I am looking for information on a James Cowling born about 1843 in England (as legend goes). He married Anna Catherine Ward in 1877 in Livingston County Illinois Nevada Township. I have no other record of him in Illinois or anywhere else. They had a son , James Riley Cowling born in 1883 In Illinois who married a first time and the details of this are unknown. It was a rumor he had a family he left behind in Tidewater, Va. His second marriage was to a Ethel Scott in 1918 in Richmond Va. James Riley Cowling died in 1928 in Va.
Anna Catherine Ward's family was from Ohio.
There are lots of James Cowlings and finding the connection has been difficult.