[citation needed] Cowgill was a surgeon from Dover, Delaware, and The Morning News noted that he was "possessed of superior mental faculties, highly cultivated, he applied himself assiduously to the study of his profession and his remarkable skill in the treatment of diseases, his devotion to his patients and agreeable personality, was rewarded by a large and lucrative practice.
"[3] He also spent one year, 1853, as a clerk for the Delaware House of Representatives, having "remarkable alertness and ability" in the role.
[3] He served as a surgeon for the Union Army in New Bern, North Carolina, during the American Civil War.
[3] Appointed to the three member Board of Canvassers determining disputed election results from November 1876, he and fellow Republican Samuel B. McLin determined Republican victories for president and governor.
[5][6][7] Republican Rutherford B. Hayes took office as president while Democrat George Franklin Drew became governor in Florida.