A History of the Owens FamilyOur maternal grandfather, Charles Smith Owen, was born in approximately 1870 in Stanford, Illinois, of Benjamin Franklin and Martha Ann (Smith?) Coffin Owen. His father, Benjamin, was born on April 7, 1838, in Hart County, Kentucky. Benjamin moved with his parents to Illinois in 1847 and settled in Brook’s Grove. In 1861, he enlisted in the Second Missouri Cavalry, Co. E, and served with ‘Merrill’s Horses’ until the end of the Civil War. At the time of his enlistment, he is described in pension records as being 5’8”, of dark complexion, with brown hair and blue eyes. According to military pension records, B.F. re-enlisted as a veteran volunteer in January 1864 at the age of 25. He held the ranks of private, corporal, sergeant, and commissary sergeant. He was taken prisoner on November 29, 1863 ‘by the enemy’ near West Point, Arkansas and released the next month, on December 2. Apparently during his capture, he was wounded by a ½ oz. pistol ball, shot by ‘a guerrilla.’ The ball entered the glutic muscle and traveled diagonally downward, exiting from his upper leg. In later life, this was a basis for his pension claim for rheumatism. He apparently also suffered chronic diarrhea for the rest of his life as a result of the ravages of war. According to his pension claims, he was often disabled for days and weeks at a time which made physical labor difficult. He married his first wife, Martha Ann Smith/Coffin, on April 20, 1866, shortly after the War was ended. Several official documents list Benjamin’s first wife as Martha Smith, and (our grandfather) her son’s middle name was Smith. The marriage license shows her name as Martha Ann Coffin. In his pension claim, he names his first wife as “Annie Smith Owen.” In the LDS Ancestral file, she is listed as Martha Ann Smith. In the 1870 Federal Census, Benjamin is listed as being 32 and Martha A. as age 23. Benjamin is listed as a Farmer, Martha is ‘keeping house,’ and they are the parents of Maud, 1 year of age. According to her death certificate, Martha was born in 1845 in Massachusetts and died at Mt. Hope Hospital on January 19, 1879 at the age of 33 years, 9 months and 15 days. According to the LDS Ancestral file, she was born in 1838 in Hart County, KY. Our grandfather, Charles, was only 9 years old. Benjamin and Martha had six children, two of whom died in infancy. According to her death certificate, she died of Heart Disease of a six months’ duration, complicated by ‘Dispepsin’ [sic]. She is buried at the Brooks Grove Cemetery in Stanford, Illinois. Benjamin and Martha had several other children, including:
The next year, the 1880 Federal Census reports Benjamin living with his mother, Millie Owens [sic], age 69, and six of her grandchildren in Allin Township. Joseph is listed as another of her sons, along with Benjamin, by now age 41. Grandchildren included Lillie A. age 14, William age 12, Maud age 11, Charles our grandfather age 9, James age 7, and Addison age 7. All of the males over age 11 are either working as laborers or “works at farm.” No mention is made of the youngest child, Alfred, who should have been about 2 years old. According to a pension affidavit submitted in 1889 by Presley T. Brooks, ‘immediately upon his [B.F.’s] return in the fall of 1965 when he came home, his mother lived on my farm and I saw him all most as soon as he got home...I have lived near him ever since he returned home from the army in 1865 (Except as he may have moved from place to place as he owns no home of his own but has not been more than six miles away from me at any time.” Eight years after Martha’s death, Benjamin married Elizabeth Johnson, age 36, of Leroy, Illinois, on March 29, 1887. In 1891, the family moved back to Stanford, IL and, in the 1900 Census, had two children still living at home, Addison age 28, and ‘illie (name is partly illegible) age 7, born in 1893. There is a Charles Owen reported also living in Stanford, one of two boarders and listed as being a telephone lineman. Although there is a confusion of birthplaces on the census with the two boarders, it is probable that this is our grandfather, Charles. At the age of 64, in 1902, Benjamin was described in a Surgeon’s Certificate as having ‘black hair, gray eyes, dark complexion, 5’ 6 ½”, and weighing 127 ½ lb.’ Benjamin and Elizabeth lived in Stanford for sixteen years until moving to Normal where they made their home until his death on September 29, 1918, after a long illness. According to his obituary, he died from ‘the effects of a stroke of paralysis and apoplexy. ‘ Although he had suffered a similar attack four years previously, he had recovered and had been ambulatory. Funeral services were held at his home in Normal, at 400 North Linden Street. A G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) memorial stone was erected for him next to his first wife, Martha, at Brooks Grove Cemetery. At this time, it is unknown whether this is his actual grave or if he is buried next to Elizabeth, probably in Normal. Elizabeth lived until January 10, 1941, eventually receiving the grand sum of $40.00 a month from Benjamin’s military pension. She was declared ‘incompetent’ on November 8, 1928 and the First Trust & Savings Bank was appointed as her conservator. As a side note, William J. Owen, brother to Benjamin and born in 1845, served in the 117th Ill. Volunteer Infantry as a Private during the Civil War. He was mustered in on August 7, 1862, and by the next month served at Camp Butler in Springfield for a short period. In April of 1864, he left Grand Ecore, LA on a hospital boat for Vicksburg, per order of the Army Surgeon. From October through December of 1864 he was a patient in the U. S. General Hospital, Jefferson Barracks, in St. Louis, MO. He received a discharge for disability on February 1, 1865, and died one month and four days later. His disability was due to ‘Chronic Diarrhea, with emaciation,’ according to his Discharge Disability certificate, and he was ‘20 years old, 5’7½”, with hazel eyes, auburn hair, and a ‘sandy’ complexion (word almost illegible). ‘ His occupation at time of enlistment was ‘farmer.’ William had signed up for 3 years of Army service and was discharged 6 months before his service would have ended. He was officially mustered out on August 5, 1865. (Note: According to his gravestone at Brooks’ Grove Cemetery, and contrary to his discharge papers, he was 23 at time of discharge and later death.) Although there is confusion about the names, Benjamin was apparently a son of Walter and Milley Brooks Owen. Walter was born in Tennessee on April 10, 1802. In the 1850 Federal Census, he is listed as ‘William’ and is living in Funks Grove. ‘William,’ age 48, and ‘Milla,’ age 40, are listed as having eight children, including Lucy age 22, Elizabeth age 18, Mary age 16, Joseph age 14, Benjamin (our great-grandfather) age 12, Peter age 10, William J., age 8, and John (MI illegible) age 6. Walter and Milley are buried at Brooks’ Grove in Stanford, along with their daughter, Lucy, age 24 ½ and their son, Peter, age 12. Walter, Lucy, and Peter all died on the same day and year, September 16, 1852. Still to be learned is the cause of these deaths, most probably through accident or fire. According to the LDS Ancestral File, Walter and Millie had the following children born in KY: Lucy, Millie, Mary Susan, Joseph, Benjamin F, Peter, William J, John, Mary, infant son, Elizabeth, (this takes us only to 1852….) Benjamin’s mother, Milley Brooks Owen, was born on June 16, 1810 in Barren County, Kentucky, according to the 1880 Census and the LDS Ancestral File. She died on February 2, 1899. Milley was the daughter of Miles and Lucy Pullian Brooks. (See Brooks Family History)
Charles and Ella had six children. Unlike many families in those early years of the 1900’s, no babies were lost and all of their children lived into old age. Charles died in 1948, at age 78. His wife, Ella, died in 1970 at age 89. Their children were: Inez Leona, Myra Imogene, Charles Russell, Ralph Theodore, and the twins, Ray and Fay Evaline.
Unlike many families in those early years of the 1900’s, no babies were lost and all of their children lived to respectable old age. Charles died in 1948, at age 78. His wife, Ella, died in 1970 at age 89.
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Charles Owen, our maternal grandfather and son of Benjamin Franklin Owen, married 
She married a farmer from outside of Bloomington, Lloyd Schwartz. They had two children, Shirley (Koss) and Lloyd Schwartz, Jr. Inez and Lloyd Sr divorced in and neither remarried. A memory of one of the nieces who often stayed with the family in the summer and during a whooping cough quarantine was a huge box of comic books belonging to Shirley. Many enjoyable hours spent reading the comics with the then teen-ager. This was quite thrilling for a young girl. Superman, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, and Mary Jane and Sniffles were some of the most loved comics. The piano in the parlor, the hideaway reading nook just outside of the parlor, the tiger lilies in the front yard, the hollyhocks at the side fence are well-loved memories. The Christmas cookies Aunt Inez would make, the square angel food cakes she would send her niece for her birthday are well remembered. Inez died alone at her farm one day while sitting in her chair in the kitchen on January 12, 1989, at age 85. Lloyd Jr lived to old age in Carlock, married to his sweetheart, June. Shirley taught high school math in Houston, Texas. Both Shirley and Lloyd had several children.
Myra Imogene (Johnson) was born on November 26, 1905. She worked as a manicurist at the Hotel Illinois Barber Shop in Bloomington before eventually working for the rest of her employable years at Eureka Company in Bloomington, on the assembly line. She married Earl Theodore Johnson in .
They had one son, Charles, who died at three months, 17 days, of age. He died on May 21 ‘at 8:45 pm’ 1923. Family history says he died in his grandmother’s arms of strangulation while drinking milk. A newspaper account of that time reported that the baby ‘had not been well and strong since his birth.’ Myra and Earl had a tempestuous marriage from all accounts but they remained together until Earl’s death at age 92 on September 5, 1995. He served as a Seabee in WWII in the Philippine Islands and was proud to be a Union Carpenter for the rest of his working days in Bloomington. He had a pilot’s license and flew for recreation in the 1960’s. Her sister, Faye, claimed Myra and Earl made bathtub gin during prohibition and the couple reportedly enjoyed the roaring 20’s and 30’s.
Ralph was born on May 27, 1911. Family history reports that, during a fall from the front porch at about age 9, he broke his collarbone and apparently suffered additional injuries that eventually resulted in seizures and a life-long nervous condition. He lived with his mother in Danvers for the remainder of his life and died at age 72 of a sudden heart attack. Ralph was known for his quick pace and died ‘between one step and the next’ while making his daily trip to the post office. At one time in his life, he had violent behavior and was placed at the Bartonville State Hospital for a period of time. He displayed some symptoms of schizophrenia, however, this diagnosis was never made officially. Although shy with visitors, he often would suddenly thrust a box of candy in one’s face, offering a piece of candy in an attempt to show his welcome. To his mother, he was always “the baby.”
