Born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Frank Cowan was a multi-talented figure who worked as a lawyer, medical doctor, and writer. The son of a U.S. Senator, Cowan moved to Washington, D.C., in 1861, where he studied law and began writing fiction, poetry, and drama. In 1867, at just twenty-two years old, he was appointed as a personal secretary to President Andrew Johnson. He later earned a medical degree from Georgetown Medical College and established dual practices in law and medicine in his hometown, where he also founded and edited Frank Cowan's Paper. Cowan's literary career was marked by a penchant for sensationalism and elaborate hoaxes. In 1867, he co-authored a highly successful newspaper hoax claiming the discovery of an eleventh-century Icelandic Christian woman's body near the Potomac River, aimed at boosting newspaper sales. Following the tragic deaths of his wife and infant son in 1873, Cowan suffered from ill health and embarked on extensive global travels. During his journeys in the 1880s, he wrote extensively about his observations in Australia, Brazil, Hawaii, India, Korea, and New Zealand. Even toward the end of his life, Cowan remained fascinated by Viking lore and media manipulation. Knowing he was terminally ill in 1904, he planned a symbolic Viking-style funeral involving a model fire ship, though the burial ultimately did not take place as planned. He died in 1905, leaving behind a legacy of eccentric writing, journalism, and travelogues.
