David Owens: Union Township/Mount Vernon

More on my trip to South Dakota to continue my work on David Owens life. Union Township is outside of Mount Vernon, SD. That is the town where my 3rd GG, David Owens, and his wife Eliza Barker Owens settled at the end of their lives. David filed for a land patent in 1884, which was patented in 1889. It was the NW1/4 of Section 11, Union Township. In 1897, Emery Owens applied was granted the NE1/4 of Section 11. Sometime during this period, Emery acquired the SW1/4 of Section 11, making a total of 480 acres. Now, consider that South Dakota is not all Badlands and high desert. The northeastern side of the state is fertile with arable land.  That's a chunk of usable land. David appears to have left his portion to Emery, because by the time the map was published in 1901, Emery had this land, but had to wait to patent the NE1/4 (in 1902).

1902 Union Township, Davison County, SD Plat Map

Here is a photo of the homestead...there's a question whether this was the Owens homestead or another building was there before. According to the owner, the basement is the original basement. This location is at 257th St and 398th Ave in Davison County. I put two not perfectly matching photos below of the homestead.  

Miracle of miracles, I also availed myself of the US BLM database of land grants and was able to find both of the Owens land grants paperwork. I have linked directly to the page with the patents.

David's 1889 Land Patent

Emery's Land Grant. Land previously owned by Wm Brearly

Finally, here are the grave stones of both David Owens and his wife, Eliza Barker Owens.

David Owens: The Trip to Mount Vernon...South Dakota

I would direct you to the various stories about David Owens, my third great grandfather. His story wormed its way into my heart and he has been of special interest in my genealogical work. The summer of 2023, I had the pleasure of going to the place he went after he left Iowa. The place where he raised his second family - Mount Vernon, South Dakota. 

Our trip was for the pleasure of the entire family - mostly. Little did my familial traveling companions know, but I had designs on our itinerary that would take us to genealogical wonders (for me, not them) along the way. 

Downtown Mount Vernon 25 years after the Owens arrived

As just a brief summary to those who do not want to read all of my stories, David Owens married my 3rd great grandmother, Sarah Holler. They pioneered through Indiana and Illinois, until arriving in Poyner Township, Black Hawk County, Iowa, where they were part of a group of the earliest settlers. They were baptists. Sarah died shortly after having her son Joseph in 1864. Joseph also died. David almost immediately married Elizabeth Brown, who died in 1866. Finally, he married Eliza Barker in 1867. They stayed in Poyner Township until 1884, when they made the big move to South Dakota where they hoped to homestead. They ended up homesteading two different adjoining properties outside of Mount Vernon, South Dakota.

We had left Mitchell, the Davison county seat, early one morning as I had an appointment with the sexton at the cemetery where David and Eliza were buried. No emails involved - only the phone.  Dale Kroupa, who had lived his entire life in Mount Vernon and knew who lived at every single property in the County, met us at the cemetery. By that time, I had already found the stone in question. We chatted a bit and I told him of my interest in the Owens family. He grabbed his phone, made a call, and said, "Follow me."

Milwaukee, Chicago, St Paul Station

Off we went to the nearby historical museum (housed in what was formerly a church). Dale had called the woman who masterminded the museum, Roberta Olsen, at home. She told him to give her a minute, but she'd be right down to open up the museum.  Now, that's service! She knew every person to a one who settled in the area and how they connected to each other. I poured over tons of resources, books, and plat maps. Dale had tracked the properties down and so we were off again to see the property.  On that day, I got to see the place where they had farmed over 100 years ago. The place did not look much different from it had then. I felt a real connection to David, which just further insinuated him into my heart.

Really, all that racing around was great, but man, I've got to tell you, the kindness of strangers. Am I right? Mrs. Olsen and Mr. Kroupa so clearly loved and were proud of their place in the world and so very willing to share it with others. It moved me very much.  

I delayed telling this story so now I have to dig through my phone for the photos. So, I shall return - with pictures and some other stuff.

Mount Vernons Historical Museum

The Prolific David Owens: Son William Lincoln Owens

A typical blacksmith shop

You can read about David Owens' beginnings here.

David and his new wife Anna Eliza "Eliza" Barker's first child was a boy. William Lincoln Owens was born 17 Jun 1867 inBlack Hawk County, Iowa. In 1884, the family moved to Davison County, South Dakota, settling near Mount Vernon. William was 16 at that time.

1891 found William visiting in Hartington, Nebraska, located west of Sioux Falls and south of Yankton, South Dakota, It was there he met and then married Aretta "Retta" Hamilton, who had come to Hartington to visit her uncle. The visit lasted though, when she decided to teach school there. They married at the Presbyterian Church there. According to a news article, the officiating minister, Rev Mr Martin said to the young couple, "I have performed many marriages in my time and not a single one has ended in divorce."

The article also stated he was raised in his early years in Raymond, Iowa, but in fact, spent his early years on a farm, near Raymond. Retta was the daughter of Jasper and Mary (Miller) Hamilton and was raised in Ellsworth, Wisconsin.

They moved to Davison County where William was a blacksmith. "I have been blacksmith in Mount Vernon for 45 years and have shod horses for 65 years," he said in the news account. For a brief time they lived on a farm outside of Mount Vernon, then moved to a farm near her parents in Wisconsin. The more rugged life seemed to suit them though, so they returned to South Dakota. William is well-known for his love of horses and hunting and at the time of the article in 1957, he was registered as the oldest licensed hunter in the state. He plied his blacksmithing trade from that point on.

"When asked what he thought of the change in transportation from the old era to the new, Mr Owens said that in his blacksmith shop in Mount Vernon, he made the "Owens Special" the first car in the city in 1908. It had rubber tires, high wheels, and a 24-horsepower engine." 

They moved to Mitchell in 1945.

Crappy news photo - but all I gots!

"Today, Mr & Mrs Owens live quietly at home. He drives her to the grocery store; if he shops for her and does not get just what she thinks is right, back it goes. Mrs Owens is a woman of firm convictions. Petite and fragile looking though she is, she does all her own housework, washing walls when needed, and plenty of canning. She is a charter member of the Rebekah Lodge and the Women's Relief Corps in Mount Vernon. Her husband is a former member of the IOOF lodge in Mount Vernon. Baptized a Methodist, she used to attend the Congregational Church. Now the two of them enjoy listening to the church services on the radio. According to Mrs Owen, they play a great deal of cards in the evening for a past time "Nobody has been taken any better care of than I," Mr Owens said in speaking of their long married life together. "You bet your life it has been happy and my wife is wonderful." he said. Mrs O retaliated with "Oh, yes, we have our disagreements, but they never last long and are never serious." Undoubtedly a powerful tall big man in the prime of life, he still towers over a person, even though now a little stoop shouldered. His large hands have a firm, strong grip. His good health he said is caused by the fact he has, "no bad habits: no liquor, no tea, or coffee, and no tobacco." Their ages? Mrs Owens will be 86 next June 9 and her husband will be 91, June 17. Mitchell Daily Republic March 1, 1958

William and Retta had only one child, a daughter, Lorraine, born in 1893 in Wisconsin. Lorraine married first John Wagner, who died before 1926 and Elmer Locke in 1926. There were no children of those marriages.

William and Retta made it to their 69th year of marriage before W. L. died in 1959. Retta followed him in 1965.