A news article has been written up about Charles Owen recently. Ken Ostrand, Hillsborough (NC) Cemetery Committee chairperson, had been researching for more info on Charles. This article shows what he found and how he found it.
Grave of 19th century governor’s long-lost son ID’d
from the Mar. 21, 2015 Herald-Sun
by Katie Jansen:
The tombstone for Charles P. Owen yields no facts about Owen besides his name. Hillsborough resident Ken Ostrand recently discovered Owen was the previously-unknown son of 18th century North Carolina Gov. John Owen. (The Chapel Hill Herald/Katie Jansen)
john owen.jpg
Pictured is a portrait of 19th century N.C. Gov. John Owen.
HILLSBOROUGH —
For Hillsborough resident Ken Ostrand, the quest to clean up the Old Town Cemetery and catalog its inhabitants began about a year ago.
After last year’s ice storm, Ostrand and other volunteers cleared the cemetery of invasive vines and ivy. Now, Ostrand has begun research to find out who is buried in the historic cemetery.
The cemetery includes 184 graves that are marked with legible names, as well as about 40 that have no names associated with them.
Some of these names are well-known, such as William Hooper, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. But it also includes mysteries — one of which has recently been solved by Ostrand.
The grave of Charles P. Owen was “especially galling,” Ostrand said. It was marked with a large, expensive, white marble monument. But aside from Owen’s name and the name of the company that made the monument, there were no clues to the body’s identity.
Birth and death records from the state were no help in solving the puzzle because they only go back to 1913, Ostrand said.
But then, Ostrand happened across an obituary for Charles P. Owen while reading the “Hillsborough Recorder,” the town’s 19th-century newspaper.
Ostrand remembered the name from his frequent explorations of the cemetery, and he dove into further research.
He eventually found that Owen, who died Aug. 13, 1835, was the son of a former governor, John Owen.
John Owen was elected for his first of two terms as governor in 1829. During his time as governor, he was an advocated of transportation and education issues.
Ostrand could not find any biographies of Owen that even mentioned his son Charles. He contacted staff at NCPedia using the comment feature on the entry about John Owen.
Kelly Agan, NCPedia digital media librarian at the State Library of North Carolina, was excited about the discovery and looked up the 1835 obituary on microfilm housed at the library.
“It’s always very exciting when someone finds something that has been missed in the written record of history,” she said.
Ostrand agreed. “I was just in heaven for a while,” he said of the discovery. “I’ve been (to the cemetery) 100 times, but you’re always seeing new things.”
John Owen lived in Bladen County, but Charles was in Hillsborough attending Hillsborough Academy, one of the best schools at the time.
His obituary said that he was about 14 when he died and that his parents arrived in time “to close his dying eyes.”
Ostrand said Charles was probably buried in Hillsborough because transportation options were limited and moving the body back to Bladen County would have taken too long.
He isn’t sure why there aren’t more indicators of Charles’ identity on his tombstone, which Ostrand said appears to be “largely unfinished.”
As Ostrand celebrates his discovery, he will continue his work in the cemetery. He hopes to have a walking brochure of the cemetery available for visitors by this summer.
He and others also hope to get the cemetery on the National Register of Historic Places.
Many of the headstones are tarnished by dirt and lichens and illegible, but Ostrand hopes to uncover even more mysteries when efforts to clean individual headstones get under way.
“These people are going to regain their voices,” he said. “They’re going to come back to life.”
Grave of 19th century governor’s long-lost son ID’d
from the Mar. 21, 2015 Herald-Sun
by Katie Jansen:
The tombstone for Charles P. Owen yields no facts about Owen besides his name. Hillsborough resident Ken Ostrand recently discovered Owen was the previously-unknown son of 18th century North Carolina Gov. John Owen. (The Chapel Hill Herald/Katie Jansen)
john owen.jpg
Pictured is a portrait of 19th century N.C. Gov. John Owen.
HILLSBOROUGH —
For Hillsborough resident Ken Ostrand, the quest to clean up the Old Town Cemetery and catalog its inhabitants began about a year ago.
After last year’s ice storm, Ostrand and other volunteers cleared the cemetery of invasive vines and ivy. Now, Ostrand has begun research to find out who is buried in the historic cemetery.
The cemetery includes 184 graves that are marked with legible names, as well as about 40 that have no names associated with them.
Some of these names are well-known, such as William Hooper, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. But it also includes mysteries — one of which has recently been solved by Ostrand.
