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friends in Pittsboro, North Carolina. He suddenly died there. He was 55 years of age.
His remains are buried in a grave there that is almost hidden by giant boxwoods.
No one dared blame Governor Owen for not placing himself in an impossible
dueling situation, and I would be the first to hang a painting on the Courthouse wall, or
erect a memorial on the square to Bladen's only Governor. (This is the story by, L.
Melvin)
John Owen , Governor of North Carolina, was my first cousin, four times
removed. Abbie Harris Beck

JOHN OWEN

John Owen, had he chosen,
might have been President of
the United States, as well as
governor of North Carolina.
While serving as president of
the Whig National Convention
in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in
1839, Owen was offered the nom­
ination of Vice President with
William Henry Harrison run­
ning as President. He declined
the honor, however, and John
Tyler ran in his place and be­
came President upon the death
of Harrison.
John Owen was born in Bla­
den County, August, 1787. He
1828-1830 was the son of Thomas and
Eleanor Porterfield Owen. The
elder Owen had been active in the Revolution, in the army, and
in politics. John attended the University of North Carolina
and for many years thereafter was a trustee. He presided over
the inferior courts in Bladen County, was elected to the House
of Commons in 1812, to the state Senate in 1819 and again
in 1827.
Owen was elected governor on Iredell’s resignation in 1828.
As governor he deplored the false economy of the State in failing
to establish public schools and submitted a plan for a school
system. He also urged that the swampy areas in the east be
drained and the rivers cleared for better transportation. Stimu­
lated by the Internal Improvements Convention of 1829, the
legislature did appropriate $25,000 for construction of locks
for a canal at Weldon and passed a bill to open a channel from
Albemarle Sound into the ocean. It was during his administra­
tion that the election of sheriffs and clerks of county courts
was removed from control of the justices and given to the
voters. Owen was re-elected in 1829 but refused to run the
following year. He did not retire completely from state affairs,
for he was a delegate from Bladen County to the Constitutional
Convention of 1835 where he supported the progressive amend­
ments.