Wade & Webb Family History

John N Owens1783–1859

Virginia · Lauderdale · Daviston · Darian Cemetery

John N. Owens was born in Virginia about 1783 and raised a large family, among them his daughter Clarissa, born in Putnam County, Georgia, in 1808. Late in life he was in Alabama, where in July 1850 he married Nancy Orr in Tallapoosa County. He died at Daviston, Tallapoosa County, in 1859.

On this page
  1. Family Record
  2. Life
  3. Places
  4. Timeline
  5. Open questions
  6. Searches made
  7. Notes

Birth

  1. about 1783 Virginia

Marriages

  1. Date unknown Elizabeth
  2. 4 Jul 1850 Nancy Sims, at Tallapoosa, Alabama 7, 9
  3. 4 Jul 1850 Nancy Sims, at Tallapoosa Co., AL 7, 9
  4. 8 Jul 1850 Nancy Sims, at Tallapoosa,Alabama 7, 8
  5. 8 Jul 1850 Nancy Sims, at Tallapoosa, Alabama 7, 8
  6. Date unknown Nancy Sims, at Tallapoosa, Alabama

Death and burial

  1. 1859 Death: Daviston, Tallapoosa, Alabama
  2. 1859 Burial: Darian Cemetery, Daviston, Tallapoosa, Alabama

Family

Parents
Not recorded
Marriage 1
Elizabeth 1800–1850
Children
Elijah M. Owens 1816–1880
Susan James Owens 1809–1895
Louisa S. Owens 1806–1887
Nancy Harris Craddock 1832–1918
Aryann A. Owen 1811–1865
Arry Ann Owens 1811–1845
Marriage 2, 4 Jul 1850
Nancy Sims 1802–1880

Line of descent Webb line

  1. John N Owens
  2. Clarissa Ann Mitchell Owens, daughter
  3. Clarrissa Jane Carlisle, daughter
  4. James Pleasant Webb, son
  5. Hilda Webb, daughter
  6. William Albert Webb Wade, son

3rd great-grandfather of Webb Wade, from whom this history is traced. Why Webb Wade?

Life

John N. Owens was born in Virginia about 1783, according to the FamilySearch tree, which cites no record for the year or the place; an index of Virginia census substitutes is attached to him without details.1 The name "John Nicholson Owens" comes from a Find a Grave memorial that the tree's own source title marks as having no historical documentation.2 Inference The middle name may be right, but it rests on a modern memorial alone and should be treated as unconfirmed.2

Georgia

The tree names eight children of John N. Owens and his first wife, Elizabeth, born between 1806 and 1832: Louisa S. (1806), Clarissa Ann Mitchell (1808), Susan James (1809), Aryann A. (1811), Elizabeth Childs (1814), Elijah M. (1816) and Nancy Harris (1832), with an Arry Ann (1811–1845) who appears to be the same daughter as Aryann entered twice.3 Clarissa was born in Putnam County, Georgia, on 1 April 1808, according to the tree, and married Robert W. Carlile in Newton County, Georgia, on 31 December 1826.4 The federal census of 1820, which names only the head of each household, recorded a John Owens in Captain Wood Moreland's District of Putnam County.5 Inference The match of name and county with his daughter's birthplace makes it likely that this is the same man, though the census entry gives no detail that proves it.5 The tree gives Elizabeth's birth as about 1800, which cannot be right for the mother of a child born in 1806.6

Alabama

By 1850 he was in Alabama.7 In July 1850 John N. Owen married Nancy Orr in Tallapoosa County; the Alabama county marriage indexes carry the marriage under both 4 July and 8 July 1850.7 Inference The two dates probably represent the issue of the licence and the performance of the marriage, as county registers often record both, but the entries in hand do not say which is which.7 The tree names her Nancy Sims and gives her birth as 1802, in Georgia.8 Inference The marriage of a man of about 67 to a woman of about 48 suggests that his first wife had died, and the bride's name Orr that she was a widow, but neither is recorded in the sources in hand.8

The tree also attaches to him the federal census of 1850 for a John Owens in Lauderdale County, Alabama, enumerated in November 1850, with a wife Elizabeth.9 That entry is hard to reconcile with his marriage to Nancy Orr in Tallapoosa County four months earlier, and Lauderdale County lies in the far north of the state, far from Tallapoosa.9 Inference The Lauderdale household is very probably another John and Elizabeth Owens, and this account does not rely on it.9

John N. Owens died at Daviston, Tallapoosa County, in 1859, according to the tree, which gives his burial at the Darian Cemetery there, without a source.10 Tallapoosa County bond records of 1839 to 1880, from the county court that handled estates, are attached to him in an index of Alabama wills and probate records.11 Inference A bond in such records was usually the guarantee given by the administrator of an estate, so this entry probably concerns the settlement of his estate after his death; the record itself should be read.11 His widow, recorded as Nancy Owen, was living in Tallapoosa County at the census of 1860.12

