JOHN E. OWENS, M. D., CHIEF
SURGEON CHICAGO * NORTHWESTERN RAILWAY, SUPERINTENDING SURGEON
ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILWAY.
John
Edwin Owens, M. D., is the son of a Maryland planter, and
was born on his father's farm at Charleston, Cecil County, in
that State, on October 16, 1836. His parents were John and
Martha (Black) Owens. The former, although a graduate of
Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Pa., and in every way fitted for
a professional avocation, preferred the life of a farmer. He had
an extensive plantation, and, as was the universal custom in the
South in those days, was a large slave holder. Soon after the
close of the war Mr. Owens removed to Baltimore, where he died
in 1874. The Owens family originally came from Wales, the
American branch having been established by Dr. Owens's great
grandfather, Jonas Owens, who came to this country early in the
present century. Dr. Owens passed his boyhood on the farm in
Charlestown, and his first schooling was received in the private
schools of that section. He next attended the West Nottingham
Academy, and afterwards was a student at the Elkton Academy.
His education was completed
under the direction of Edwin Arnold, LL. D., at Mount
Washington, Md., and shortly thereafter he began the study of
medicine at Elkton with Dr. Justice Dunnott, and his son, Dr.
Thomas J. Dunnott, the former at that time being considered the
most skillful surgeon in that section of Maryland. One year of
study under the Drs. Dunnott was followed by two full courses at
the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, from which he
graduated iu 1862. While at the college Dr. Owens took a special
course in surgical anatomy and operative surgery with Dr. D.
Hayes Agnew, the distinguished surgeon of Philadelphia, and made
rapid progress in his profession. Soon after his graduation he
was elected resident physician at Blockley Hospital, in
Philadelphia, and there he remained thirteen months.
Dr. Owens tendered his
services to the hospital branch of the medical department of the
Union Army early in 1863, and was sent to Chicago and assigned
to duty in the military hospital there. Shortly after he was
placed in charge of the newly-organized St. Luke's Hospital, and
is still senior surgeon of this institution.
Dr. Owens has been a
prominent instructor in Chicago medical colleges for many years.
His first connection as a teacher with any medical college was
as lecturer on the Surgical Diseases of the Urinary Organs from
1867 to 1871 in Bush Medical College. In the same institution he
lectured on the Principles and Practice of Surgery in the spring
course from 1871 to 1882. He was also appointed Professor of
Orthopaedic Surgery in 1879, and resigned in 1882. He was
appointed Professor of Principles and Practice of Surgery in the
Woman's Medical College in 1877, and resigned in 1883. In 1882
he severed his connection with Bush Medical College to accept
the chair of Operative Surgery and Surgical Anatomy in the
Chicago Medical College, the medical department of the
Northwestern University. In the fall of 1891 he was transferred
from the chair of Operative Surgery and Surgical Anatomy to that
of the Principles and Practice of Surgery and Clinical Surgery
in that college. Dr. Owens is a member of the American Medical
Society, the Chicago Medical Society, the Chicago
Medico-Historical Society, the Illinois State Medical Society,
the Medico-Legal Society, and a Fellow of the American Surgical
Association. For twenty years he has been the superintending
surgeon of the Illinois Central Railway, and has been for a
number of years the chief surgeon of the Chicago and
Northwestern Railway. In addition to these positions, he is the
medical director of the World's Columbian Exposition, his
commission bearing date of June 1, 1891.
Dr. John Edwin Owens is
recognized as one of the leading authorities in the surgical and
medical profession in Chicago, and has attained a degree of
eminence which is given to but few men. A distinguished
gentleman, who has known Dr. Owens long and closely, says : "
Dr. Owens stands in the front of his profession, in which he is
conceded to be not only a leader in Chicago, but to rank amongst
the eminent surgeons of this country. He is an indefatigable
worker and an enthusiast in his profession, devoting to it his
ripe experience, his untiring energy, and his great skill. He is
a man of broad reading, liberal culture, and keen perceptions,
to whom travel in this country and abroad has been a potent
factor in storing with knowledge a receptive and reflective
mind. He is a clear thinker, a logical reasoner, and speaks well
and to the point on any subject under consideration. He is
genial in disposition and social by nature; possesses generous
impulses, combined with deliberate judgment, and has a large
circle of warm friends and admirers, both within and outside of
the medical fraternity.
Dr. Owens combines excellent
executive and administrative ability with his great professional
skill, and these characteristics have contributed to his success
in the organization and supervision of the surgical departments
of the great
corporations by whom he is employed. The possession by Dr. Owens
of these organizing and administrative qualities led to his
selection for the important and prominent position of Medical
Director of the World's Columbian Exposition. This afforded him
a wide field for the display of his powers of mind, his skill,
and executive ability. Dr. Owens was married on December 30,
1869, to Miss Alethia S. Jamar, the daughter of Keuben D. Jamar,
of Elkton, Md. They have one child, a daughter, Miss Marie
Girvin Owens.
