By Mark Wineka
Salisbury Post
The Rev. Harry Cowan, the legendary minister who established 49 churches in North Carolina and baptized some 8,500 people, was honored more than a century after his death Tuesday with a N.C. highway historical marker.
A good-sized crowd gathered in the 400 block of North Main Street in Salisbury outside the Rowan County office building for the markers unveiling.
Born into slavery in 1910, Cowan was granted special privileges to preach, marry and baptize at age 18 by his master, Thomas Lincoln Cowan, and he initially used the four Cowan plantations as a field for his ministry.
After the Civil War and emancipation, the Rev. Cowan founded Dixonville Baptist Church in Salisbury in 1866. The church became todays First Calvary Baptist.
In 1867, Cowan established Mount Zion Baptist Church, which stands a block west on North Church Street. In recent years, the church members have moved to a new facility near the Salisbury Mall.
The church held an outside reception at the back of the historic church building after Tuesday mornings dedication ceremony. It also organized the unveiling.
Cowan, known affectionately as Uncle Harry, established many other churches in North Carolina partly through his role as a founder and first moderator of the Rowan Baptist Association.
The cryptic words on the new highway marker describe his as Baptist Minister Vital To Growth Of Churches In N.C. Founder Of Mt. Zion Church (1897), Which Is One Block W.
It didnt take long for someone in the crowd to notice that the date, 1897, was a mistake. It was 30 years off.
Ansley Wegner, representing the N.C. Division of Archives and History, said the marker eventually will have to be returned to a foundry in Ohio where the date will be corrected.
The Cowan marker becomes Rowan Countys 35th state highway historical marker and the 1,503rd in North Carolina. It is the first Rowan marker erected since one dedicated to the lives and contributions of J.E.K. Aggrey and his wife, Rose, in 2004.
That marker is on West Monroe Street near Livingstone College.
The state program began with the first marker in January 1936.
Markers are made of cast aluminum with 3-inch-high letters. Roughly 20 words can fit into the typical marker. It is sort of like a word puzzle, Wegner said.
Subjects selected for markers are reviewed and approved or denied by the Highway Historical Marker Advisory Committee, a group of 10 historians from four-year colleges in North Carolina.
Wegner said the Division of Archives and History plans to offer a Web site, www.ncmarkers.com, on which every marker will have its own page, two photographs of the marker, maybe an assortment of other photos on the subject and a 300- to 500-word essay.
Emily Perry, with assistance from Betty Dan Spencer, researched the life of Cowan and provided a time line. Perry noted that Cowan, as a slave, was never formally educated but, my God, did he accomplish a lot.
Cowan was born in Rowan County, when its area included what became Davie County. His parents were Peter and Betty Thomas Lines, who were slaves.
Cowan was actually united with the church and licensed to preach at age 16, before receiving his special privileges from his master two years later.
Cowan married Susan Horah, the slave of William H. Horah, in 1836, and they had six known children. In 1856, he became the slave of Charlotte Cowan Jenkins, when she received him in the division of her fathers estate.
During the Civil War, the Rev. Cowan served as body servant to Gen. Joseph Johnston.
Cowans wife died sometime between July 1870 and December 1873, when he married Mary Whitehead Kesler, formerly the slave of Dr. Marcellus Whitehead and the widow of Harrison Kesler.
Records show Cowans purchasing of five lots in Salisbury in 1882, and hes thought to have lived in the jersey City section of the city.
In 1889, at the age of 79, he represented Mount Zion at the Sunday School Convention of Western North Carolina.
He died March 20, 1904, at the age of 94 in Winston-Salem, at the home of his daughter and her husband, Dr. and Mrs. Humphrey H. Hall. He is believed, though historians are not positive, to be buried in Salisburys Dixonville Cemetery.
The family members who followed in his footsteps included doctors, lawyers, ministers and teachers, Perry said.
Cowan was known for wearing a long frock coat and beaver hat.
Mayor Susan Kluttz, who attended the unveiling with other City Council members, said Cowan did wonderful things for the city and served as the inspiration for two churches which have understood their responsibilities to the entire community over their long histories.
Dr. Nilous Avery II, pastor of Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church, and Pastor Leamon E. Brown of First Calvary Baptist Church took part in the ceremony.
Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263, or mwineka@salisburypost.com.