The grave of Charles P. Owen was “especially galling,” Ostrand said. It was marked with a large, expensive, white marble monument. But aside from Owen’s name and the name of the company that made the monument, there were no clues to the body’s identity.
Birth and death records from the state were no help in solving the puzzle because they only go back to 1913, Ostrand said.
But then, Ostrand happened across an obituary for Charles P. Owen while reading the “Hillsborough Recorder,” the town’s 19th-century newspaper.
Ostrand remembered the name from his frequent explorations of the cemetery, and he dove into further research.
He eventually found that Owen, who died Aug. 13, 1835, was the son of a former governor, John Owen.
John Owen was elected for his first of two terms as governor in 1829. During his time as governor, he was an advocated of transportation and education issues.
Ostrand could not find any biographies of Owen that even mentioned his son Charles. He contacted staff at NCPedia using the comment feature on the entry about John Owen.
Kelly Agan, NCPedia digital media librarian at the State Library of North Carolina, was excited about the discovery and looked up the 1835 obituary on microfilm housed at the library.
“It’s always very exciting when someone finds something that has been missed in the written record of history,” she said.
Ostrand agreed. “I was just in heaven for a while,” he said of the discovery. “I’ve been (to the cemetery) 100 times, but you’re always seeing new things.”
John Owen lived in Bladen County, but Charles was in Hillsborough attending Hillsborough Academy, one of the best schools at the time.
His obituary said that he was about 14 when he died and that his parents arrived in time “to close his dying eyes.”
Ostrand said Charles was probably buried in Hillsborough because transportation options were limited and moving the body back to Bladen County would have taken too long.
He isn’t sure why there aren’t more indicators of Charles’ identity on his tombstone, which Ostrand said appears to be “largely unfinished.”
As Ostrand celebrates his discovery, he will continue his work in the cemetery. He hopes to have a walking brochure of the cemetery available for visitors by this summer.
He and others also hope to get the cemetery on the National Register of Historic Places.
Many of the headstones are tarnished by dirt and lichens and illegible, but Ostrand hopes to uncover even more mysteries when efforts to clean individual headstones get under way.
“These people are going to regain their voices,” he said. “They’re going to come back to life.”
A news article has been written up about Charles Owen recently. Ken Ostrand, Hillsborough (NC) Cemetery Committee chairperson, had been researching for more info on Charles. This article shows what he found and how he found it.
Grave of 19th century governor’s long-lost son ID’d
from the Mar. 21, 2015 Herald-Sun
by Katie Jansen:
The tombstone for Charles P. Owen yields no facts about Owen besides his name. Hillsborough resident Ken Ostrand recently discovered Owen was the previously-unknown son of 18th century North Carolina Gov. John Owen. (The Chapel Hill Herald/Katie Jansen)
john owen.jpg
Pictured is a portrait of 19th century N.C. Gov. John Owen.
HILLSBOROUGH —
For Hillsborough resident Ken Ostrand, the quest to clean up the Old Town Cemetery and catalog its inhabitants began about a year ago.
After last year’s ice storm, Ostrand and other volunteers cleared the cemetery of invasive vines and ivy. Now, Ostrand has begun research to find out who is buried in the historic cemetery.
The cemetery includes 184 graves that are marked with legible names, as well as about 40 that have no names associated with them.
Some of these names are well-known, such as William Hooper, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. But it also includes mysteries — one of which has recently been solved by Ostrand.
The grave of Charles P. Owen was “especially galling,” Ostrand said. It was marked with a large, expensive, white marble monument. But aside from Owen’s name and the name of the company that made the monument, there were no clues to the body’s identity.
Birth and death records from the state were no help in solving the puzzle because they only go back to 1913, Ostrand said.
But then, Ostrand happened across an obituary for Charles P. Owen while reading the “Hillsborough Recorder,” the town’s 19th-century newspaper.
Ostrand remembered the name from his frequent explorations of the cemetery, and he dove into further research.
He eventually found that Owen, who died Aug. 13, 1835, was the son of a former governor, John Owen.
John Owen was elected for his first of two terms as governor in 1829. During his time as governor, he was an advocated of transportation and education issues.
Ostrand could not find any biographies of Owen that even mentioned his son Charles. He contacted staff at NCPedia using the comment feature on the entry about John Owen.
Kelly Agan, NCPedia digital media librarian at the State Library of North Carolina, was excited about the discovery and looked up the 1835 obituary on microfilm housed at the library.
