Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Cowell, Joseph

COWELL, Joseph, comedian, b. in Kent, England, 7, Aug., 1792; d. in London, 14 Nov., 1863. He made his first appearance, 23 Jan., 1812, at Davenport, England, as Belcour in the “West Indian,” and first appeared in London in 1812, at Drury Lane theatre. In October, 1812, he acted on the American stage as Leclair in “Foundling of the Forest,” and Crack in “Turnpike Gate,” at the Park theatre in New York. Cowell was distinguished in low comedy, and as a comic vocalist. He appeared in Philadelphia as manager of Walnut street theatre circus. Kate Bateman is his grand-daughter. He wrote “Thirty Years among the Players of England and America” (New York, 1844).