This collection of Cowie manuscripts is fragmentary and contains both personal papers and business records. It consists of incoming letters, copies of letters sent, speeches, financial records, campaign documents, newspaper clippings, nomination papers, and poems. Most of this material has been arranged in chronological order, although speeches, campaign information, personal financial records, and newspaper clippings have been kept separate from the correspondence.
The early correspondence from 1903 to 1906 consists of approximately two hundred and fifty letters to Cowie. Many are written by his wife Kathryn and his brother Allan and are concerned with such personal matters as the health of the family, the death of his father, and the administration of the estate. There are numerous letters of sympathy in February 1904, upon the death of Cowie's father. Another large segment consists of congratulations from Cowie's friends upon his appointment as deputy auditor for the Navy Department. A letter from Robert La Follette on January 13, 1904, officially recognizes Cowie's resignation as district attorney of Trempealeau County. There are a few copies of letters written by Cowie in Washington, D.C., in which he expresses a desire to return to Wisconsin. The most significant correspondence to Cowie in Washington concerns the local political scene in Wisconsin. On May 16, 1904, for example, Joseph V. Quarles writes to Cowie that the opposition to La Follette is gaining and has a safe majority. John C. Gaveney, Cowie's partner, and Glenn O. Linderman, attorney from Osseo, describe the struggle against the governor's machine in Wisconsin in 1904. Opposed to populism, both write about the Republican national convention.
In a letter of October 28, 1904 Theodore Roosevelt appointed Cowie Purchasing Agent of the Post Office Department. John J. Fruit, judge of the sixth judicial circuit in La Crosse, writes to Cowie on December 5, 1904 and describes the heavy duties of the office. There also are numerous congratulations to Cowie upon his election as County Judge in Trempealeau County in April, 1905.
After this early correspondence, there is a large gap until 1922. From April 21, 1922, to May 21, 1924, there are approximately one hundred and forty letters, most of which are related to Cowie's campaign for Circuit Judge. Personal friends, many of them local lawyers, offer their support during the 1924 campaign; two examples are letters from William B. Naylor, a lawyer in Tomah, and James L. Christie, superintendent of the Western Wisconsin Telephone Company. There are numerous pleas by Cowie to potential voters asking for their support. Following Cowie's success in April 1924, numerous congratulations from personal friends indicate the popularity of the lawyer. Cowie replies to many of them and acknowledges their support.
Miscellaneous papers relating to the campaign include financial statements of amounts received and spent by Cowie, nomination papers signed by qualified voters, lists of persons to whom nomination papers have been mailed, printed election notices, posters, cards, and circulars. In addition, there are about twenty-five campaign speeches used by Cowie, most of them are undated. Some are copies of editorials from newspapers and magazines, and others are written by Cowie himself. The primary value of these speeches is their autobiographical information. Topics such as the prevention of war, Biblical texts, elements essential to success, and the contributions of the Scots in America indicate the wide diversity of subject matter. Most of them are typical campaign speeches and ask the voters for support.
In addition to the campaign speeches, there are thirty-nine orations delivered on such occasions as Flag Day, Lincoln's Birthday, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and other patriotic occasions. Usually undated, they center on the crime problem, the care of criminals, probation and parole, education, immigration, patriotism, and citizenship.
The next body of correspondence begins on April 19, 1934 and contains about a hundred and twenty-five letters. Some are about the possibility of Cowie succeeding the late Justice Walter C. Owen to the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. There is a large group of endorsements from lawyers and businessmen on behalf of Cowie to Governor Schmedemann in April and May 1934. Of significance are three letters written on July 15 and 20, and August 19, 1935, by J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to Cowie. The latter has been misquoted in the newspapers as saying that the federal agents purposely shot John Dillinger in a spectacular manner. Cowie justifies his statement to Hoover on August 14.
There is much correspondence in the mid-1930s about the possibility of drafting bills to regulate gambling and lotteries more effectively. Oscar S. Paulson, senator from the thirty-second district, writes to Cowie on February 1, 1939, in an attempt to control “bank nights.” Another significant subject is a proposed retirement bill for judges; Daniel W. Sullivan, judge of the circuit court at Milwaukee, favors this bill in correspondence with Cowie on April 15, 1938; January 12, 1939; and February 6, 1939. Other correspondence deals with court cases handled by Cowie. The main body of letters ends in February 1941, but the last was written on September 9, 1948. The most important is a copy of an open letter by Cowie to the President on August 11, 1945, in opposition to compulsory military training.
Cowie's personal bills, receipts, and canceled checks extend from February 2, 1904, to August 19, 1926. They include magazine subscriptions, life insurance payments, receipts from clients, and bills for political advertisements in newspapers. Another body of material consists of newspaper clippings about Cowie's political activities, speeches, and cases.
Miscellaneous items include mimeographed and published material such as a directory of public officials for Trempealeau County in 1923, an official directory of Monroe County public officers for 1923, the county clerk's report for Trempealeau County in April 1923, copies of postal laws regarding lotteries, and the court calendar for the October 1929 term of the sixth judicial circuit.
The value of this collection principally is the information it contains about politics in Wisconsin, particularly Trempealeau County. It indicates the political views of many portions of the state. Particularly significant are indications of the public sentiment toward La Follette in various areas of Wisconsin.
