Departed this life at his residence in Charleston, on the 28th February, William W. Cowan, in the 54th year of his age. He was confined to his bed for three weeks with a severe attack of fever; and also a disease of the lungs, during which time he suffered extremely. He was a man of moral habits and unparalleled honesty; was looked upon as a pattern and guide to the rising generation, and his influence beamed forth shedding its bright rays far and wide. Most of his life was spent in the mercantile business. For the last two and a half years, he was agent for the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad Company at the Charleston Depot. He had many, very many, warm and zealous friends and few enemies. But he is gone to try the realities of another world, leaving a wife, six children, and many relations and friends to mourn their loss.
Athens Post, 10 March 1854 (reprinted in the Journal of Tennessee History and Genealogy, Vol. 4, No.3, 2000)
contributed by Anita Cowan (date not specified)