1851, was again made chairman of the committee
on revision, and was the author of a bill that se-
cured to widows and married women independent
rights of property. On the enactment of this
measure, the women of Indiana presented him with
a testimonial " in acknowledgment of his true and
noble advocacy of their independent rights." In
1853 he was appointed charge d'affaires at
Naples, and he was raised to the grade of minister
in 1855. remaining as such until 1858, in the mean-
while negotiating two valuable treaties with the
Neapolitan government. After his return to the
United States he devoted himself to various pub-
lic interests, and in 1860 he discussed with Horace
Greeley, in the columns of the New York " Trib-
une," the subject of divorce. This discussion, re-
printed in pamphlet-form, had a circulation of
60,000 copies. In 1862 he served on a commission
relative to ordnance and ordnance stores, and
audited claims that amounted to $49,500,000, and
in 1863 he was chairman of a commission that was
appointed by the secretary of war to examine the
condition of the recently emancipated freedmen of
the United States. The results of his observations
were published as "The Wrong of Slavery, the
Right of Emancipation, and the Future of the
African Race in the United States " (Philadelphia,
1864). In 1863 he published an address to the
citizens of Indiana, showing the disastrous conse-
quence that would follow from the success of the
effort of certain politicians to reconstruct the
Union with New England left out. The Union
league of New York published 50,000 copies of this
letter, and the Union league of Philadelphia an
additional 25,000. During the civil war he further
wrote and published a letter to the president, one
to the secretary of war, one to the secretary of the
treasury, and another to the secretary of state, ad-
vocating the policy of emancipation as a measure
that was sanctioned alike by the laws of war and
by the dictates of humanity. Sec. Chase wrote that
his letter to Lincoln " had more effect in deciding
the president to make his proclamation than all
the other communications combined." Mr. Owen
was a believer in spiritualism, and was one of its
foremost advocates in the United States. In 1873
he received the degree of LL. D. from the Univer-
sity of Indiana. He publislied " Outline of the
SA^tera of Education at New Lanark " (Glasgow,
1824); "Moral Physiology" (New York, 1831);
" Popular Tracts" (i830) ; " Discussion with Origen
Bacheler on the Personality of God and the Authority of the Bible" (1832): "Pocahontas: A Drama " (1837) ; " Hints on Public Architecture " (1849) ; " A Treatise on the Construction of Plank-
Roads " (1850) : " Footfalls on the Boundary of
Another World" (Philadelphia, 1859); "Beyond
the Breakers " (1870) ; " Debatable Land Between
this World and the Nest " (New York, 1872) ; and
" Threading My Way," an autobiography (1874). —
Another son, David Dale, geologist, b. in Lanark-
shire, Scotland, 24 June, 1807: d. in New Har-
mony, Ind.. 13 Nov., 1860, followed his elder
brother to Hofwyl, and then studied science under
Dr. Andrew Ure at the Andersonian institution in
Glasgow. In 1828 he went with his father to
New Harmony, Ind., but he subsequently went
back to Europe, and spent two years in acquiring
a knowledge of geology and natural history. He
returned to NewHarmony in 1833, and was gradu-
ated in 1835 at Ohio medical college. In 1837 the
legislature of Indiana employed him to conduct a
geological reconnoissance of that state, the results
of which are given in his " Report of a Geological
Reconnoissance in 1837 " (Indianapolis, 1838). He
was appointed geologist in 1839 by the U. S. gov-
ernment, under instructions from the general land
office to make a minute examination of the mineral
lands of Iowa, which was one of the very first geo-
logical investigations that were conducted under
the authority of the National government. His
results appeared as a " Report of a Geological Ex-
ploration of a Part of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois,
made under Instructions from the Secretary of the
Treasury in 1839," with charts and illustrations
(Washington, 1844). In 1849 the National govern-
ment employed him to conduct the survey of
Minnesota territory, and appropriated $40,000 for
that purpose. He continued engaged in this work
for three years, and made a " Report of a Geologi-
cal Exploration of a Part of Iowa, Wisconsin, and
Minnesota, and. Incidentally, a Portion of Nebraska
Territory " (Philadelphia, 1852), containing numer-
ous plates, notably several on the gigantic mammal
remains in Nebraska. From 1854 till 1857 he was
state geologist of Kentucky, and prepared four
" Reports of the Geological Survey in Kentucky,"
with an atlas (Frankfort, 1856-61). He then be-
came state geologist of Arkansas, and the results
of his work in that state are given in his " Report
of a Geological Reconnoissance of the Northern
Counties of Arkansas " (Little Rock, 1858) and
his " Report of the Middle and Southern Counties"
(Philadelphia, 1860). He completed this work in
1859, and then received the appointment of state
geologist of Indiana, which office he held until his
death, when its completion was intrusted to his
brother Richard {q. v.), who published " Report of
a Geological Reconnoissance of Indiana" (Indianapolis, 1862). Dr. Owen's extensive scientific knowledge proved of assistance to him in the accomplishment of his geological work, for as a chemist
he made analyses of minerals and of waters that
are included in his reports; as a naturalist he described fossils new to science that were discovered
in the Bad Lands of Nebraska; and as an artist he
made sketches of scenery, diagrams, sections of
rock strata, and maps, which were engraved to ac-
company his works. His museum and laboratory
were regarded as among the best in the United
States, and his collection of specimens was sold for
$20,000 to Indiana state university. — Another son.
Richard, geologist, b. in Lanarkshire, 6 Jan., 1810;
d. in New Harmony, 24 March, 1890. He attended
the Lanark grammar-school, after which he studied
at Hofwyl, and then in the Andersonian institute of
Glasgow. In 1828 he came to New Harmony, Ind.,
and began to teach, but soon removed to Cincin-
nati, engaging in business. Subsequently he re-
turned to iSTew Harmony, where he owned a steam
fiour-mill, and also managed a stock-farm. In
1847 he went to the Mexican war as captain in the
16th U. S. infantry, and served principally under
Gen. Zachary Taylor in charge of provision-trains.
At the close of the war he aided his brother, David
Dale Owen, in making preparations for the geologi-
cal survey of Minnesota, and in 1849, under whose
direction he explored the north shore of Lake Su-
perior. In 1849 he also became professor of natural
sciences in the Western military institute of Ken-
tucky, and he continued to hold that chair, after
the institute became the University of Nashville,
until 1858, in which year he was given the degree
of M. D. by Nashville medical college. He then
became assistant state geologist of Indiana, and
made a survey of the state. At the beginning of
the civil war he was appointed lieutenant-colonel
of the 15th Indiana volunteers, and he became, in
the autumn of 1861, colonel of the 60!:h Indiana.
Dr. Owen was taken prisoner at Murafordsville,
Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/656
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