Lincoln County, SD Biographies.....Owens, Edward W. May 22, 1850 - 
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Source: MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF Turner, Lincoln, Union and Clay Counties, South Dakota. (1897)
Author: Geo. Ogle & Co.

EDWARD W. OWENS. As an all around prominent man of Lincoln county, there is probably
no one of its citizens who more justly deserves the title than Mr. Owens. He is yet
in the prime of vigorous manhood, intelligent and well educated, and as such is
highly esteemed and respected.

The gentleman, whose name introduces | these brief paragraphs, is of Irish descent,
but was born at sea, on board ship lying off the coast of Newfoundland. His father
and mother, William and Jane (Byrnes) Owens, were both natives of the Emerald isle,
but emigrated from the down-trodden country of their birth in 1850, and located for
the first three years in eastern Canada, at the expiration of which time they
removed to Green county, Wis., and settled upon government land. Mr. Owens died
there, but his good wife still survives, and makes her home in Hudson, Iowa.

William Owens was born near Tillehany, Wexford county, Ireland. His father, Edward,
was a native of the same county, and married Miss Nancy Nail, who was of a literary
family. Eight children came to bless their union, viz.: William, James, Joseph,
Edward, Matthew, Jane, Ann, and Ellen. He was a carpenter by trade and died in about
the seventieth year of his age. His son William, inheriting his genius, at a very
early age constructed a cradle for Jane, the first-born child of James Byrnes, who
twenty-two years later became his wife. For seventeen years William Owens was in the
employ of a wealthy Episcopal minister. His principal duties consisted in taking
care of his horses, and driving his carriage for him when he attended divine
service. At about thirty-five years of age, having saved a small fortune, Mr. Owens
embarked in the grocery business, but, having too much confidence in his fellow men,
he trusted largely and failed. He then engaged in dairy farming, but rent being very
high he found it difficult to support his family, and resolved 1 to seek his fortune
in America, coming to this country in 1850, as stated above. He was an Episcopalian,
of a deeply religious and highly literary nature, and died at Postville, Wis., in
1889, in his eighty-fourth year, in the hope of a glorious immortality. His last
words were, “Lamb of God."

Twelve children were born to Mr. Owens and his wife, but three have since passed
from time to eternity. The living are Mary Ann Keen, James, Edward W., William,
Richard, Joseph, Ellen Steadman, Lena Peebles and Emma Horn.

Our subject is the fourth child in order of birth, and first opened his eyes to the
light May 22, 1850. He passed his early life on his father’s farm, in Green county,
Wis., and, after becoming proficient in the elementary branches taught in the
district schools, he became a student in a select school, taking a teacher's course.
After qualifying as an instructor he began his labors as a pedagogue in Plymouth
county, Iowa, and taught there for two terms. March 12, 1873, he came to Lincoln
county, Dak. Ter., and settled upon a farm, on section 10, of Pleasant township. The
land was, of course, unimproved, and the country surrounding one vast wilderness,
the dug-out, which he built for shelter, being the only one in the township at that
time. The privations and hardships of those pioneer days would fill volumes; but
suffice it to say that his crops having been destroyed by hail and grasshoppers in
September, 1876, he returned to Iowa with his family, and in Sioux county, taught
school for about a year and a half in the vicinity of Sioux Center. In the fall of
1877, his timber culture entry being contested, he employed Hon. R. F. Pettigrew
(afterward United States senator) as counsel, and the contest resulted in his favor.
The spring of the following year his homestead was contested, and, in view of this,
he decided to resign his position as teacher, and return to his claim, where he
taught district school in his own house. When the day arrived to appear at the
United States land office he took his witnesses to Sioux Falls, but he found on
arrival that the contest had been abandoned, which left him in undisputed possession
of his claim. He and Mrs. Owens own 320 acres, all of which is improved and in a
fine state of cultivation. The old homestead he rents out and conducts his farming
operations on the farm on which he located five years ago. During that time he had
erected a fine set of substantial, well-arranged buildings, including a neat,
commodious residence that is nicely furnished, and which is the seat of that true
hospitality that “welcomes the coming and speeds the parting guest.”

Mr. Owens was fortunate in securing for his companion Miss Louisa D. Mead, the lady
who so graciously presides over his household affairs. She possesses a fine
character, cultured mind and pleasing manners, and is a true wife and helpmate. The
natal day of Mrs. Owens was April 4, 1846, and her birthplace New London, Huron Co.,
Ohio. She is the fifth in order of birth of a family of ten children born to
Bradford L. and Deborah (Lyon) Mead, but five of whom still survive, viz.: Lucian,
of Fitchville, Ohio; Levi and Mrs. W. H. Goltry, who both live near Beresford, S.
Dak.; Mrs. Ellen Porter, who resides in Beresford; and Mrs. Owens.

