William Dale Owen (his middle name is given as "Dunn" in some references) (September 6, 1846 – date of death unknown) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. Before serving in Congress he was a clergyman, attorney, newspaper editor, and the author of two books. After serving in Congress and as

Secretary of State of Indiana The Secretary of State of Indiana is one of five constitutional officers originally designated in Indiana's State Constitution of 1816. Since 1851, it has been an elected position. The Secretary of State oversees four divisions, and is the third ...

, he engaged in various business ventures, including promotion of coffee and rubber plantations in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. In 1905 his business partner was arrested; in 1906 the partner was convicted of fraud and theft, and imprisoned. Owen left the United States to avoid prosecution; what happened to him after he fled the country is not known.

Early life

Owen was born in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mo ...

, the son of William D. Owen and Priscilla (Rawlings) Owen. He was educated in Bloomington, and began working as a store clerk at age 13 to save money so that he could attend college. He worked until age 18, including time as a farmhand and a brickyard laborer in addition to his work as a store clerk. He attended

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

in Bloomington for over two years, and left before graduating so that he could begin to study law in the office of a local attorney.

Start of career

He quit the study of law when he was called to the ministry; he received his ordination in the Christian Church in 1870, and became pastor of congregations in

Oxford, Indiana Oxford is a town in Oak Grove Township, Benton County, Indiana. The population was 1,162 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lafayette, Indiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Oxford was Benton County's first town. Commissioners appoi ...

, Salem, Oregon, Tallula, Illinois, and

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. In 1878 he resumed the study of law, attained admission to the bar, and began to practice, first in Oxford, and later in Logansport. In addition, Owen was a part-owner and editor of two weekly newspapers, the ''Logansport Saturday Night'' and the ''Logansport Sunday Critic''. In 1880, Owen was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate for presidential elector; his party carried Indiana, and he cast his ballot for the ticket of

James A. Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...

and

Chester A. Arthur Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 21st president of the United States from 1881 to 1885. He previously served as the 20th vice president under President James ...

. Owen also published two well-received books, 1878's ''Success In Life, And How To Secure It'', and 1883's ''The Genius Of Industry, Or How Work Wins and Manhood Grows''.

Congressman

Owen was elected as a

to the Forty-ninth, Fiftieth, and Fifty-first Congresses (March 4, 1885 – March 3, 1891). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890 to the Fifty-second Congress. From July 1, 1891, to April 7, 1893, Owen served as the first superintendent of the United States Office of Immigration; he had been chairman of the House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization during his Congressional service, and played a lead role in passage of the legislation which created the agency.

Indiana Secretary of State

Owen was elected

in 1894 and served from January 17, 1895, to January 16, 1899.

Later life and career

After leaving office, Owen engaged in

real estate speculation Real may refer to: Currencies * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Music Albums * ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000) * ''Real'' (Bright album) (2010) ...

and invested in

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

and

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, an ...

plantations in

. In 1905, Owen and his business partner were indicted for fraud and theft in connection with the promotion of their Mexican plantations. The partner was convicted and sentenced to prison. Owen fled the United States to escape prosecution. Individuals from Indiana later reported having seen Owen in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, Switzerland, and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, but the sightings did not lead to his arrest. An individual was arrested in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in 1909 and accused of being Owen. Investigators subsequently determined it to be a case of mistaken identity, and the individual who had been detained was released. Owen's whereabouts after he fled the country, his date of death, and his burial location are not known. There is a grave marker in his name at Mount Hope Cemetery in Logansport, the burial location of his first wife.

Family

In 1871, Owen married Mary Ross of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. They had two children who died infancy; she died in December 1885. In 1888, Owen married Lucy A. (Williams) Luce, a widow from

Logan, Iowa Logan is a city and county seat of Harrison County, Iowa, United States, along the Boyer River. The population was 1,397 at the time of the 2020 census. History Logan was platted in 1867 when Chicago and North Western Railway was extended to ...

. They had met in Washington; during the

1888 Republican National Convention The 1888 Republican National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held at the Auditorium Building in Chicago, Illinois, on June 19–25, 1888. It resulted in the nomination of former Senator Benjamin Harrison of Indiana for presid ...

, Owen became ill and Luce nursed him until he was well. The second Mrs. Owen died on a train in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

on April 1, 1899, while returning with her husband from a visit to his Mexican plantations. She was buried in her hometown of Logan, Iowa.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, William Dale 1846 births Secretaries of State of Indiana Politicians from Bloomington, Indiana 19th-century American politicians Year of death unknown Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Indiana