1816. During this period he wrote " Overton's Reports," which include the time from 1791 to 1817, and are of great value as a repository of the land laws of Tennessee. After his retirement from the bench he devoted himself principally to the care of his estate, which at the time of his death was the largest in the state. Judge Overton and Gen. Jackson were warm personal friends, and the lat- ter held the judge's opinion in such high regard that he seldom took any important step without consulting him. Overton's large landed interests often brought him in conflict with others, but no suspicion ever sullied his integrity.
OVIEDO, Juan Antonio (o-ve-ay'-do). South
American clergvman, b. in New (iranada, 25 June,
1670 ; d. in the city of Mexico, 2 April, 1757. He
studied in the University of Guatemala, where he
was graduated with the degree of doctor in theolo-
gy, and shortly afterward appointed professor of
philosophy. He became a member of the Society
of Jesus in Tepozatlan on 7 Jan., 1690. He taught
philosophy in Mexico and theology in Guatemala,
was procurator at Rome and Madrid, visitor of
Manila, rector of Mexico, and twice provincial of
the Jesuits of Mexico. Oviedo was a very volumi-
nous writer on religious and theological subjects
both in Spanish and Latin, and he left a great num-
ber of unpublished manuscripts, which are in the
library of the University of Mexico. His principal
works bearing on the ecclesiastical history of
Mexico and California are " Vida y virtudes hero-
icas del Apostolico y Ven. P. Antonio Nunez"
(Mexico, 1702); "Menologio de los Varones ilustres
en Santidad de ia Provincia de la Compania de
Jesus de la Nueva Espaila " (1727) ; "' Vida admir-
able del Ven. P. Jose Vidal " (1753) ; " Vida y afanes
Apostolicos del Ven. P. Juan de Ugarte, Misionero
Apostolico de las Californias " (175:3) ; " El Apostol
Mariano : Vida del Ven. P. Juan Maria Salvatierra
de la Compaiiia de Jesus, Conquistador espiritual
de las Californias " (1754) ; " Elogios de muchos Her-
manos Coadjutores de la Compania de Jesus, que
han florecido en las cuatro partes del Mundo " (2
vols., 1755); and "Vida y virtudes del P. Pedro
Speciali, Jesuita de la Provincia de Mexico " (1727).
OVIEDO Y VALDEZ, Gonzalo Fernandez de (o-ve-ay'-do), Spanish historian, b. in Madrid in
1478 ; d. in Valladolid in 1557. In early life he was
a page of John, the son of Ferdinand and Isabella,
and as such accompanied the monarchs to the siege
of Granada. After the infante's death in 1497 he
entered the service of Frederic of Aragon, king of
Naples, and in 1513 was appointed royal warden
of the gold-mines of Castilla de Oro on the isth-
mus. He was also a member of the comicil of
Santa Maria la Antigua, but in 1515 returned to
Spain to give the government information about
the political and economical conditions of the
American colonies, and, although he was appointed
in 1526 governor of La Antigua, he returned soon
again to Spain, where he contiimed to labor on the
great historical work that he had begun in 1515.
In 1535 he was appointed commander of the castle
of Santo Domingo, which place he occupied till
1545, when he returned to Spain with the appoint-
ment of historian of the Spanish Indies. He now
gave himself to the completion of his history, of
which a summary had appeared under the title of
" La Historia de las cosas sucedidas en mi tiempo
en America " (Toledo, 1526), and its first part ap-
peared as " Historia general y natural de las Indias
Occidentales " (Seville, 1535), while the revision of
the entire work was finished in 1548. Its publica-
tion, begun in VaUadolid in 1550, was interrupted
by the author's death, and the first complete edi-
tion was printed by order of the Royal historical
academy (Madrid, 1851). This work has not gen-
erally been judged correctly, on account of many
inaccuracies in the historical part, and a strong
prejudice against Columbus. But since its recent
publication it became evident that it is one of the
profoundest, and certainly the first, work on the
natural history of America, for the treatment of
which the author was specially qualified. It is
embellished by illustrations that were drawn by
the author, and some of his descriptions might
serve as an example to modern naturalists. Par-
tial translations of this work appeared in Italian
by Giovanni Battista Ramusio (1550), and in Eng-
lish by Richard P]den (1577). Two works, also
translated by Ramusio without giving the author's
name, " Tratado del palo Guayacan y del palo Santo
como antidoto contra la sifilis" and " Navegacion
del rio Maranon,'" are also attributed to Oviedo.
OWEN, Abraham, soldier, b. in Prince Edward
county, Va., in 1769 ; d. in Tippecanoe county, Ind.,
7 Nov., 1811. He emigrated to Kentucky in 1785,
served in the Indian campaigns under Gen. James
Wilkinson and Gen. Arthur St. Clair in 1791, and
was with Col. John Hardin on the expedition to
White river. He was surveyor of Shelby county
in 1796, subsequently a magistrate, and colonel of
the first militia regiment raised in Kentucky. He
was in the legislature in 1798, a member of the
State constitutional convention the next year, and
state senator in 1810. He was the first to join
Gen. William H. Harrison at Vincennes to resist
the Indians under Tecumseh, was aide-de-camp to
that officer, and was killed at Tippecanoe. A
county in Kentucky is named in his honor.
OWEN, Goronwy, poet, b. in Llanfair Mathafarn Eithaf, Anglesea, North Wales, 13 Jan., 1723 ; d. at St. Andrews parish. Brunswick co., Va., between 1770 and 1780. His father, Owen Gronow,
had some poetic taste, and his mother, Sian Parri, trained her son in his childhood. He was sent to a school not far from his home, and the celebrated Lewis Morris, having met him, sent him
to Beaumaris, where he was a zealous scholar. When he was nineteen years of age his mother died, and, leaving home, he became one of the masters of the grammar-school at Pwllheli, in Caernarvonshire. Soon after this Mr. Morris and his brothers sent him to Jesus college, Oxford, where he made rapid progress in Greek and Latin
and gave proof of poetical talent in Welsh to such, a degree that he was even then regarded as a rising Welsh bard. In 1745 he was ordained as a minister in the Church of England and obtained a small curacy in his native parish, but soon had to give
way to a favorite of the bishop of Bangor. The next seven years of his life were full of cruel disappointments. His grand wish was to obtain a parish in Wales, but he was unsuccessful, and took
a place at Oswestry, and then at Uppington in Shropshire. While there he wrote his celebrated poem, called "Cywydd y Farn " (the Day of Judgment), which is regarded as his masterpiece. Sub-
sequently he served as curate at Walton in Lancashire, and then at Northolt near London. But his salary was so small that he could scarcely supply the wants of his family. Still he continued to
write poems full of genius, which he sent to his generous patrons, the Morris brothers. While he was at Northolt he accepted an offer to go to the College of William and Mary in Virginia at a salary of £200 a year, and in the latter part of 1757 he sailed for this country. He married for his second wife Mrs. Clayton, a sister of Rev. Thomas Dawson, president of the college. Of his career
