San Joaquin County
Biographies
CHARLES EDWARD OWEN
CHARLES EDWARD OWEN,
proprietor of the music and jewelry store known by his name in Stockton, was
born in San Francisco, January 6, 1858, a son of James H. and Eliza (Albert)
Owen. The father, born near Cærnarvon Castle, in Wales, about 1830,
afterward lived in England. He left England about the age of fifteen, visiting
different parts of the world, arriving on this coast about 1850, and after his
marriage in Boston, in 1855, he came again to California, settling in San
Francisco. In the palmy days of Virginia City, Nevada, he was superintendent of
the Lady Bryan mine. He was afterward a stock-broker in San Francisco, where he
died in 1884. Grandfather Owen was a lawyer of some distinction in Great
Britain. The mother of our subject, a native of Massachusetts, was married in
Boston in 1855, and came to this coast with her husband soon after the event.
She is still living, the mother of four sons and two daughters: two sons and
both daughters are now living, residing in California. Grandfather Albert died
at about middle-age, but his wife lived to be over sixty.
Charles E. Owens, educated in the public
schools and the City College of San Francisco, began his musical education at
the age of nine, was considered an expert in that line at the age of fifteen,
and graduated at the public schools. During a visit with his mother to their
relatives in Boston he went to school in that city one year. At sixteen he
filled the position of clerk in a San Francisco music store about one year, and
was afterward engaged for a time in arranging music for publication. He is also
the author of original compositions in music, some of which were published in
San Francisco, and others by Oliver Dotson & Co., of Boston. He came to
Stockton in 1879, and has carried on a music store here from that time to the
present. In 1889 he purchased the jewelry business, occupying one side of his
store, which he carried on six months, with a partner, and since December, 1889,
alone, being now sole proprietor of both lines of business. In 1889 also, Mr.
Owen erected a handsome residence, at a cost of about $10,000, which he has
occupied since February 22, 1890.
Mr. Charles E. Owens was married in this
city, November 15, 1883, to Miss Sarah C. Dorrance, a daughter of Henry T.
Dorrance (see sketch of Mr. Dorrance). They have two children: Elise D., born
September 21, 1884, and Henry D., born July 4, 1888.
Mr. Owen has been organist of St. John’s
Episcopal Church since 1880. He is Past President of Stockton Parlor, No. 7, N.
S. G. W., and a member of Charity Lodge, No. 5, I. O. O. F.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
An Illustrated History of San Joaquin County,
California, Pages 542-543. Lewis Pub.
Co. Chicago, Illinois 1890.
© 2009 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County
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