Denver-Pueblo-Teller County CO Archives Biographies.....Owen, James 1872 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/co/cofiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 January 1, 2009, 4:15 pm Author: Wilbur Fiske Stone (1918) HON. JAMES OWEN. Hon. James Owen, of Denver, lawyer and law maker, who has been identified with the legislative history of the state as a member of the senate and who for six years sat upon the bench of the district court, was born upon a farm in Marshall county, Iowa, on the 7th of June, 1872. Prior to this time his parents, Dr. William R. and Martha (Andrews) Owen, had become residents of Colorado. The father was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and was the son of a Quaker preacher. The Owen family came to America with William Penn. The mother was a representative of one of the old families of Virginia but her birth occurred in Ohio. They became pioneer residents of Pueblo, Colorado, where Dr. Owen practiced as one of the first physicians. James Owen of this review pursued his education in the public schools of Pueblo until he had completed the high school course, after which he became a student in the University of Kansas at Lawrence and there won the Bachelor of Arts degree as a graduate of the class of 1893 and the LL. B. degree as a graduate of the class of 1895. For one year he also studied law in Chicago. Admitted to practice at the Kansas bar, he later returned to Colorado and has represented the profession as a practitioner at Pueblo, at Cripple Creek and at Denver, taking up his abode in the latter city in 1905. The public offices that he has held have been in the strict path of his profession. He served as district attorney of the fourth district and later was chosen to aid in framing the laws of the state as a member of the senate, representing the third senatorial district in the upper house of the general assembly from 1903 until 1905. In the fall of 1906 he was elected judge of the fourth judicial district and served in that position for a term of six years, or until January, 1913. This district comprised seven or eight counties and his work upon the bench was of an arduous nature but was most capably performed, his decisions being strictly fair and impartial, based upon a thorough understanding of the facts and of the law applicable to them. In 1896 Judge Owen was united in marriage to Miss Winifred Churchill, a daughter of S. J. Churchill, and their children are: Margaret Owen, eighteen years of age, now a student at Wellesley College; James Churchill Owen, sixteen years of age, a third year student in the East Denver high school; and William Myron Owen, thirteen years of age, who is an Eagle scout. Judge Owen is a member of the Denver Club and of Phi Kappa Psi, a national Greek letter fraternity. He belongs to the various local, state and national bar associations and is a distinguished representative of the legal profession in Colorado. He is now attorney for the Midwest Oil Company and for the Midwest Refining Company, as well as for other large corporations. Nature endowed him with strong intellect and he has used his talents wisely and well. On several occasions he has been offered most remunerative professional connections in New York city but his love for Colorado is such that he does not care to leave the state. His interest centers in his family and in this commonwealth and while he is undoubtedly not without that laudable ambition which is so useful as an incentive in business life, he has never regarded the attainment of wealth as his sole aim but only as one factor in his activities. He has ever felt that there should be hours of leisure, hours of study, hours of recreation, as well as of business, and the wise use that he has made of his time has led to a splendidly balanced character, making Judge Owen one of the esteemed and honored residents of Colorado. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF COLORADO ILLUSTRATED VOLUME II CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1918 Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/co/teller/photos/bios/owen199nbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/teller/bios/owen199nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/cofiles/ File size: 4.5 Kb