OWEN, LEWIE M.

OWEN, MANN

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 11/25/2003 at 14:41:32

Biography reproduced from page 41 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

A leading and representative citizen of Burt, Iowa, actively interested in its political and commercial development, is Lewie M. Owen, who has been a resident of this city for the past nine years and has gained success by reason of his methods of commercial honor and integrity. He was born in Lowell, Wisconsin, on March 24, 1865, and is a son of Martin A. Owen, of whom further mention is made elsewhere in this work. He was educated in the public schools of Dodge county, Wisconsin, and came to Iowa with his parents in 1882, when he was seventeen years of age. He helped to improve and develop the home farm until after he had attained his majority. He attended school, however, for a short time in Kossuth county and later purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Portland township which he operated and improved successfully. He followed agriculture until 1901, when he rented his farm and moved to Burt. Here he bought a residence which he has since entirely remodeled and made into one of the attractive, commodious and up-to-date homes in the city, equipped with a steam-heating plant which furnishes hot and cold water. Since coming to this city Mr. Owen has engaged extensively in real estate, buying and selling improved farms in Kossuth county and dealing also in Dakota lands. He has an expert knowledge of property values and his efficiency in this line has been a factor in his success. He is interested in almost every phase of the activities of the town and has gained for himself a representative place among his fellow citizens. He is owner of one of the largest garages in Burt and deals extensively in automobiles. While on the farm and since residing in the town he has made the dealing in horses an important branch of his enterprise. He is an expert judge of stock and his opinion is considered of value in this field of activity. His politics form a vital part of his life. He has served the republican party with ability and distinction in various offices. He is one of the members of the town board and is bringing to his public service high ideas of responsibility and duty. For fifteen years he served as a member of the school board and has done able and efficient work in educational expansion. He was county grade and road master for a number of terms and has done much to improve the public highways of this section of the state. He has never given up his interest in education and was one of the promoters of the new public-school building which was completed in Burt in 1911. He has served as a delegate to county and state conventions and as committeeman for Burt and Portland townships. His life has been marked by broad ideals of personal service in the cause of his fellow citizens who have intrusted so many important offices to him. He has never been suspected of any corruption in office and has always been regarded as a man of thorough integrity and honesty.

Mr. Owen was married in Portland township, September 1, 1891, to Miss Anna F. Mann, who was born in Kossuth county and is a daughter of S. V. R. Mann and a sister of M. J. Mann, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. To Mr. and Mrs. Owen have been born two children, Verne W. and Merle Exina. Mr. Owen is a Master Mason and holds membership in Burt Lodge, No. 540, A. F. & A. M. He and his wife affiliate with the Order of the Eastern Star. He is an efficient public servant and a good man and during the thirty years of his residence in Kossuth has added not only to the material wealth of the district but has raised the qualities and standards of citizenship.