John McKowen, M. D., E. Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller


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John McKowen, M. D.. is successfully engaged in the practice of his profession in the City of
Baton Rouge, with offices in the New Reymond Building, and as a specialist in the surgical
branch of his profession he has gained precedence and high reputation.  He is an active member
of the East Baton Rouge Parish Medical Society, the Louisiana State Medical Society, the
Southern Medical Society, the American Medical Association, besides being affiliated with the
medical college fraternity known as the Nu Sigma Nu.

Doctor McKowen was born at Lindsay East Parish, Louisiana, February 13, 1889.  His grand father,
John McKowen, was born and reared in Ireland and was a young man when he came to the United
States and established his residence in East Feliciana Parish.  There he became a successful
merchant at Jackson, and he also owned and operated a large plantation, the remainder of his
life having been passed in that parish.  Thomas C. McKowen and his wife, parents of Dr. McKowen,
still reside at Lindsay.  The father was born at Jackson, East Feliciana Parish, in the year
1850, and the education which he received in the local schools was advanced by his attending a
college in Ireland.  He is one of the representative citizens of his native parish, where he
owns and operates a valuable plantation of 6,000 acres, besides conducting the only mercantile
establishment at Lindsay.  He and his wife are zealous members of the Presbyterian Church, and
he is a stalwart supporter of the principles and policies for which the democratic party stands
sponsor.  His wife, whose maiden name was Maggie Germany, was born at Bayou Poydras, Pointe
Coupee County, this state, in 1854, and their children are nine in number:  Arabelle is the wife
of Judge George Woodside, who is presiding on the bench of the District Court of East and West
Feliciana parishes;  Mamie is the wife of Thomas L. Mills, M. D., who is engaged in the practice
of his profession at Plains, West Baton Rouge Parish;  Thomas Shannon is a progressive
representative of agricultural industry in his native parish, as is also  William S., the next
younger of the children;  Henry G. is a dentist by profession and is engaged in practice at
Baton Rouge; Mabel remains at the parental home;  Doctor John. of this review, was the next in
order of birth;  Margaret is the wife of Albert Mills, a prosperous farmer near Plains, East
Baton Rouge Parish; and  Alexander C. continues to be actively identified with agricultural
enterprise in the old home parish.

In private schools at Jackson Dr. John McKowen continued his studies until he had completed a
high school course, and thereafter he was for three years a student in the University of
Louisiana.  He then entered the medical department of Tulane University, and in this excellent
school he was graduated as a member of the class of 1912.  After thus receiving his degree of
Doctor of Medicine he gained valuable clinical experience by two years of service as an interne
in the New Orleans Charity Hospital.  Since 1914 he has been engaged in practice in Baton Rouge,
save for the period of his service in the World war, and his professional ability and personal
popularity have combined to gain to him a substantial and representative practice.

When the nation became involved in the World war Doctor McKowen promptly tendered his services
as a member of the Medical Corps of the United States Army.  In this corps he received
commission as first lieutenant, and in May, 1917, he was assigned to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia,
where he remained one year.  He was then placed in charge of Base Hospital No. 76, at
Oglethorpe, and proceeded to Camp Devons, Massachusetts, and with this unit, three months later,
the rest of the officers were assigned to the hospital and the unit departed for active overseas
service. He remained in France eight months, during which he was stationed at Vichy, and in the
meanwhile, in May, 1918, he received commission as captain in the Medical Corps.  Upon his
return to his native land the Doctor received his honorable discharge May 2, 1919, at Camp Dix,
New Jersey.

Doctor McKowen is loyally aligned in the ranks of the democratic party, is a member of the Baton
Rouge Chamber of Commerce and the Baton Rouge Golf and Country Club, and is affiliated with the
Kappa Sigma college fraternity.  He is a stockholder in the Capital Building and Loan
Association, the Commercial Securities Corporation, and the Bank of Baton Rouge.  In the capital
city he owns and occupies a fine modern residence at 402 Oleander Street, and he is the owner
also of a well improved residence property at 140 East Boulevard.

On the 29th of March, 1920, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor McKowen and Miss Olga C.
Engebretsen, who was born at Wellesley, Massachusetts, and who is a graduate nurse.  Doctor and
Mrs. McKowen have a fine little son, John, Jr., who was born on the 23d of December, 1921.

A History of Louisiana, (vol. 2), pp. 79-80, by Henry E. Chambers.  Published by The American
Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, 1925.