Owen County, Indiana Genealogy

United States &gt; Indiana &gt; Owen County

History
Owen County, Indiana was formed 1 Jan 1819 from Daviess and Sullivan Counties.

The first county seat was to be on land owned by John Dunn on the bend of White River, but this was quickly relocated to a new location across the river from the land of John Bartholemew. This new site, which became known as Spencer, was approved by the county commissioners at a meeting at John Dunn's house on 12 Feb 1820.

Owen County was named for Abraham Owen, a Kentucky officer who was killed at the Battle of Tippecanoe. Some sources refer to him as a colonel, but Blanchard's 1884 county history refers to him as Major Abraham Owen.

The county seat, Spencer, derives its name from a Captain Spencer, a Kentucky soldier who was also killed in the same battle.

Parent County
1818--Owen County was created 21 December 1818 from Daviess and Sullivan Counties. County seat: Spencer

Populated Places

 * Gosport
 * Spencer (county seat)

Unincorporated:


 * Coal City
 * Freedom
 * Patricksburg
 * Quincy

Neighboring Counties

 * Clay
 * Greene
 * Monroe
 * Morgan
 * Putnam

Court

 * Owen County Court Records, 1863-1897 (IN Historical Society)

Land

 * Plat Book of Owen County, Indiana. W.W. Hixson &amp; Company, 192?.

Local Histories

 * Blanchard, Charles, ed. Counties of Clay and Owen, Indiana: Historical and Biographical. Chicago: F.A. Battey &amp; Company, 1884. Digital version in Google Books; may be downloaded in pdf or epub formats.
 * History of Owen County (Owen County Online)
 * Owen County, Indiana. Town and Country Publishing Company, 1977.
 * Owen County, Indiana: A History. Owen County Historical and Genealogical Society, 1994.
 * Peterson, Roger. "General History of Owen County, Indiana." (OCHGS site)

Maps

 * Owen County Maps (bibliography from IN State Library)

Military
Civil War

Civil War service men from Owen County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Owen County.


 * 1st Regiment, Indiana Heavy Artillery, Company B
 * 5th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry (90th Regiment, Indiana Volunteers), Company C
 * 6th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company F
 * 11th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company H
 * 13th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company H
 * 14th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company H
 * 18th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company H
 * 19th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company I
 * 31st Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company B
 * 52nd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company E
 * 57th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company D
 * 59th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies f, and B
 * 82nd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company I
 * 85th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company K
 * 97th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies F, and H
 * 130th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company K
 * 137th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company K
 * 144th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company I
 * 149th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies B, and D
 * 28th US Colored Troops, Addition Recruits for Colored Troops

article on Civil War

"'I Take My Pen in Hand': Civil War Letters from Owen County, Indiana", ( ed. Vivian Zollinger, Indiana Magazine of History 93, no. 2 (June 1997): 111-196.) [various Owen County soldiers], Owen County 13th, 14th, 19th, 21st, 59th, 97th, 149th Indiana Volunteer Infantries, 1861-1865 Abstract and Bibliographic Information   article PDF

Vital Records
Marriages

Blanchard's 1884 county history mentions that the first wedding in the county was a double wedding that predates the recording of marriages in the county record books. This was the marriage of two daughters of Philip Hart to James Bigger and Thomas Allen. The date of this marriage is unknown. The first recorded marriage is dated 4 Oct 1819.


 * Franklin, Charles M. Owen County, Indiana Marriages, 1819-1844. Indianapolis: Ye Olde Genealogie Shoppe, 1979. Digital copy in Internet Archive (can be read online or downloaded in several formats).
 * Owen County, Indiana Marriages Before 1850, Surnames A-J
 * Owen County, Indiana Marriages Before 1850, Surnames J-Z

Societies and Libraries

 * Owen County, Indiana Historical and Genealogical Society
 * Ten O'Clock Line Treaty Museum, Gosport

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Genealogy (Owen County Public Library)
 * Owen County (contacts, from Indiana Historical Society)
 * Owen County (Crossroads of America: Early Indiana History)
 * Owen County (family history resources, from Indiana State Library)
 * Owen County InGenWeb Project
 * Owen County, Indiana (County History Preservation Society)
 * Owen County, Indiana (RootsWeb)
 * Owen County, Indiana (Wikipedia)
 * Owen County, Indiana Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Owen County, Indiana Genealogy Links (GenealogyLinks.net)
 * Owen County, Indiana History, Records, Facts, and Genealogy (Family History 101)
 * Owen County Interlink
 * Owen County Online
 * Owen County Online