Places

  1. 1850Lauderdale
  2. 1850Tallapoosa
  3. 1850Tallapoosa
  4. 1859Daviston
  5. 1859Darian Cemetery

Timeline

  1. about 1783BirthVirginia
  2. 4 Jul 1850Marriage, Nancy SimsTallapoosa, Alabama
  3. 4 Jul 1850Marriage, Nancy SimsTallapoosa Co., AL
  4. 8 Jul 1850Marriage, Nancy SimsTallapoosa,Alabama
  5. 8 Jul 1850Marriage, Nancy SimsTallapoosa, Alabama
  6. 9 Nov 1850ResidenceLauderdale, Alabama
  7. 1859DeathDaviston, Tallapoosa, Alabama
  8. 1859BurialDarian Cemetery, Daviston, Tallapoosa, Alabama

Open questions

None recorded yet.

Searches made

  1. 2026-11-09Find a Grave search: John Owens, b. 1783 ±3, d. 1859 ±3: 3 resultsbest: [John Owens (30 Nov 1783 – 6 Dec 1861), Hovermale Cemetery, Greensburg, Decatur County, Indiana](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/89049051/john-owens); score 7 (medium, before review)
  2. 2026-11-09Assessment of the Find a Grave batch candidates (2026-11-09)Rejected: John Owens (1783-1861), Decatur County, Indiana, score 7, no family link and a different death year. No memorial recorded.
  3. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "John Owens", Alabama13095 pages; first: [Owen newsletters, n.d., p. ](https://archive.org/details/owennewsletters02owen?q=%22John%20Owens%22); [San Diego Genealogical Society families : N-O, 2000, p. ](https://archive.org/details/sdgsfamilies74?q=%22John%20Owens%22); [Ramsey v. United Mine Workers, 401 U.S. 302 (1971) (No. 88), 1971, p. ](https://archive.org/details/micro_IA40386413_0248?q=%22John%20Owens%22)
  4. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Owens", inside histtallapoosaco1 page; first: [A history of Tallapoosa County, 1951, p. 71](https://archive.org/details/histtallapoosaco/page/n71/mode/1up?q=Owens); 0 with the given name (John)
  5. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Owens", inside northernalabamah00birm3 pages; first: [Northern Alabama, historical and biographical.., 1888, p. 46](https://archive.org/details/northernalabamah00birm/page/n46/mode/1up?q=Owens); [Northern Alabama, historical and biographical.., 1888, p. 551](https://archive.org/details/northernalabamah00birm/page/n551/mode/1up?q=Owens); [Northern Alabama, historical and biographical.., 1888, p. 736](https://archive.org/details/northernalabamah00birm/page/n736/mode/1up?q=Owens); 2 with the given name (John)
  6. 2026-11-09Internet Archive: "Owens", inside historyofalabama02chic6 pages; first: [History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography,, 1921, p. 216](https://archive.org/details/historyofalabama02chic/page/n216/mode/1up?q=Owens); [History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography,, 1921, p. 351](https://archive.org/details/historyofalabama02chic/page/n351/mode/1up?q=Owens); [History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography,, 1921, p. 419](https://archive.org/details/historyofalabama02chic/page/n419/mode/1up?q=Owens); 0 with the given name (John)
  7. 2026-11-09Internet Archive assessment: "John Owens", Alabama (13,095 pages)Not him: Owen newsletters (Revolutionary John Owenses), San Diego society family files, Supreme Court cases, novels; namesakes only; the phrase is too common for its first hits to be him, and no hit names his place or family.
  8. 2026-11-09Internet Archive assessment: "Owens" inside Owen vols. 1–2, *Northern Alabama*, Tallapoosa historyNot him: other Owenses; the Tallapoosa history hit is the author Marie Bankhead Owen.
  9. 2026-11-09Internet Archive hits assessed: 4 searchesNo match.
  10. 2026-11-09DPLA: "John Owens"118 pages; first: [John Owens, Deposition (University of Pittsburgh), 1769-04, p. ](https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735060248766); [Steven John Owens (Southern Appalachian Digital Collections), n.d., p. ](https://southernappalachiandigitalcollections.org/object/62647); [Photograph of John Owens (National Archives at Kansas City), 1895-07-03/1957-11-05, p. ](http://catalog.archives.gov/id/122654214)
  11. 2026-11-09DPLA assessment: "John Owens" (118 items, the first 10 read)Not him: a 1769 Pittsburgh deposition, Leavenworth penitentiary photographs, a War Department file of the 1860s, a Milwaukee marriage of 1855, naturalization and alien-registration records (1913–1942), later photographs. None in Virginia, Georgia or Alabama in his lifetime (born Virginia about 1783, died Tallapoosa County, Ala., 1859). The other 108 items were not fetched; a name-only search this common cannot be assessed (the search is not repeated).
  12. 2026-11-09DPLA hits assessed: 1 searchNo match.

