OWEN, MARTIN A.
OWEN, CHRISTMAN, TUTHILL, GROVER
Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 11/25/2003 at 14:16:58
Biography reproduced from page 529 of the History of Kossuth and Humboldt Counties, Iowa published in 1884:
Martin A. Owen, son of Alvah and Catharine (Christman) Owen, was born Feb. 2, 1838. His father is dead. His mother was born in Oswego Co., N. Y., and now lives at Whitehall, Trempealeau Co., Wis. When the subject of this sketch was three years old, he went to Sheboygan, Wis., remaining there one and a half years. He then went to Lowell, Dodge Co., Wis., remaining there thirty years. He then came to Kossuth county, locating on section 4, township 96, range 28, Portland township, where he now owns 120 acres of good land. Mr. Owen was united in marriage, Feb. 17, 1861, with Josephine Tuttle, daughter of Nathan and Jane Tuttle, of Lowell, Dodge Co., Wis. This union has been blessed with two children—Lewis M. J. and Nettie V., Mr. Owen is a republican. He deals in live stock, and makes that his business as well as farming.
------------------------------Biography reproduced from page 358 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:
Martin A. Owen, living retired in Burt, Iowa, after a long and useful career spent in agricultural labor in Plum Creek township, where he farmed with gratifying success one hundred and twenty acres of land, was born in Otsego county, New York, on February 2, 1839, a son of Alva and Catherine (Christman) Owen, both natives of the Empire state. The elder Mr. Owen followed farming in New York for a number of years and all of his children were born in Otsego county. In 1846 he moved to Sheboygan county, Wisconsin, where he later bought land and improved and cultivated the soil. He sold his holdings in order to move to Dodge county, where he located near Lowell and followed the same line of activity. He was successful as an agriculturist and lived upon his farm in Dodge county until his removal to Trempealeau county, Wisconsin, in 1876, where he lived until his death, at the age of eighty-two years. His wife survived him for six years.
Martin A. Owen was reared upon his father’s farm in Dodge county and there his childhood was passed, acquainting himself with the details and methods of agriculture. On March 2, 1865, he joined Company H, Fifty-first Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, with the title of corporal and was sent with his regiment in pursuit of General Price’s army through Missouri and Kansas. His regiment intercepted the Rebel forces at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Mr. Owen served until the close of the war and was mustered out with honorable discharge at Madison, Wisconsin. He returned to Dodge county and farmed upon a fertile and productive tract of land for ten years. He rented this property for some time but later was able to purchase it. In 1882 he sold out and moved to Iowa, buying land in Plum Creek township, Kossuth county. His farm comprised one hundred and twenty acres, slightly improved, and to its further development Mr. Owen gave his intelligent activities and his specialized knowledge of agriculture. He built suitable barns and outbuildings, tiled, fenced and improved his property and planted a large section of his land in orchard and grove trees. He was successful from the beginning. His agriculture was carried on along the most modern and progressive lines and his industry had its reward in constantly increasing harvests. At the time of his retirement in 1892 he was ranked among the representative agriculturists in Plum Creek township. When he abandoned farm life he bought a residence in Burt, Iowa, and has since made his home in this city. He has kept up his interest in local affairs and as a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator Company, and in the Burt National Bank has been an influence in commercial and financial development.
Mr. Owen married before his enlistment in Dodge county, Wisconsin, on February 17, 1861, Miss Josephine Tuthill, a native of Warrensville, Ohio, and a daughter of Nathan Tuthill, of New York state. Mrs. Owen’s father died in Ohio when she was still a child and his wife survived him and later moved to Wisconsin, where she reared her children and where she is now living in her eighty-eighth year. To Mr. and Mrs. Owen have been born two children: Lewie M., who is mentioned at length elsewhere in this volume; and Nettie V., the wife of William Grover, of Burt. Mr. Owen has assisted to the best of his ability in the gradual process of development which has made Kossuth county one of the most productive sections in Iowa, and which has made that state one of the rich and prosperous commonwealths of America.
Kossuth Biographies maintained by Linda Ziemann.
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