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Joshua Cowell was born in Tioga, New York, on January 2, 1842. In 1845, his family moved to Grant County, Wisconsin.
In 1861, young Joshua followed the call to the west. He stayed in the Carson Valley in Nevada for two years and walked over the Sierra to San Joaquin County in 1863.
Joshua and his two brothers were among the first farmers in the San Joaquin Valley. Cowell was one of the initiators of the irrigation system that turned the valley into the "Salad Bowl of the World."
In 1918, when Manteca was incorporated as a city, Joshua Cowell was elected as its first mayor.
He died at age 84 in 1925.
His complete biography can be found here
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