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ALFRED M. COWEN, the poplar proprietor of Cowen's Steam Laundry of 
Altoona, is a son of Edward and Ellen (Marsden) Cowen, and was born in 
the famous Tuckahoe Valley, in Logan Township, Blair County, 
Pennsylvania, November 29, 1848. Edward Cowen (father) was born in 
Morrison Cove, this county. He learned the trade of miller, which he 
followed at various places, and operated a flouring mill in the Tuckahoe 
Valley for several years. He was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church, and an old-line whig in politics, and he died in the city of 
Altoona in 1854, at forty-one years of age. He married Ellen Marsden, a 
native of Morrison Cove, and a member of the Lutheran Church, who passed 
away in 1888, when in the seventy-fourth year of her age. They were the 
parents of nine children, five sons and four daughters. Alfred M. Cowen 
spent his boyhood and youth in Morrison Cove, received his education in 
the common schools, and then learned the trade of carpenter, which he 
followed continuously and successfully in various parts of the county 
for fifteen years. At the end of that time, in 1880, he embarked in the 
laundry business, in which he has continued successfully until the 
present time. His establishment is at No.1005 Fourteenth Street. It is a 
steam laundry, thoroughly equipped with the latest improved steam 
washers, ironers, and dryers, and all other machinery needed in such an 
establishment. All work turned out is in first-class condition, without 
injury to the material. Mr. Cowen has acquired an enviable reputation 
for superior work and reliable business methods, and enjoys a very 
liberal and substantial trade in Altoona. Labor saving machinery and 
public laundries in all the cities of this country have revolutionized 
the old and wearisome home washing by hand, and Mr. Cowen has given 
Altoona the advantages of a public laundry as complete in its 
arrangements as is possessed by any other city in the state. He has made 
a thorough study of his present business in all of its details, and 
fully understands the needs of his numerous patrons. In addition to his 
laundry, Alfred M. Cowen owns some very valuable real estate in the 
Mountain City. He is a republican in politics, and a member and trustee 
of the First Baptist Church of Altoona. He is also a member of Altoona 
Lodge No. 473, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Mountain City Lodge 
No. 281, Free and Accepted Masons. In September, 1877, Mr. Cowen, was 
united in marriage with Joanna Dougherty, a native of the State of 
Virginia, and then resident of the city of Altoona. To their union has 
been born a family of four children, two sons and two daughters: Blanche 
May, John Allen, Jessie, and Alfred B.Transcribed and submitted to Blair 
County, PA, USGenWeb Archives by Janet L. Gray   bmgray@dol.net