William Owens

William “Wesley” Owens (1825 – 1903) was a resident of Station Camp Creek who operated a grist mill and lost most of his children to illness at young ages.

Biography

Born August 1825, William W. Owens was the son of Willis Owens (1778-1860) and Sarah Thomas (1802-1899). He had four siblings: Calvin Thomas (1824-1899), Isaac Thomas (1826-1868), George W. Owens (born 1838), and Rebecca Thomas Smith (1839-1901). His father, Willis Owens, was originally from North Carolina but moved to the Cumberland Plateau and settled in Fentress County. His mother, Sarah Thomas, was from Grave Hill west of present-day Oneida.

Owens is believed to have first been married to Elizabeth Roysden.

Owens’ will, which was dated Aug. 10, 1903, listed several children in addition to his three surviving children with his second wife: sons John Owens and Gid Owens, and daughters Anna Ratliff and Ida Carson. This is perhaps an indication that he was married prior to Susan and had children with his first wife. When the 1870 census was taken, Wesley Owens was still married to Elizabeth Owens. Their children were listed as Margret (age 13, listed in the 1860 census as “Polly,” indicating her name was likely Mary instead of Margret), John (11), William (8), Gideon (4), Martha (3) and Margret (1). John and Gideon are mentioned in Wesley Owens’ 1903 will.

Owens married Susanna “Susan” Jane Slaven (1852-1935) on July 28, 1877. She was the daughter of Absalom Slaven (1810-1877) and Elizabeth J. Wood (1814-1903). Her paternal grandfather was Richard Harve Slaven, the first settler of No Business. Susan was first married to Daniel Pennington (1846-1872). He was murdered in 1872 by her brother, and was one of the first people buried at Chimney Rock Cemetery a short distance from the river ford at Station Camp.

Owens had several children with Susan: Samantha (born 1874), Ebbin (1879), Lawrence (1882), Sarah (1884), Willis (1886), James (1887), Electa (1888), Cordelia (1888), George (1892) and Baily (1894).

Adult Life

Owens had a farm on Station Camp Creek, approximately 1.5 miles west of the Big South Fork River, in what is now the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area. He operated a grist mill there and worked as a blacksmith.

However, the Owens family left Scott County for a period of time. When the 1880 census was taken, seven years after Owens’ marriage to Susan Slaven, the family lived in Bethany, Kan. At that time, they had three children: Samantha (age 6), James (4) and Ebbin (1).

Owens served in the Union army during the Civil War, fighting in the East Tennessee National Guard.

A William W. Owens was appointed postmaster at Frona in 1895. This was likely the same William Wesley Owens, and the post office was likely located at Station Camp. The first postmaster at Frona was a William H. Blevins, which may have been William Huston Blevins, who lived at nearby Parch Corn Creek. Blevins was a witness to Owens’ will.

The Owens Cemetery

Owens is best known for the tragedy of his family cemetery. Over a period of 12 years, he buried seven of his children in a single row of graves near his home on Station Camp Creek, then was buried there himself when he died in 1903.

The first to die was Samantha, who died in 1888 at age 13. Ebbin, the second oldest, died at some point prior to 1900, but his death date cannot be read on the hand-inscribed field stone that marks his grave. James died in 1888, just months after Samantha. While his headstone appears to read that he was born in 1887, he was listed as four years old when the 1880 census was taken, which may mean that he was born in 1877. Sarah died in 1889, at age 4 or 5. Lawrence died in 1892, at age 9 or 10, and Electa died in 1896, at age 7 or 8. Finally, George died in 1900, at age 7 or 8.

The only surviving Owens children were Willis, Cordelia and Baily.

Following William’s death in 1903, he was also buried at the cemetery beside his children. His wife and remaining children then left the Big South Fork, moving to Mt. Pisgah, Ky.

Willis Owens married Maudie Cordell Davis. He died in 1973 and is buried at Possum Rock Cemetery. Cordelia Owens married a Paul. She died in 1970 and was also buried at Possum Rock. Baily (or Bailey) married Cora Ann Mays. He died in 1975 and, like his siblings, was buried at Possum Rock.

Susanna Owens died in 1935 and was buried at Mount Pisgah Cemetery in Kentucky.