OWEN
493
OWEN
Owen, Griffith, a minister of the Society of Friends, flourished towards the close of the 17th centurj-. He died in 1717. As a minister of the Gospel, he was lively and pathetic ; as a member of religious society, he was active and exemplary. William Fenn, in one of his letters, mentions him as " tender Griffith Owen, who sees and feels." For some years he was an active member of the governor's council. He was not only a minister, but practiced medicine, and was eminently useful in the newly settled province. He was universally beloved through life, and lamented at death. See Janney, Hist, of the Friends, iii, 67, 187.
Owen, Henry, M.D., a learned divine of the Church of England, was bom in 1716, near Dolgelly, in Merionethshire, He was educated at the gram- mar school of Ruthin, in Wales, whence he was re- moved to Jesus College, Oxford. His attention was primarily directed towards the medical profession ; but, changing his purpose, he took orders, and, after various preferments, became in 1760 rector of St. Clave, Hart Street, and vicar of Edmonton, in Middlesex. In 1775 he also obtained the living of Edmonton. He died in 1795. He published. The Intent and Propriety of the Scripture Miracles, a most valuable work : — Observations on the Four Gospels : — Directions to /Students in Divinity : — Inquiry into the /State of the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament : — Critica Sacra, or a Shoi'l Introdtic- tion to Hebrew Criticism : — Collatio Codicis Cottoniani Geneseos, cum editione Romana a viro clarissimo Johanne Ernesto Grabe, deemed the most ancient manuscript in Europe : — Critical Disquisitions: — The Modes of Quota- tion used by the Evangelical Wi'iters. " All of Dr. Henry Owen's works," says Orme, " are characterized by sound criticism and laborious research. Bishop Marsh, who says that he is an excellent critic, observes that his Historical and Critical Account of the Septuagint Ver- sion should be read by every man who wishes to be ac- quainted with the history of that version" (^Bibl. Bibl. [1839] p. 187). See Nichols, Lit. Anecdotes ; Allibone, Diet. Brit, and Amer. Auth. s. v. ; Jones, Christian Biog. s. V. ; Hook, Eccles. Biog. s. v. (J. H. W.)
Ovwen, James, a minister of the Society of Friends, was born Feb. 18, 1822, near Caesar's Creek, Ohio, and was religiously trained. In 1826 his family removed to Hendricks County, Indiana, where he learned some- thing of the difficulties and privations incident to fron- tier life. He was recorded as a minister Sept. 8, 1849. He labored in Iowa in 18-19, visited the yearly meet- ings of Philadelphia, New York, and New England in 1850, and soon after went again to Indiana and Ohio. In 1854 he again visited Iowa, and, in view of the rapid emigration of Friends to that state, left his home, then in Howard Countv, Indiana, and settled at Bangor, Iowa, in 1855. Here he was subjected again to many privations. Afterwards he visited the Friends of Indi- ana, Ohio, Maryland, and North Carolina, and labored among the freedmen in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ar- kansas. March 16, 1369, he went on a visit to the So- ciety of Friends and others in England, Ireland, and some parts of the Continent. He returned to America, and visited in course Baltimore and North Carolina yearly meetings, and appointed meetings within the limits of Randolph and other counties, as many as sev- enteen per week. The climate of this latitude proved detrimental to his health, and an attack of typhoid- pneumonia obliged him to seek a northern climate. He died Jan. 2, 1871, and was interred in the Friends' cemetery at New Providence, Iowa. James Owen was eminently successful in his unusually abundant minis- terial labors. The weightiness of his spirit, the edify- ing manner in which he preached, and the solemnity of his appeals, together with his sincere kindness and genial ways, gave him a place in the hearts of all, both old and young, within the scope of his acquaintance. See Friends' Review (Philadelphia), Nov. 2, 1872.
Owen, John (1), an English divine of the Puritan