Bradford L. Mead was born in Greenwich township, Fairfield Co., Conn., November 29,
1804, one of a family of three sons born to Jonathan and Hannah (Lyon) Mead, who
were married March 5, 1800. Mr. Mead’s two brothers were named Zachariah and Luther,
and he also had two half-brothers - Luther and John. Bradford L. grew to maturity,
and July 1, 1828, was united in wedlock to Miss Deborah Lyon, a native of New York
and of English descent. Mr. Mead was a well-educated man - a teacher by profession -
and a descendant of one of Queen Elizabeth’s physicians. Many of his relatives
possessed considerable genius, one of his cousins being mainly instrumental in the
invention of the cylinder printing press; and another cousin invented the “American
chinaware.” Mrs. Owens’ uncle, Zachariah Mead, was a graduate of New Haven college,
a distinguished Episcopal minister, who preached in the city of Boston and also
edited a religious journal at Richmond, Va.

The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Owens were Charles and Deborah (Palmer) Lyon. They
had a family of eleven children, only one of whom survives - Mrs. Abigail Johnson,
of Fitchville, Ohio. The deceased are Charles, Seely, Daniel, Levi, Betsy, Luzetta,
Melinda, Marcus, and two who died in infancy. One of Mrs. Owens’ deceased sisters
left an only daughter - Mattie L. Laughlin by name - who is a graduate of a medical
college and now a prominent physician of Oakland, Neb. She married J. G. Arthur, an
attorney of that place, who is a second cousin of the late President Arthur.

The marriage of Mr. Owens and Miss Mead occurred May 22, 1876, and two children have
come to bless their union - Ella M. and Arthur M. Both daughter and son have been
the recipients of every advantage in the shape of educational facilities from their
indulgent parents, and are now students at the State university at Vermillion. Miss
Ella has natural talent for music, and particular attention has been paid to the
development of this branch of her education, in which she has made rapid progress.
Mrs. Owens was educated in the common schools and attended high schools at Colesburg
and Garnavillo, Iowa. She became a teacher at the age of eighteen, and up to her
thirty-fourth year was very successful in the prosecution of that profession, having
taught as many as six successive terms in the same school. She also taught four
terms after her marriage. The family are members of the Baptist church, in the
affairs of which Mr. Owens has taken an active part. He has served in the capacity
of deacon, and has been superintendent of the Sunday school.

Mr. Owens was one of the moving spirits in the organization of Pleasant township,
was its first clerk, and served as such for three terms. The progress of the
community in general he is closely identified with, having come to the territory
with nothing except his physical and mental powers, and growing up with the country,
prospering as it prospered. As a justice of the peace he has served for eight years,
and various other public offices it has been his fortune to occupy. As secretary of
the Republican central committee, he joined in a call for a non-partisan county
convention to nominate candidates to the Sioux Falls convention which framed the
present state constitution. In 1886, without any solicitation on his part, he became
the farmers' candidate for nomination for the legislature, and received twenty-two
votes, being within eight votes of the requisite number to nominate. Again, in 1888,
he was the leading farmers” candidate for the same office, but was defeated by means
of fraudulent caucuses and proxies. In September of the same year he was nominated
at the “farmers' Republican convention “ for county superintendent of schools, but,
in an article given to the press a few days afterward, declined to be a candidate
for the position.

Early in 1890 he began the preparation of a pamphlet on political reform, entitled
“Definite System of Organization and Co-operation, by which the Producing and
Laboring Classes may Obtain their Share of Representation and Procure the Reforms
they Demand.” It was read with interest by many prominent members of the Farmers'
alliance, and commended by the Hon. J. B. Furrow, president of the Iowa State
alliance, in the following language: “ Ithank you for the pamphlet and the doctrine
it advocates; I shall use it in my office - a brighter star in the good work of
illuminating the farmers of Iowa.” Mr. Owens was the first to conceive the idea and
recommended the establishment of a political paper at Canton, S. Dak., on the
cooperative plan, for the purpose of advocating the National and State Farmers”
alliances, and which culminated in the establishment of the Dakota Farmers” Leader.
He was one of the incorporators, and, as secretary of the company, negotiated a
contract with city of Pierre, through Mayor Ward, by which the sum of $390 was
received for sending out a campaign edition of 1 5,000 copies, over the various
counties of the state, for the purpose of influencing the location of the capital at
that city. He was also one of the incorporators of the Farmers' Mutual Insurance
company, of Lincoln county, and a member of the first board of directors.

In 1890 Mr. Owens opposed the formation of a new party, but when the Independent
party of South Dakota was brought into existence at Huron, he felt it his duty to
cast his fortunes with that organization, and earnestly advocating its principles he
was sent as a delegate to the first Independent convention ever held in Lincoln
county. In the fall of the same year he was nominated for the state legislature and
entered actively into the campaign, making several speeches, but the time had not
yet arrived for reform principles to win. In 1896 he was elected a delegate to the
Populist state convention at Huron, which endorsed the candidacy of Hon. Wm. J.
Bryan for president. Mr. Owens is an ardent admirer of Mr. Bryan, and believes he is
destined to lead the reform forces to victory in 1900. In January, 1897, he was
recommended to Gov. Lee by many of the leading Populists of his county for
membership on the board of regents. He has attained quite a reputation as a literary
man, and has contributed both prose and poetry for local publications, besides
having written much on the subject of political economy, etc., for the various
papers printed in the county. Take him all in all, he is, without doubt, one of the
best known citizens of Lincoln county, well-posted on current topics, and a fluent
conversationalist.

He has made law a special study for several years, and intends shortly to apply for
admission to the bar.


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