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Family record of Robert (Bob) Lee Owens and Caroline
Full name: Robert (Bob) Lee Owens
Birth Date: August 12, 1854
Birth Place: Rome, Georgia
Death Date: August 29, 1935
Burial Place: Refuge Cemetery, East of Grapeland in
Houston Co. Texas
Houston Co. Tx Death records Vol 6 p 81 spells last name Ownes
and gives the father as Oberah [spelling error] - Cause of death
is listed as Chronic intestinal nephritis - from death
certificate.
Fathers Name: Obediah Union Owens b. January, 1823
in South Carolina, died October 29. 1885 in Kingston, Bartow
Co., GA and buried at Old Macedonia Baptist Cemetery in Bartow
GA.
First wife was Lucinda, married abt 1843
reported to be 1/4 Cherokee Indian from South Carolina.
Second wife was Mary White Hembree born abt 1835 married in
1847, was daughter of Eluhu Hembree and Eunice Woffore.
Occupation Merchant &Farmer in Houston County TX
Education Could read and write in 1880.
Comments Robert lived in Grapeland near his younger brother
James Mulkie Owens. James Mulkie and his father-in-law
John Nelson Parker were owners of a Houston County dry good and
merchant.
Marriage: 1879 in Houston Co. TX
Name of spouse: Caroline (Callie) Denson Owens
Birth Date: January 25, 1856
Death Date: 8-29-1939
Birth Place: Home, Houston Co. TX
Burial Place: Refuge Cemetery. East of Grapeland, Houston Co.
Texas died of carcinoma of nose
Spouse Father: O'Conner Denson b. 1813, N. Carolina
Spouse Mother: Mary Anna Swaggard b. 1816 in Baden-Baden,
Germany. Mary was an orphan died between 1882 and 1890 and is
buried in the Grapeland City Cemetery, Houston Co. Tx.
Occupation: Homemaker - Education: could read and
write in 1880. Callie was a twin of Adeline Denson.
Adeline Denson married George Tyler
Children of Robert and Callie Owens:
1. Bertin Levandas Owens b. 10-8-1879 d. 6-14-1947,
married Nancy Joanna Williams
2. Bertia Owens b. 9-1880 d. about 1882
3. Thomas (Tom) W.Owens b. 12-24-1881 d.10-31-1888
4. Ollie Owens
5. Lonnie Owens
6. William Claude Owens b.1-27-1885 d.11-26-1973, married
Virginia Telitha Brown
7. Linnie Owens b. 2-25-1887 d.3-20-1975, married Bob Yates
8. Walter O. Owens b. 11-1889, married Allie Marshall
9. Libby Jean Owens b. 9-3-1891 d. 7-1-1979, married Lewis
Turner
10. Columbus Woddard(Jack)Owens b 3-7-1892 d. 7-1-1971, married
Effie Leola Cutler
11. Julia Owens b. 12-1893 d. 7-1-1985, married Homer Wright
12. Beulah Elizabeth Owens b. 7- 27-1895 d. 3-1-1990, married
Ben Brimberry
13. Mina Owens b. 4-1898 d. 9-16-1994, married Otis Brown
14. Alma Lee Owens b. 9-16-1899 d. 1-6-1984, married John
Kirkpatrick
Robert was born in Gordon County, Georgia and moved to Texas
about 1872. In 1870 Bob is listed in the census as living
with his grandfather Anderson Owens in Bartow Co. Georgia.
He moved through Georgia to Texas and lived in Leon County
Texas. He came to Texas working for the International and Great
Northern Railroad clearing right of way for tracks. When the
railroad was laying track in Houston County east of Grapeland
Bob came in contact with the Denison family. Bob is of Welsh
decent.
Bob (age 25) married Callie Denson (age 22)
in 1879 in Houston County Texas.
The Denson family joined the Predestinarean Baptist Church on
September 5, 1835 and it is said they were a very religious
family. There is some confusion about where they lived during
the first two years of their marriage but they settled on Denson
family land in 1879 in Houston County TX. The property is behind
the Brown cemetery east of Grapeland near San Pedro Creek and
close to the Refuge cemetery. There is a small cemetery on the
property.
In October 1891 James Mulkie Owens, a brother lived in Grapeland
TX and operated a grocery store with Nat Campbell.
In October 1893 Nat Campbell left town and James assumed part of
the store. In 1900 James Mulkie and his father-in-law John
Nelson Parker are owners of the store. The store burned in the
1913 fire that destroyed down town Grapeland. James Mulkie moved
to the Austin TX area about 1919 after the death of his
father-in-law John Nelson Parker. James died in
Richardson, Texas and is buried in the Parker Cemetery in
Houston County TX.
Bob was a farmer and with his wife Callie they raised their 10
children on land she inherited from her father. Caroline
(Callie) Owens' aunt was Caroline L. (Houston) Denson, a niece
of Sam Houston, the president of the Republic of Texas. The
Denson Family has a family cemetery in Houston Co. Texas. There
is a record from the 1900 census that indicated Caroline and Bob
Owens had 14 children and listed 10 as living. It is
possible that Ollie and Lonnie may have been twins they are
probably buried at the Tyre Cemetery in Houston Co. as unmarked
graves. This information was from Leola Cutler Owens as she
related that her unnamed child was also buried at Tyre cemetery.
There is a marked grave in the Tyre Cemetery for Thomas W Owens.
It is a small headstone as Tom died at age seven. From time to
time their children lived with Bob and Caroline until the
nineteen thirties.
Robert was listed as a road overseer in the February 12, 1892
list from the commissioners court of Houston County. Robert was
in charge of precinct 2. The May 27, 1892 newspaper in Crockett
listed the attendees of the People’s Party Convention in Houston
County including Robert Owens as one of the precinct chairman
from Grapeland. The party was affiliated with the Peoples Party
that met in St. Louis Missouri in February 22 1892. Robert is
listed in the March 8, 1895 newspaper from Crockett on the
delinquent tax list as having 112 acres of land that were from
S. Rogers as the original grantee.
In his last years Robert was living with his children is said to
have walked with a cane or at least kept one to poke at
children.
He had a low tolerance for the grandchildren in his later life.
The family was close to the Densons’ as well. Callie’s brother
John Denson was blind and played the violin. John was known to
come to the family farm and play the violin, until 1930, for
children as they played around a cemetery on the Denson property
at a place called the Johnson cemetery at that time. After
Robert Owens died his wife Callie lived with her children until
her death. She was living with Columbus Woddard Owens when she
died. It is reported that the cancer of the nose had disfigured
her terribly before she died.
There is a photograph of the Robert Owens family in the book
Crossroads published by the Houston County Historical Society in
Houston County TX. Robert and Callie are buried at Refuge
cemetery in Houston County TX under a simple cement headstone.
They were lifelong Houston county residents and except for
moving to Texas before they were married there is no record they
resided anywhere other than Houston County Texas.
Data compiled 2009 by: Michael Owens, 27106 Windy Grove,
Cypress TX 77433 |