BERRIE William Henry

John W. Owens & Family

            John W. Owens was born sometime in March 1844 in Ireland to Patrick Owens & Rosanna Connally. He married sometime before 1867 to Catherine Matilda Robson and together they had at least seven children while living in McIntosh County. John worked hard all his life as a laborer and carpenter who ultimately moved to Glynn County where he died 22 May 1917.
            John served his state during the Civil War, enlisting in the 25^th GA Co. I on 9 August 1861 from Chatham County. Later in 1861 he was in Company D until he was captured on 7 December 1864 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. His Confederate pension application states he had lived in Georgia since he was 7 years old, suggesting he immigrated around 1851 with his parents and siblings; the family was enumerated in the 1860 McIntosh County census. This document also states that he enlisted in both companies in August as part of the Bryan Guard.
            By 1890 the family had moved to Brunswick where John continued working as a carpenter. The 1898 city directory tells us that John had become a policeman but this apparently was a short lived career because by 1900 he was a bookkeeper.
            Their father apparently instilled in his children a respect for the law and authority because all three of his sons served Brunswick in some capacity of the law.
            Walter Thaddeus Owens was born 7 August 1870 and died 28 December 1942; he married Johanna L. Barrett sometime before 1896 and had at least five children. According to the Brunswick city directories, Walter first worked as an engineer at the brewery and lived at 1205 S. Wolf Street.
            George Mitchell Owens was born 1 June 1872 and died in office as Sheriff of Glynn County on 28 November 1947. On 31 May 1903 in Pierce County, George married Margaret Sophronia Marr and together had at least seven children; the first four were sons and the last three were daughters.
            George served as deputy sheriff from at least 1910 until 1935 when the current sheriff, Robert S. Pyles, died in office. George was elected interim sheriff to serve until an election could be held to fill the office. As part of his campaign efforts, George wrote a letter to the voters of Glynn County expressing his regrets that he could not be at the polls on Election Day due to his duties as interim sheriff. In his letter he let the voters know, one last time, that he had 25 years experience in the office already as deputy which qualified him beyond measure to be sheriff.
            He was elected to office and served until his death in 1947 when his deputy sheriff, and son, Mitchell Edward Owens took the office until an election was held in which he won the office and retired from on 1 January 1969 when his brother, and former deputy sheriff, Harry William Owens was elected to office to serve until his death.
            Prior to his political life, George worked in a meat market with his brother Robert Eugene Owens who also entered the office of the law by becoming a police officer. By 1903 Robert was chief and in 1901 their other brother, Walter Thaddeus Owens, was county superintendent of prisons. Walter didn’t keep this position long according to the city directory of 1905 in which he was listed as a shipping clerk with the Lott-Lewis Company and by 1912 he was a foreman on the Turtle River dock.
            The 1905 and 1908 directories also shows us that George was a policeman before he was a deputy sheriff and that Robert was assistant chief of police; by 1912 he was back to being a grocer. Robert’s obituary states that he served only one year as chief of police but several years as the assistant.
            Mitchell E. Owens was born 2 December 1904, died 3 February 1973, and married Ila Peggy Burns on 9 July 1927 in Brunswick. He was the father of six children and served as his father’s chief deputy until his father’s death when he took the office of sheriff until an election could be held to fill the office. Mitchell is the only one of the Owens’ that actually retired from duty.
            Harry W. Owens was born 19 February 1911, died 4 February 1976, and married Audrey Riddle. He was the father of six children and served as his brother’s deputy chief taking office of sheriff in 1969 until his death. A few years before his election, the Owens men were part of an investigation that involved the two brothers and Mitchell’s the current fire chief at that time (J.B. Owens) when a man on Jekyll Island murdered his wife and then later in his jail cell hung himself. I have yet to identify J.B. Owens, the fire chief.