Notes

  1. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KGS4-27Y: birth about 1783, Virginia, no source attached Virginia, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1607-1890 [$$$] Record: Virginia, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1607-1890 back to the text
  2. "Find a Grave Index", FamilySearch, John Nicholson Owens. Record: Profile, Find a Grave (No historical documentation): John Nicholson Owens back to the text
  3. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KGS4-27Y: children of John N Owens and Elizabeth, 1806–1832, including Aryann A. Owen (1811–1865) and Arry Ann Owens (1811–1845) back to the text
  4. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LBL8-NMH (their page): birth 1 Apr 1808, Putnam, Georgia; marriage 31 Dec 1826, Newton, Georgia "Georgia, County Marriages, 1785-1950", FamilySearch, Robert W. Carlile and Clarisa M. Owens, 31 Dec 1826. Record: Clarisa M. Owens, Georgia County Marriages, 31 Dec 1826 back to the text
  5. 1820 U S Census; Census Place: Capt Wood Morelands District, Putnam, Georgia; Page: 98; NARA Roll: M33_9; Image: 165 Record: 1820 U S Census; Census Place: Capt Wood Morelands District, Putnam, Georgia; Page 98 back to the text
  6. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KGS4-2HY (their page): Elizabeth, birth about 1800, North Carolina FamilySearch Family Tree, profile LBL8-NMH (their page): born 1808 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile 9S6G-NSD (their page): Louisa S. Owens, born 1806 back to the text
  7. "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, John N Owen and Nancy Orr, 04 Jul 1850. Record: John N Owen and Nancy Orr, 04 Jul 1850 "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, John N Owen and Nancy Orr, 08 Jul 1850. Record: John N Owen and Nancy Orr, 08 Jul 1850 "Alabama, Marriages, 1816-1957", FamilySearch, John N. Owen, 8 July 1850. Record: John N. Owen, 8 July 1850 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KGS4-27Y: marriage 4 Jul 1850 and 8 Jul 1850, Tallapoosa, Alabama back to the text
  8. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile PH9H-NJW (their page): Nancy Sims, birth 1802, Georgia, no source attached "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, John N Owen and Nancy Orr, 08 Jul 1850. Record: Nancy Orr, 08 Jul 1850 back to the text
  9. "United States, Census, 1850", FamilySearch, John Owens, 1850. Record: John Owens, 1850 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KGS4-27Y: residence 9 Nov 1850, Lauderdale, Alabama FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KGS4-2HY (their page): residence 9 Nov 1850, Lauderdale, Alabama "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992", FamilySearch, John N Owen and Nancy Orr, 04 Jul 1850. Record: Tallapoosa, July 1850 back to the text
  10. FamilySearch Family Tree, profile KGS4-27Y: death 1859, Daviston, Tallapoosa, Alabama; burial 1859, Darian Cemetery, Daviston, no source attached back to the text
  11. Bond Records, 1839-1880; Author: Alabama. County Court (Tallapoosa County); Probate Place: Tallapoosa, Alabama Record: Alabama, Wills and Probate Records: Bond Records, 1839-1880, County Court (Tallapoosa County) back to the text
  12. "United States, Census, 1860", FamilySearch, Nancy Owen, 1860. Record: Nancy Owen, 1860 FamilySearch Family Tree, profile PH9H-NJW (their page): residence 1860, Western Division Beat 12, Tallapoosa back to the text
Every FamilySearch record attached to John N Owens (16)
  1. 08 Jul 1850John N Owen, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  2. 1850John N Owen, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  3. 08 Jul 1850John N Owen, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  4. 04 Jul 1850John N Owen, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  5. 04 Jul 1850John N Owen, "Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950"
  6. 8 July 1850John N. Owen, "Alabama, Marriages, 1816-1957"
  7. 1850John Owens, "United States, Census, 1850"
  8. 1820 United States Federal Census
  9. Alabama, Select Marriages, 1816-1942 [$$$]
  10. Alabama, Wills and Probate Records, 1753-1999 [$$$]
  11. John N Owen, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  12. Profile, "Find a Grave" (No historical documentation)
  13. Virginia, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1607-1890 [$$$]
  14. 04 Jul 1850Entry for John N Owen and Nancy Orr, "Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950"
  15. 08 Jul 1850Nancy Orr, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"
  16. Nancy Orr, "Alabama County Marriages, 1711-1992"