Robert Haughey Cowan, Jr. (1824-1872) of Wilmington, NC, was the son of Robert H. (1801-1845) and Sarah Turner (1807-1872) Cowan. He entered the University in 1840, joined the Dialectic Society, and graduated with first honors in 1844. The following year he married Eliza Dickinson (1823-1883); they became the parents of seven children. Robert was a lawyer and president of the Wilmington, Charlotte, and Rutherford Railroad. He rose to the rank of colonel in the Confederate army.