James A. Owen

The Owens had long been a prominent family in Wales when in 1684 the first one came to America and settled in Philadelphia soon after that town was founded. His son was sent back to England to be educated for the ministry of the Church of England, and in due course was sent by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Lands to the province of Maryland, and settled in Calvert County. His son was a planter in Prince George's County, Maryland, and his grandson, Lawrence Owen, in 1787 freed his slaves and moved west to the area that soon became Kentucky. Lawrence Owen had several sons, two of whom moved on west to Missouri. One of them, John Owen, farmed land in Platte County; another, Ignatius Owen, was a general of the Missouri Militia. A third son, Nelson Reed Owen, lived in Henry County, Kentucky.

James Alfred Owen, son of Nelson Reed Owen, was born May 20, 1822, at his father's farm in Henry County. The father died when the boy was ten years old, and the family moved to what is now a part of Louisville. In 1839, when he was seventeen, and head of the family, he began to study law in the office of Hon. James I. Dozier. His uncles in Missouri urged him to come west, so in 1846, aged twenty-four, he took the steamboat from Louisville to St. Louis, and thence to Platte County. He taught school in Platte City for a year, and on May 19, 1847, came to St. Joseph. He read law with Judge Solomon L. Leonard and in the fall of 1848 passed the rigid examination and was admitted to the Bar.

On August 3, 1848, James was married to Miss Agnes Jeanette Cargill, daughter of James Cargill, at the Cargill family farm east of St. Joseph, “Burr Oak Grove. In the next decade, up to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Owen was busy and successful in his practice of law and fortunate in his real estate investments. In 1859 he built the house on the northwest corner of Ninth and Jule Streets, “far out in the country, which was to remain the family home for two generations.

James Owen was a strong believer in states' rights, but courageously outspoken in his opposition to the efforts of many Missourians to make Kansas a slave state. He said: "Remain pro-slavery if you choose, but spare Missouri the disgrace of attempting to make Kansas her outlying province. In 1860 he stood fast to his belief in states' rights and maintained that the Southern states had the right to secede if they so desired. In 1861 he was offered a commission as brigadier general in the federal forces, but he declined.

In 1864 James Owen retired from his law practice and devoted himself to the management of his private affairs. He made an extensive study of financial problems and in 1876 accepted the nomination of the Greenback Party for the post of lieutenant governor of Missouri. The party had little strength but Mr. Owen made the gesture because he believed the 'greenbacks in the American currency should remain in circulation as long as there was a federal debt outstanding.

Mr. James A. Owen died at his home at Ninth and Jule Streets on May 13, 1890. Mrs. Owen died there in 1911.

The Owens had four daughters and three sons, of which two sons died in infancy. Three of the daughters did not marry but established brilliant intellectual careers for themselves. They lived at home all their lives, usually arranging their affairs so that one could be traveling while the others stayed with the family. Miss Luella Agnes was greatly interested in geography and geology. She was recognized by the imperial Chinese government for her work on the loess soil occurring only in China and in the Missouri River cliffs. Miss Mary Alicia attended Vassar College, and was knowledgeable in folklore. She made important discoveries in voodoo magic and after investigating the customs and rites of the American Indians she was taken into tribal membership by the Sac Indians in 1892. She was the author of several books. Miss Juliette Amelia, also a Vassar student, was greatly interested in natural history, birds, and wildlife. She was an author and artist. She wrote books on the botany and birds of Missouri and did more than a hundred watercolors of flowers, birds, and natural scenery.

Miss Florence A. Owen married William Bard Orr in 1881. He was a native of Orrstown, near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, who had come to Forest City, Missouri, where he was associated with Jacob M. Ford. Their son, Robert B. Orr, married Miss Jessamine D. Wallace and was associated with the First Trust Company of St. Joseph.

