Jonas Hartzell McGOWAN, Congress, MI (1837-1909)

McGOWAN, Jonas Hartzell, a Representative from Michigan; born in the township of Smithtown, Columbiana (now Mahoning) County, Ohio, April 2, 1837; attended a seminary in Alliance, Ohio; moved with his parents to Orland, Steuben County, Ind., in 1854; was graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1861; taught in the city schools of Coldwater, Mich., for one year; during the Civil War served in the Fifth and Ninth Regiments, Michigan Volunteer Cavalry; returned to Coldwater, Mich.; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1867 and commenced practice; prosecuting attorney of Branch County 1868-1872; member of the State senate; served as regent of the University of Michigan for seven years; elected as a Republican to the Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1877-March 3, 1881); declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1880 to the Forty-seventh Congress; resumed the practice of his profession in Washington, D.C., where he died on July 5, 1909; interment in Oak Grove Cemetery, Coldwater, Mich.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present