Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/655

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OWEN
OWEN

Bible into the native language, and prepared school-books and commentaries for native students. Princeton gave him the degree of D. D. in 1864.


OWEN, Joshua Thomas, soldier, b. in Caer- marthen, Wales, 29 March, 1821 ; d. in Chestnut Hill, Pa., 7 Nov., 1887. He emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1830, settled in Baltimore, Md., and was graduated at Jefferson college in 1845. He was admitted to the bar in 1852, and established, with his brother Robert, the Chestnut Hill academy for boys. He also practised his profession, was in the legislature in 1857-9, and in 1861 enlisted as a private in the 1st city troop. He was shortly afterward elected colonel of the 24th Pennsylvania regiment, and, after three months' service, organized and was placed in com- mand of the 69th Pennsylvania. With this regi- ment he participated in every battle that was fought by the Army of the Potomac from Fair Oaks to Cold Harbor, and he was promoted briga- dier-general of volunteers for " gallant and meri- torious conduct at the battle of Glendale " on 29 Nov., 1862. His appointment expired on 4 March, 1863, but he was appointed again on 30 March. He was mustered out of service in 1864, returned to the practice of law, and in 1866 was elected re- corder of deeds of Philadelphia. He founded in 1871 the " New York Daily Register," a law jour- nal, which became the official organ of the New York courts in 1873, and he continued on its edi- torial staff until his death.


OWEN, Robert, social reformer, b. in Newtown, Montgomeryshire, North Wales, 14 May, 1771 : d. there, 19 Nov., 1858. At the age of fourteen he be- came a clerk, and four years later acquired an interest in a cotton-mill near London. He married in 1797 Anne Caroline, daughter of David Dale, proprietor of the New Lanark cotton-mills, and soon afterward became business manager of these mills, which he conducted for many years with success. While holding this place he introduced rules for the working people which had for their object the perfection of good behavior, cleanliness, comfort, and innocent enjoyment. He published his '* New Views of Society, in Four Essays, on the Formation of Human Character" (London, 1813; New York, 1825), became absorbed in these ideas, and gave up his interests at New Lanark. In 1824 he came to the United States and purchased from Frederick Rapp 20.000 acres of land, with dwellings for 1,000 persons, on Wabash river, in Posey county, Ind., intending to establish a community there. The scheme, after a test of nearly three years, proved a failure, and early in 1827 he re- turned to Great Britain, where experiments of a similar nature were made, but with equally un- fortunate results. In 1828 he went to Mexico, on the invitation of the government, to carry out his experiment there, but effected nothing, because the government insisted, in making the grant of land, that the state religion should be Roman Catholic. Mr. Owen continued to advocate his views both as a writer and a public speaker, and his followers were known as Owenites. In 1827 they were leaders in the labor league, out of which sprang the chartist movement. He visited the United States on several occasions, and in May, 1828, held a public debate with the Rev. Alexander Campbell, at Cincinnati, on the " Evidences of Christianity," in which Mr. Owen took agnostic ground. During his last years he was a believer in spiritualism. His writ- ings include " Observations on the Effect of the Manufacturing System " (London. 1815) ; " Address to the Inhabitants of New Lanark " (1816) ; " Tracts Relative to the New Society " (1817) ; " Two Memo- rials in Behalf of the Working Classes " (1818) ; "Discourses on a New System of Society, with an Account of the Society of New Lanark " (Pitts- burg, 1825); "The Debate on the Evidences of Christianity, the Social System, and Scepticism," including Mr. Owen's opening speech (2 vols.. Bethany, 1829) ; " Book of the New Moral World " (London, 1836) : " The Marriage System of tlie New Moral World " (Leeds, 1839) ; and '" The Revolution in the Mind and Practice of the Human Race" (London, 1849). See " The Life of Robert Owen, written by Himself " (London, 1857-'8), and " Life of Robert Owen," by Frederick A. Packard (Phila- delphia, 1866) : also " Robert Owen and His Social Philosophy," by William L. Sargent (London, 1860). — His son, Robert Dale, author, b. in Glasgow, Scotland, 7 Nov.. 1801 ; d. at his summer residence on Lake George, N. Y., 24 June, 1877, was educated under private tutors at home, and in 1820 was sent to Emanuel von Fellenberg's school at Hofwyl, near Berne, Switz- erland, where he remained three years. In 1825 he came to the United States and aided his father in his efforts to found the colony at New Harmony, Ind. On the failure of that experiment he re- turned to Europe, and there spent some time in study,

but returned to

this country in 1827 and became a citizen. In November, 1828, he began in New York, with Frances Wright, the publication of "The Free Inquirer," a weekly paper, devoted to the promul- gation of pronounced socialistic ideas and the denial of the supernatural origin of Christianity. This journal was continued until 1832, when he returned to New Harmony. He was elected to the legislature of Indiana in 1835, and sat for three terms, during which, largely owing, to his influence, one half of that part of the surplus rev- enue of the United States that had been appro- priated to the state of Indiana was devoted to the support of public schools. He was sent to congress as a Democrat in 1843, and served twice, but was defeated for a third term. Mr. Owen, in January, 1844, introduced in congress a joint resolution rela- tive to the occupation of Oregon, which, though it failed at that session, passed during the next, and became the basis of the settlement of the northwestern boundary that was effected in 1846. He also introduced in December, 1845, the bill under which the Smithsonian institution was organized, and was made chairman of the select committee on that subject, having as a colleague John Quincy Adams, who had made two unsuccessful attempts in former sessions to procure action in the matter. He was afterward appointed one of the regents of the Smithsonian, as well as chairman of its building committee. His speeches in congress on the Oregon question, the tariff, and the annexation of Texas had a wide circulation. In 1850 he was chosen a member of the convention that assembled to remodel the constitution of Indiana, and was made chairman of its committee on rights and privileges, and then chairman of its revision committee. He was a member of the legislature in