Herbert Alfred Owen, the only surviving son of James A. Owen and Agnes Jeanette Cargill, was born in St. Joseph May 19, 1857. He was educated in the St. Joseph schools and spent one year at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. His military career ended because of an accidental injury. On his return to St. Joseph, he was employed by the St. Joseph Gazette. He left that post to join the Merchants' Bank as a clerk from 1879 to 1882. He was associated with Dr. John S. Logan in the real estate business for a year. He studied law, was admitted to the Bar, and then engaged in the real estate and abstract business. In 1882 he married Miss Harriet Collier Kearny, the granddaughter of General Stephen Watts Kearny, U.S.A. of the Mexican War, and niece of General Philip Kearny, U.S.A. of the Civil War. They had three sons and one daughter. Herbert Alfred Owen, Jr., engaged in business in Seattle; James Arthur Owen was in the real estate business in St. Joseph; Stephen Kearny Owen became probate judge of Buchanan County, Missouri; and Miss Annie Jeanette Owen married Colonel William H. Cocke of Richmond, Virginia. The daughter of H. A. Owen, Jr., is Mrs. Clarence G. Strop.

EXCERPTS FROM JAMES A. OWEN'S CIVIL WAR DIARY

‘1861. This has been the most eventful year in my recollection. The South Carolinians fired on Fort Sumter in April and the long dreaded crisis arrived. Hopes sunk-war and arms- enlistments - government contracts - scrip - bonds - spoilations - plunder - confiscations and robbery. Two years ago my property was worth $50,000; today it would not bring $15,000 if it could be sold at all. The Revolution promises little else than destruction. It is controlled by maddened factions which daily grow more violent. The precipice may be just ahead.

‘1862 My income has been more than my expenses and my family are healthy. For these blessings I am thankful. I have been greatly annoyed by the Abolition Soldiers. They have frequently arrested me and I have been ordered to report to the Guard House. The object of the Dutch and Yankee abolitionists is to drive me away and get my property. We have lived in constant apprehension of violence.

‘1863 We reside in our snug cottage at the corner of Ninth and Jule Streets. I practice Law, rent my property and trade at my office on Jule Street, west of Second. Hopes are fair, though troubles are plenty. Among his list of expenses occur the following:)

March 3 Gave to the Poor $ .50

April 2 For burying a soldier    .25

For Episcopal parsonage 10.00

Oct. 7 State and County taxes 73.42

Dec. 2 Paid Kemper for Surveying 1.00

‘Penick's Regiment was disbanded early in the year on account of the thieving propensities of his men. They then scattered through the counties of Andrew, Holt and Nodaway and began to murder and burn. About thirty of the best citizens of Andrew County were murdered and as many houses burned in a few days. Robbery was universal. Stealing of horses and mules was common. This state of affairs had occurred from the arming of every dissolute character in the County, and at the same time disarming every citizen who owned property which could be stolen. The people were thus disarmed and rendered helpless and defenceless while the thieves, fully armed, turned loose upon them to murder, burn, and plunder at will, all in the name of Union and Liberty. The devastation was happily checked by the organization in September of citizens commonly called the 'Paw Paw Militia.

‘Kansas was always nourished by the Republican party, and when our unhappy country fell under this control, it became the especial object of the rulers of the nation to foster, organize and encourage this assemblage of law-defying people. The War began by disarming the people of Missouri and then turning loose upon her the armed thieves and ruffians of a dozen states, but especially of Kansas, who plundered her of Eight Million Dollars worth of slaves, of horses, cattle and everything movable, and by murdering her citizens, burning their homes, imprisoning thousands and driving tens of thousands into exile. Hundreds of persons in Kansas became rich by plundering the helpless people of Missouri.

‘When General Ewing's headquarters in Jackson County were plundered and burned, he issued an Order requiring everybody to leave the County within a few days. This barbarous order drove old men, women and children out from their homes in destitution and want, to wander and perish upon the highways from hunger, cold and destitution. That section of the State is now a desolate waste. In the Spring of the year a portion of the people of this desolated district put themselves under the leadership of Quantrill, and took a fearful vengeance upon the town of Lawrence, Kansas, returning some of the burning and massacre. They burned a town built from the plunder of their own property and put the plunderers to death.

‘The military parties of Missouri then determined upon a change of policy and practice. General Guitar was placed in command in North Missouri and he began in earnest the work of reformation. Thieves in the military service were arrested and brought to trial, and the perpetrators of outrages on the citizens were brought to justice. I dared to uphold openly their policy and this gave offence to those who were robbing and murdering in the name of Union and Liberty. I was marked out for vengeance and a small group resolved on my punishment. They picked a Sunday evening to elude their superior officers. A Sergeant with eight men came to my house, and finding me not there drove my little daughter, Mary, to take me from church and confine me in the Guard House without charges until morning.