The following is contained in the McCown Family History and is apparently a reprint of an obituary written at the time of Joshua Wilson McCown’s death.

The death of Judge J.W. McCown at his farm near Towash on the Brazos River, some twenty miles southwest of Hillsboro, on the night of December 29, 1896 removes from the state one of the most noted of its pioneers. He was 93 years of age at the time of his death and sixty years of his life has been spent in Texas. There is not today living an old antebellum settler in Texas who has not heard of and did not know Judge McCown. The following brief sketch of his life is taken from a history of Hill County, Texas printed some years ago.

Joshua W. McCown, a successful farmer of Hill County, was born in Bardstown, Kentucky, February 6, 1804 and remained in his native state until 16 years of age, when he went to Franklin County, Tennessee and was engaged as Deputy Clerk until 1828. In 1829 he removed to New Orleans and embarked in the commission and storage business and about a year later the yellow fever broke out and he returned to Franklin County, Tennessee where he bought a small farm on the Nashville Pike. He subsequently sold the place and bought land on the east side of the Cumberland River. One year later he moved to Rutherford County, where he farmed and taught school two years. Next he bought the farm which afterwards became the Battlefield of Murfreesboro and in the fall of 1837 he came by boat to Texas with his wife, seven children and one brother, Lewis.

Mr. McCown settled near Nacogdoches, but on account of the high water and wild Indians he started for Washington, Texas, on September 10, 1837. All along the route the settlers were in forts. After his arrival he erected a house and bought a tract of land three miles west of Washington, consisting of forty acres. Corn was then worth five dollars per barrel, flour forty dollars per barrel, bacon fifty cents per pound, wool hats five dollars, shoes five dollars and everything in proportion. In those days it was customary for one of the neighbors to visit a newcomer and see if they would let him stay and when they visited Mr. McCown they were told they thought he would do, but he informed them, “Do, or no do,” he had come to stay.

After farming on this place, Mr. McCown engaged in teaming, in which he made three hundred dollars in ten days. He hauled from Houston to Washington, and continued that occupation for seven years, when he again engaged in merchandizing in Houston. He sold goods as far up the Brazos River as Fort Graham and made twenty-seven thousand dollars in three years, but he afterward removed to Houston and ran a hotel one year.

Mr. McCown then removed to Hill County and bought the Peter Freely "actually, Peter Fleming farm', but was involved in a law suit over the land for twenty-five years and finally lost all but one thousand acres. He has held the office of clerk of the court, has been a commission merchant, a farmer, a teamster and in fact, has followed every vocation that came his way. He now owns about 200 acres of fine land on the Brazos River. He was opposed to the late war "Civil War" and was considered a Union man. He is a Democrat in his political views.

He was married April 28, 1828 to Miss Martha Sheppard, the correct spelling is “Shapard” who died in February, 1853. In November of the same year Mr. McCown married Mrs. Elizabeth Davis who had four children. He was the father of 16 children by his former marriage and four by the latter. Mr. McCown has been a member of the Methodist Church sixty-nine years, and is also a Knight Templer.

Joshua W. McCown died at his farm near Towash,127 on the Brazos River, some twenty miles southwest of Hillsboro, on the night of December 29 1896. He was 93 years old. Elizabeth B. Davis McCown died a year later, in 1897, at the age of 63. They are both buried in the relocated Towash Cemetery in the Towash Section of the Whitney Memorial Park Cemetery in Whitney, Texas.
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Children of Joshua Wilson McCown Sr. and his first wife Martha Shapard/Sheppard were:

1. William B. McCown; b. 13 Mar 1829; d. 13 Mar 1830 in New Orleans
2. Joshua Wilson McCown, Jr.; b. 8 Jul 1830; d. 18 Jul 1894 m. (1) Margaret Chalmer, 7 Oct 1852,132 (2) Susan Turnham 9 May 1854
3. Alexander McCown; b. 14 Jan 1831; d. 28 Nov 1844
4. Marjorie McCown; b. 19 Dec 1832 in Tenn.; d. 13 Dec 1891; m. William D. Herrick 26 Mar 1864 in Washington County, Texas
5. Thomas Payne Shapard (T.P.S.) McCown; b. 6 Feb 1834 d. 10 Jul 1914 in Whitney, Tex.; m. (1) Hattie Alice Whitfield, (2) Mary Ruth Darden on 4 Jul 1878 in Washington Co., Tex.
6. Mary Eliza McCown; b 17 Feb 1835; d. 1895 in Hillsboro, TX; m. James Harvey Littlefield Sept 24, 1853
7. James McCown; b. 3 Apr 1836; d. 22 Jun 1917; m. (1) Martha Wall Texana Gathings 25 Apr 1872, (2) Emma Davis Gathings 19 Jul 1874
8. Sophia Athelia McCown; b. 8 May 1837; d. 16 May 1877 in Rockdale, TX; m. Solon Joynes in 1872
9. Robert McCown; b. 5 Sep 1839; d. 13 Jul 1845
10. Martha Ann McCown; b. 5 Jan 1840; d. 7 Apr 1915; m. James Burger
11. Jane McCown;b. 19 Jul 1841; m. William G. Bunger 29 Oct 1868 in Brazos County
12. Samuel Houston McCown; b. 23 Oct 1842; d. 14 Nov 1844
13. Jerome Robertson McCown; b. 23 Mar 1844; d. 28 Apr 1857
14. Robert Alexander McCown; b. 10 Dec 1847; d. Jul 1853 in Houston
15. Frances New McCown; b. 10 Jul 1850; m. A. A. Burke 9 Jun 1870 in Brazos County
16. Susan Rebecca McCown; b. 19 Jun 1851; d. 1876; m. J. C. Wilborne 9 Jun 1870 in Brazos County
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Children of Joshua Wilson McCown and his second wife, Elizabeth Davis were:
1. Kate McCown; b. 22 Oct 1854
2. Elizabeth Nichols McCown; b. 21 Jan 1856
3. Frederick Wilmot McCown; b. 22 Jun 1858; d. 11 Dec 1922; m. Della Young 7 Oct 1883
4. Helen McCown; b. 27 Jan 1862; m. Frank M. Hinchman
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Children of Elizabeth Davis before and when she married J.W. McCown were:
1. Nelson G. Davis; b. ca. 1841 in Texas
2. Annette Davis; b. ca. 1843; m. John Weagle
3. Isaac T. Davis; b. ca. 1846
4. Henrietta Davis; b. ca. 1848; m. D.W.H. Smith

**The information above was provided by Find A Grave contributor: Lou Poole #47253042 on September 1, 2015.
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**NOTE: Link to mother sent by contributor: Rex Moore, Jr. #47503652 on August 25, 2019. **I have not confirmed his info but will add it to the memorial.