OWEN, DAVID DALE: 1807-1860.
David Dale Owen , third son of Robert [see, also, sketches of Richard and Robert Dale Owen] and Ann Caroline Dale Owen and brother of Robert Dale and Richard Owen, was born near New Lanark, Scotland , on June 24, 1807. He was educated by private tutors and at Lanark Academy, and then, like his brothers, went to Emanuel von Fellenberg's school in Hofwyl, Switzerland.
In 1827 he accompanied his brother Richard to the U. S. and to Indiana, where his father had started his socialistic experiment at New Harmony. It had already failed, insofar as his father's plan was concerned, and he subsequently returned to Europe and spent two years studying geology and chemistry. He also studied page: 244[View Page 244] drawing and painting–later putting this talent to use in illustrating his geological surveys.
In 1832 he returned to the U. S. , entered Ohio Medical College, and in 1836 received the M.D. degree from that institution. He became state geologist for Indiana in 1837, U. S. geologist in 1847, and state geologist for Kentucky in 1854. In 1857 he also accepted an appointment as state geologist for Arkansas , but he died before he had completed his work in this connection.
In addition to the surveys he made for the federal and various state governments, he also conducted examinations for private individuals and corporations. Before he died he was regarded as the pre-eminent geologist in America. In his large private museum and laboratory at his home in New Harmony he had one of the most complete geological and natural history collections in the country at that time. After his death this collection was purchased by the state of Indiana for Indiana University.
On March 23, 1837, David Dale Owen married Caroline C. Neef, daughter of Joseph Neef–one of the Pestalozzian teachers brought to the New Harmony Community by William Maclure. David Dale Owen died at New Harmony on Nov. 13, 1860. Most of Owen's works, being state or federal government publications, are not listed here.
Information from Representative Men of Indiana, Vol. I, and the Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. XIV.
- Report of a Geological Reconnaissance in 1837.
Indianapolis, 1839.
- Geological Report on the Marble Hill Quarry.
Louisville, 1853.
- Report of a Geological Reconnaissance of Indiana Made During
the Years 1859 and 1860 Under the Direction of the Late D. D. Owen. (Completed and published byRichard Owen.) Indianapolis. 1862.
