Notes for William Jackson Owings

Notes for William Jackson Owings

!GOODSPEED'S BIOGRAPHIES OF ROANE COUNTY, TENNESSEE 1886:
W.J. OWINGS, merchant and manufacturer of woolen goods, was born December 15, 1815, within three miles of Rockwood, his present home, where he has since lived, excepting two years in Kentucky and Ohio. When eighteen he was thrown on his own resources, and by his own ability has acquired what he has. He was a carpenter and millwright before the war, when he was made sutler by Col. BYRD, of the First Tennessee, in which he continued up to 1863. He then engaged in merchandising at Nicholasville, Ky., where he remained one year, and then returned to Roane County, his present home. On January 13, 1839, he married Margaret, a daughter of Samuel and Margaret KENDRICK, who were the earliest pioneers of Roane County, and of German descent. Of our subject's eight children, the following are now living: Samuel A., F.D., State's attorney of the Roane County District; Mary, now Mrs. William SMITH; and Martha A., now Mrs. Thomas A. BROWN. He and his wife are members of the Christian Church. He is a Republican, and first voted for VAN BUREN. He is the eldest of thirteen children born to Samuel and Sarah (RANDOLPH) OWINGS. The father was born and reared in Roane County, and was a soldier in the war of 1812, and assisted in the removal of the Cherokee Indians to the Indian Territory. He was the third of nine children born to Edward and Elizabeth (SUMPTER) OWINGS, natives of North Carolina, and he was the first man to cross the Big Emory River and there build a house. Both were of English descent, and the grand-mother was a woman of remarkable force of character.