Abraham Owen was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia

Prince Edward County, Virginia

Prince Edward County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 23,368. Its county seat is Farmville.-Formation and County Seats:...

 in 1769. He moved to Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 in 1785.

Owen served in the wars with the Indians

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 under generals James Wilkinson

James Wilkinson

James Wilkinson was an American soldier and statesman, who was associated with several scandals and controversies. He served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, but was twice compelled to resign...

 and Arthur St. Clair

Arthur St. Clair

Arthur St. Clair was an American soldier and politician. Born in Scotland, he served in the British Army during the French and Indian War before settling in Pennsylvania, where he held local office...

 in 1791, and served with colonel John Hardin

John Hardin

John J. Hardin was a soldier, farmer, rancher, noted marksman and hunter. He was wounded fighting in Lord Dunmore's War; served as a Continental Army officer in the American Revolutionary War and as a Kentucky Co., Virginia militia commander in the Northwest Indian War...

.

Owen was surveyor of Shelby County, Kentucky

Shelby County, Kentucky

Shelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2010, the population was 42,074. Its name is in honor of Isaac Shelby, the first Governor of Kentucky. Its county seat is Shelbyville...

 in 1796. He was in the Kentucky Legislature in 1798, and a member of the State constitutional convention the next year.

Owen served as a colonel and as aide-de-camp to William Henry Harrison

William Henry Harrison

William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...

 at the Battle of Tippecanoe

Battle of Tippecanoe

The Battle of Tippecanoe was fought on November 7, 1811, between United States forces led by Governor William Henry Harrison of the Indiana Territory and Native American warriors associated with the Shawnee leader Tecumseh. Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa were leaders of a confederacy of...

, where he was killed in 1811. After his death, counties were named for him in Indiana

Owen County, Indiana

Owen County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana, and determined by the U.S. Census Bureau to include the mean center of U.S. population in 1920. As of 2010, the population was 21,575...

 and Kentucky

Owen County, Kentucky

As of the census of 2000, there were 10,547 people, 4,086 households, and 2,995 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 5,345 housing units at an average density of...

.

The Welsh connection

Owen was the son of son of Brackett Owen, who was of Welsh decent and Elizabeth McGehee. Brackett Owen (son of John Owen and Sara Brackett) was born June 10, 1739 in Prince Edward County, Virginia, and died March 14, 1802 in Shelby County, Kentucky and was also a soldier, who established 'Owen's Station', a small frontier fort used during the later part of the Revolutionary War for protection against the Indians; Owen's Station was located about four miles from the present day Shelbyville. John Owen's great grandparents Humphrey Owen and Catherine Nannau had migrated from Dolserau, near Dolgellau

Dolgellau

Dolgellau is a market town in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the county town of the former county of Merionethshire .-History and economy:...

, north Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

.

Place names

• Owen County, Indiana
  Owen County, Indiana
  Owen County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana, and determined by the U.S. Census Bureau to include the mean center of U.S. population in 1920. As of 2010, the population was 21,575...
  
  
• Owen County, Kentucky
  Owen County, Kentucky
  As of the census of 2000, there were 10,547 people, 4,086 households, and 2,995 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 5,345 housing units at an average density of...
  
  
• Owensboro, Kentucky
  Owensboro, Kentucky
  Owensboro is the fourth largest city by population in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the county seat of Daviess County. It is located on U.S. Route 60 about southeast of Evansville, Indiana, and is the principal city of the Owensboro, Kentucky, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's...