“We will revive those times, and in our
memories preserve and still keep fresh, like flowers in water, those
happier days.”
–Richter
page 459
James M. Owens is classed among the successful tillers of the soil and stock raisers of Gourd Neck Township, Polk County, Arkansas, but was born in Van Buren County in 1844, to William Jackson and Fannie "Davis" Owens, the former born in Missouri, and the latter in Middle Tennessee. When young both went to Van Buren County, Ark- ansas, where they met, married and lived until about 1855, after which they spent a short time residing in different counties, and about 1862 settled in Polk County, Arkansas. In 1862 they started for Texas, but Mr. Owens died before they located, and after the war the family returned to Polk County, Arkansas, where Mrs. Owens and four of her children still reside.
Mr. Owens was a farmer and teacher, and was justice of the peace for some years. He was, as is his wife, a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and was a soldier in one of the early Indian wars.
His father, Horner Owens, died
in Missouri, of Scotch-Irish origin, and his wife's father, Jesse
Davis, was one of the early settlers of Van Buren County, Arkansas,
where he died, a farmer.
James M. Owens is the eldest
of three sons and five daughters, his brothers and sisters,
that are living being as fol-
lows: Mary, Sarah C. - wife
of William Reed, William Pinckney, Martha
- wife of James
Barlow, and Huldah F. -
wife of Frank Werber of Hot Springs.
Although James M. was reared on the farm,
he was given rather more meager educational advantages
than is usually given the farmer's boy, but being naturally intelligent
and a quick observer, he is an exceptionally well-informed
man. He resided on the Texas frontier during the war, and for three years
served in the Home Guards in Burnett County.
His marriage, which took place in Polk
County, Arkansas, was to Miss Angelana, daughter of Raleigh
M. and Louisa L. "Dearberry" White, both of whom died in Polk
County, Arkansas, when Mrs. Owens was a little child,
her father having been a farmer throughout life. They
were among the early settlers in this section, and on the farm
on which they first settled, the subject of this sketch and his family
are now residing.
Mrs. Owens was born in Mississippi, and
has borne her husband eleven children, seven of whom are living.
They have been occupants of their present farm since 1868, it being situated
seven miles north of Dallas on the Ouachita River, and comprising about
400 acres, with 100 acres cleared. He is a well-known
and prosperous farmer of this section, and as a neighbor and citizen, too
much can not be said in his praise. His land is well
improved, and excellent build- ings are the rule and not the exception,
his fences and orchard being also of the best. Nearly all his
land that is under cultivation he has cleared himself, and all
his property has been obtained by his own industry and
with the aid of his wife, who has proved a true helpmate to him.
He belongs to Dallas Lodge of the A. F. & A. M., Owens Chapel
Lodge
of the Farmers' Alliance, and
has been steward in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church
for a number of years, his wife being a member of the Missionary
Baptist Church.