JOHN MARSHALL OWEN

 

 

     John Marshall Owen, b May 1848 in Westminister, South Carolina in Pickens District, d July 9, 1920 and buried in Thornton, Limestone County, Texas - was the youngest of seven children of William ("Buck") Owen, b ca 1800 in South Carolina - a "shoemaker and a farmer," and his first wife, Susan (McGuffin) Owen, b ca 1806 in South Carolina, d ca 1852.

     John Marshall Owen enlisted in the service of the Confederacy - serving from September 1, 1864 to the end of the Civil War in Company I, Griffins Regiment, South Carolina Infantry. He was on a ten-day furlough when General Robert E. Lee surrendered. Two of his brothers, Henry Clay Owen, and William Harrison Owen, also served in the Confederate States Army, but in different companies.

     John Marshall Owen moved to Texas after the Civil War ended - arriving in Robertson County in 1866, and subsequently moving to Falls County in 1872, according to his Civil War Pension Papers.

     On February 17,1875 in Falls County, John married Martha Jane Jennings (called "Mattie"), b January 29, 1858 in Tyler County, Texas, d November 17, 1917 and buried in Kosse, Limestone County, Texas- a daughter of Ezra L. M. Jennings, b 1827 in Upson County, Georgia, d September 20, 1863, and his wife, Jane E. Hudson Anderson Jennings. Ezra L. M. Jennings served in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War in Company G, 24th Regiment of The Texas Calvary - enlisting March 22, 1862 - and he died in the Battle at Chickamauga Creek, Georgia, on September 20, 1863. He was a son of William T. and Ophelia Cecelia (Arrant) Jennings.

     John Marshall and Martha Jane (Jennings) Owen reared their family of nine children in the Alto Springs area of east Falls County, Texas;

     Oscar T. Owen, b November 24, 1875, d June 13, 1899 and buried in Alto Springs Cemetery. He married January 13, 1896 in Robertson County, Texas to Rosa Alexander, but was murdered soon afterward on June 13, 1899. The facts of his murder were never made clear to the family.

     John Marshall Owen, Jr., b August 27,1877, d January 9, 1957. On November 23, 1903 in Marlin, Texas, he married Eula Mitchell, b August 1888 - a daughter of Charles Oliver and Martha (Blan) Mitchell of the Blue Ridge Community. They were the parents of five children, but only two lived past infancy: Thomas Daniel Owen, b August 27, 1914, d August 16, 1964 and buried in Blue Ridge Cemetery - married Ann Pudgurney - an LVN in a Marlin Nursing Home, who is alive in 1986 and residing in Reagan, Texas; and Alma Owen, who married Emery Haskel Gillam.

     Ella Owen, b April 3, 1880, d 1943 in Groesbeck, Limestone County, Texas - married there on May 2, 1896 to Whip Popejoy, d 1949, who was Sheriff of Limestone County for a number of years, although it was said he never carried a gun. Whit and Ella lived all their married life in Groesbeck, where they reared eight children. They were buried in Faulkenberry Cemetery at Groesbeck.

     James Ezra Owen, b October 18, 1882 at Blue Ridge, Falls County, Texas, d February 24, 1945 and was buried in Kosse, Texas. He eloped December 2, 1906 in Marlin, Texas to Bertha Smiley, b March 22, 1890 in Kosse, d January 23, 1966 and buried by her husband in the Kosse Cemetery - the second child of eight children born to Hugh Marion and Allie Scott (Bass) Smiley. James Ezra and Bertha (Smiley) Owen had eight children.

     Luther Wain Owen, b June 3, 1885 - married first to Amanda Ashworth, and second to Tillie (maiden name unknown). Luther and Tillie were known to have had three sons, known only by "Big Boy," "Buck," and "Buster" Owen.

     Roy D. Owen, b April 11, 1887, d August 28, 1941 and buried in Eutaw Cemetery near Kosse, Limestone County, Texas. He married Queenie Walters, and they had three children: Jack Owen, Ruby Owen, and Marie Owen. Roy was a farmer around the Kosse, Texas area.

     Falby Owen, b September 1891, d 1956 and was buried in the Faulkenberry Cemetery in Thornton, Texas near her parents' graves. She married L. L. White, and had one son, Blake White.

     Vera Ethel Owen, b March 11, 1893 - married in 1908 in Marlin, Texas to Roy Lee Thompson, and had two sons, Ray Roy Thompson and Foy Maurice Thompson, and one daughter, Vera Bell Thompson.

     L. M. Owen, b September 15, 1895, d March 11, 1949 and buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Tyler, Texas - married Johnnie Elizabeth McGee, d 1970 in Tyler, and buried by her husband. They had one son, Donald McGee Owen (called "Mack"), died in 1979 in Yuma, Arizona and was buried in Bullard Cemetery in Smith County, Texas.

     This "Owen" Family was spelled the same way by the family for many generations; however, James Ezra and Bertha (Smiley) Owen added an "s" to their name, and their descendants also use the surname. "Owens."

 

 

 

Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for printing the biographies of these Falls County Families to this Web page.
"Families of Falls County", Compiled and Edited by the Falls County Historical Commission, page 335 column 2, page 336 column 1 and 2 and page 337 column 1.
Member of Falls County Historical Commission.