He attended the local public schools and graduated from Erskine College before studying law in the state of Georgia.

He moved to San Diego, California, for a brief time before returning to Kingman and being elected a Probate Judge, serving in that position for four years[2] and simultaneously he was the superintendent of county schools.

[2] Near the end of the session, tensions grew between the House of Representatives and Governor Benjamin Joseph Franklin, a gold Democrat in a predominately free silver territory, leading Cowan to sponsor a resolution declaring "the best interests of the territory demanded an immediate change in the office of governor."

Acting upon a recommendation by Governor Brodie,[5] he introduced what came to be known as the Cowan Bill which raised significant revenue for Arizona.

[1][3] Cowan married Rosalie Rice Ogden of California in December 1883[9] with whom he had two daughters, Florence and Edith.