Robert Latham Owen (Cherokee)
Born at Lynchburg, Virginia, on February 2, 1856, Robert Owen was the son of
Robert Latham and Narcissa Chisholm Owen. At age ten, he was enrolled in
Merillat Institute near Baltimore. He later attended Washington and Lee from
which received an M. A. degree. In the 1870s, the widowed Mrs. Owen returned
with her sons to the Cherokee Nation, where Owen taught at the Cherokee
Orphan Asylum, practiced law, and served as secretary to the Board of
Education. In 1884, he became owner and editor of the Vinita Indian
Chieftain. From 1885 to 1889, Owen was union agent for the Five Civilized
Tribes. In 1890, he organized the First National Bank of Muskogee. From 1907
to 1925, he was U. S. Senator from Oklahoma. Upon retirement, he kept a law
office for a number of years in Washington, D. C. Owen died on July 19,
1947. His address was given July 16, 1917, at the dedication of Sequoyah's
statue in the national capitol.
