This project has two goals. One is to link Cowgills in the US. Two is to link the US Cowgills with Cowgills in the UK, with emphasis on Yorkshire. Dr. George Redmonds has declared Cowgill as a single source surname. Lee Gate House in Malham marks the site of the medieval settlement and the name is preserved in the isolated farm known as Cow Gill Cote. Early surnames prove that the first element could not have been "cow". 1379 John de Colgyll,1458 Thomas Colgill of Ilkley, 1543 Robert Cowgyll of Thornton in Craven. There were formerly coal workings in the gill and may explain the early first element.