Biographies

Source:
The Biographical Record of Knox County, Ohio
To Which is Added an Elaborate Compendium of National Biography
Illustrated
Publ. Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Company
1902
 

FRANK V. OWEN.   From a very early period in the development of Knox county the name of Owen has been associated with its history for Warren Owen, the grandfather of our subject, leaving his home in the Green Mountain state, emigrated to Ohio when this locality was an almost uninhabited region.  Here he aided in reclaiming the wild land for purposes of civilization and for a number of years was a leading farmer here, but died in Delaware county, Ohio, at the advanced age of ninety-four years.  His son, Gilbert R. Owen, the father of Frank V., was born on the old family homestead in Middleberry township, Knox county, and there spent his entire life, devoting his energies to agricultural pursuits.  As a companion and helpmate for the journey of life he chose Miss Elizabeth Green, a daughter of Benjamin Green, who came from Baltimore, Maryland, to Ohio, and died in Perry township, Morrow county.  Mr. Owen died in 1863, at the age of thirty-eight years.      Frank V. Owen was born in Middleberry township, Knox county, in 1857, and at the usual age entered the public schools, therein mastering the usual branches of knowledge that constitute the curriculum in such institutions.  His law studies were pursued in the office and under the direction of the firm of Cooper & Moore, and in 1884 he was admitted to the bar, since which time he has maintained an office in Mount Vernon and now has a very extensive clientage of a distinctively representative character.  He has tried many personal injury cases and engages in general practice.  On his admission to the bar he did not consider his studies finished, but is continually adding to his knowledge and in the preparation of cases reviews every authority bearing upon the points in issue.      In this county, in 1894, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Owen and Miss Bessie Johnson, of Mount Vernon, a daughter of Scott Johnson.  They have two children, Elizabeth and Isabella, and by a former marriage Mr. Owen had two sons—Charles, who is a graduate of the high school of Mount Vernon and of Kenyon College and is now in Dayton; and Robert, who is a student in the Mount Vernon schools.  Socially Mr. Owen is connected with the Knights of Pythias lodge, and politically he is a Republican.  In 1887 he was elected to the state legislature and served on some of the most important committees, and at once became an active and earnest advocate of those measures that were of most worth and importance to the citizens of the state, proving himself a capable member.  In 1888 he introduced in the house a measure requiring all saloons to be closed on Sunday and it became a law and is now on the statute books, not only of the state of Ohio, but many other states have copied from it.  The law bears the name of its author and is known as the "Owen Sunday Closing Law."  At the end of his first term he declined a second nomination, preferring to devote his entire time to his law practice, which had grown to large proportions.  Mr. Owen is distinctively a self-made-man, having climbed from the bottom, round by round, until to-day his capability as a lawyer is widely recognized and is attested by the many favorable verdicts which he gains for his clients. Source: The Biographical Record of Knox County, Ohio - Publ. 1902 ~ Page 64

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