreconstructed,” he voted with the Conservatives on key issues, such as opposing the racial integration of public schools and challenging efforts to disfranchise white Virginians who had supported secession or the Confederacy. Cowan did not vote to adopt the new constitution, but along with other Conservatives did sign a public address protesting most of its provisions. By 1894 he had moved to the Oklahoma Territory and by 1904 was living in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he died.
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