San Francisco County
Biographies
ROBERT C.
OWENS
For nearly three decades Robert C. Owens has been associated with the San Francisco Law Library, and is now librarian in charge of this collection, which is considered one of the finest and largest in the United States. Mr. Owens was born in the Catskill mountains of Delaware county, New York, and there acquired his early education. In 1891 he came to California, continuing his studies in Los Angeles county, where he graduated from high school. He next entered Pomona College, which conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and thereafter he graduated from the Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. Following his graduation from the last named institution he was admitted to the California state bar in 1904.
In 1902, two years prior to his graduation, Mr. Owens had entered the service of the San Francisco Law Library as a student and an assistant under J. H. Deering, librarian. After receiving his diploma, he remained with the library, acquiring a high degree of competency and skill in the work as the years passed. On May 1, 1928, upon the resignation of Mr. Deering, Mr. Owens was appointed to his present position as librarian in charge. Mr. Deering was nationally known in the legal profession as one of the most able law librarians in the country, and he served for thirty-nine years in this capacity. Under his fine guidance, Mr. Owens laid the foundation of his own proficiency. The library itself was established in 1870, and rates as one of the leading law libraries of the country, despite the fact that in the disastrous San Francisco fire of 1906 all of its books and records were burned. There are now over eighty thousand books on the shelves of the San Francisco Library, situated in the city hall.
Mr. Owens was married in 1906 to Miss Eunice Reid, a native of Illinois.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Byington, Lewis Francis, “History of
San Francisco 3 Vols”, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1931. Vol. 2 Pages 133-134.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S SAN FRANCISCO
BIOGRAPIES