Wash Cowley, who lives in the northeast part of town, came to Mineral Wells when the town was an infant.  He was five years of age at the time and had come along with his mother and a brother from Mississippi, and the year was 1883.  A native of Lee County, Mississippi, Mr. Cowley has spent the most of his life here and just over the line in Parker County.  His father, John Cowley, died in Mississippi when Wash was one year old.

In 1905 Cowley married Jannie Shaw and they have eight children, six of whom live here.  They are Robert, John, Jess and Fayette Cowley, Mmes. Luella Stinton and Ellen Jackson.  The couple also have 22 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.