“It’s always very exciting when someone finds something that has been missed in the written record of history,” she said.
Ostrand agreed. “I was just in heaven for a while,” he said of the discovery. “I’ve been (to the cemetery) 100 times, but you’re always seeing new things.”
John Owen lived in Bladen County, but Charles was in Hillsborough attending Hillsborough Academy, one of the best schools at the time.
His obituary said that he was about 14 when he died and that his parents arrived in time “to close his dying eyes.”
Ostrand said Charles was probably buried in Hillsborough because transportation options were limited and moving the body back to Bladen County would have taken too long.
He isn’t sure why there aren’t more indicators of Charles’ identity on his tombstone, which Ostrand said appears to be “largely unfinished.”
As Ostrand celebrates his discovery, he will continue his work in the cemetery. He hopes to have a walking brochure of the cemetery available for visitors by this summer.
He and others also hope to get the cemetery on the National Register of Historic Places.
Many of the headstones are tarnished by dirt and lichens and illegible, but Ostrand hopes to uncover even more mysteries when efforts to clean individual headstones get under way.
“These people are going to regain their voices,” he said. “They’re going to come back to life.”
Grave of 19th century governor’s long-lost son ID’d
from the Mar. 21, 2015 Herald-Sun
by Katie Jansen:
The tombstone for Charles P. Owen yields no facts about Owen besides his name. Hillsborough resident Ken Ostrand recently discovered Owen was the previously-unknown son of 18th century North Carolina Gov. John Owen. (The Chapel Hill Herald/Katie Jansen)
john owen.jpg
Pictured is a portrait of 19th century N.C. Gov. John Owen.
HILLSBOROUGH —
For Hillsborough resident Ken Ostrand, the quest to clean up the Old Town Cemetery and catalog its inhabitants began about a year ago.
After last year’s ice storm, Ostrand and other volunteers cleared the cemetery of invasive vines and ivy. Now, Ostrand has begun research to find out who is buried in the historic cemetery.
The cemetery includes 184 graves that are marked with legible names, as well as about 40 that have no names associated with them.
Some of these names are well-known, such as William Hooper, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. But it also includes mysteries — one of which has recently been solved by Ostrand.
The grave of Charles P. Owen was “especially galling,” Ostrand said. It was marked with a large, expensive, white marble monument. But aside from Owen’s name and the name of the company that made the monument, there were no clues to the body’s identity.
Birth and death records from the state were no help in solving the puzzle because they only go back to 1913, Ostrand said.
But then, Ostrand happened across an obituary for Charles P. Owen while reading the “Hillsborough Recorder,” the town’s 19th-century newspaper.
Ostrand remembered the name from his frequent explorations of the cemetery, and he dove into further research.
He eventually found that Owen, who died Aug. 13, 1835, was the son of a former governor, John Owen.
John Owen was elected for his first of two terms as governor in 1829. During his time as governor, he was an advocated of transportation and education issues.
Ostrand could not find any biographies of Owen that even mentioned his son Charles. He contacted staff at NCPedia using the comment feature on the entry about John Owen.
Kelly Agan, NCPedia digital media librarian at the State Library of North Carolina, was excited about the discovery and looked up the 1835 obituary on microfilm housed at the library.
“It’s always very exciting when someone finds something that has been missed in the written record of history,” she said.
Ostrand agreed. “I was just in heaven for a while,” he said of the discovery. “I’ve been (to the cemetery) 100 times, but you’re always seeing new things.”
John Owen lived in Bladen County, but Charles was in Hillsborough attending Hillsborough Academy, one of the best schools at the time.
His obituary said that he was about 14 when he died and that his parents arrived in time “to close his dying eyes.”
Ostrand said Charles was probably buried in Hillsborough because transportation options were limited and moving the body back to Bladen County would have taken too long.
He isn’t sure why there aren’t more indicators of Charles’ identity on his tombstone, which Ostrand said appears to be “largely unfinished.”
As Ostrand celebrates his discovery, he will continue his work in the cemetery. He hopes to have a walking brochure of the cemetery available for visitors by this summer.
He and others also hope to get the cemetery on the National Register of Historic Places.
Many of the headstones are tarnished by dirt and lichens and illegible, but Ostrand hopes to uncover even more mysteries when efforts to clean individual headstones get under way.
“These people are going to regain their voices,” he said. “They’re going to come back to life.”
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