INMONROE-L Archives

From: Randi Richardson <>
Subject: Arnett Owen
Date: Wed, 01 Dec 1999 12:06:47 -0500

Bloomington Telephone, April 21, 1883, p. 8.

Hon. Arnet Owen died at Albuquerque, New Mexico, Saturday, April 7th. Mr.
Owen's mother is a resident of Bloomington, and has the full sympathy of
all our citizens. The JOURNAL of Albuquerque contains the following:
Again the grim reaper has been among us, and Arnet R. Owen is no more. A
Christian gentleman and a man of the people, he is cut down in the prime of
his life and usefulness. The thirty brief years of his pilgrimage has
borne rich fruit. A portion of these years were devoted to the church, of
which he was an ordained minister. At the early age of seventeen he began
his labors in the vineyard, and one thousand converted sinners bore
testimony of his power as an exhorter. Where nature has been unkind to him
physically, she was lavish to him in the endowment of a brilliant mind,
which made its power felt in every community in which he has resided. His
memory will long be cherished by his many friends; it is all that is left
to them of "that noblest work of God, an honest man." Finding his work in
the church too circumscribed for the exercises of his talents, he entered
the profession of the law, and soon made a name for himself as an elegant
and forcible speaker. Holding the position of district attorney for the
Second judicial district of New Mexico at the time of his death is a
certificate of ability which few men can obtain at his age. He has
(illegible) filled the positon for a year, and held a leading place at the
bar. At the age of twenty-three he was elected by a majority of 500 to the
Indiana state senate, and made quite a local reputation as a political
speaker. He was the youngest and generally considered one of the brightest
members on the floor. His nature was positive, and while his enemies were
bitter, his friends were true as steel. He was a consistent republican in
politics. Outspoken in his belief and a true friend of good government he
always carried with him the respect of the opposition, and today, when the
last sad rites are performed over all that is mortal of him, a host of
friends, of every political belief and religious creed, will gather around
to pay their tribute of respect to one whom the world can say, he used his
talents for the benefit of the human race. The sorrow at his death is
universal, and expressions of sympathy are offered to the bereaved family
on every hand, but words, however kindly meant, can carry no consolation to
that grief-stricken home in the presence of such sorrow, the heart is dumb.
His remaining relatives were his wife, daughter and one brother, living
here, and one brother and sister living in Indiana. His family are well
provided for. His great grandfather and the grandfather of our United
States Collector, General Smith, were brothers. General Smith was
telegraphed for and arrived this evening to attend the funeral.

Editorially the Journal says: Hon. A. R. Owen, district Attorney for this
district, died at his residence in the northern part of the city, about 5
o'clock yesterday morning. Consumption had fixed its deadly hold upon him
before he left his home in Indiana, and he came here about a year ago in
the hope of finding an antidote in the climate of New Mexico. But it was
too late; the pure, dry atmosphere, together with his own indomitable will,
served to prolong his life for several months, but it has been plain to his
friends for months past, that it was only a question of time, and a very
short time, too, when his summons would come. A man of less determination
would have died, under his affliction, six months ago, and he really lived
for that length of time, wholly by force of his will.

Mr. Owen was a man of more than ordinary ability, his private character was
without a stain, and his integrity has never been questioned; he was in the
fullest sense, an upright honorable man, and his death is a serious loss to
the bar and to the community.

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• Arnett Owen by Randi Richardson <>