A Guide to the Katie J. Owen Papers, 1842-1983 (bulk 1875-1945) #43474.

A Guide to the Katie J. Owen Papers, 1842-1983 (bulk 1875-1945)

A Collection in
the Library of Virginia
Accession Number 43474

Library of Virginia

The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219-8000
USA
Phone: (804) 692-3888 (Archives Reference)
Fax: (804) 692-3556 (Archives Reference)
Email: archdesk@lva.virginia.gov(Archives)
URL: http://www.lva.virginia.gov/

Processed by: Jim Greve

Repository

The Library of Virginia

Accession Number

43474

Title

Katie J. Owen Papers, 1842-1983 (bulk 1875-1945)

Physical Description

4.5 cubic feet (12 boxes)

Language

English

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Katie J. Owen Papers, 1842-1983. Accession 43474. Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Judy Jordan Owen, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

Biographical Information

Katherine (Katie) Byrd Jordan was born in Front Royal, Warren County, Virginia on 18 October 1894. She was the daughter of William Absalom Jordan, Sr. (1862-1904) and Martha Catherine Hudnall (1865-1940). She graduated from Front Royal High School in 1912, and attended the State Teachers College in Harrisonburg from 1914-1915. Afterwards, she taught at schools in Berryville, Ivor, and Wylliesburg. On 5 February 1919, she married Otis Oscar Owen (b. 1897) in Washington, D.C. Following their marriage, they lived in Charlotte County, Virginia for a short time. He then moved to Roanoke where he resided. They had one son, Otis Oscar ("Dick") Owen, Jr. (1920-1997). They were divorced in 1942. She then resided in Washington, D.C., and was employed in various retail establishments. She later moved back to Front Royal, and was active in the Warren Rifles Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Katie J. Owen died in Front Royal on 2 January 1988, and is buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery.

Scope and Content

Papers, 1842-1983, of Katie J. Owen (1894-1988) of Front Royal, Virginia, including correspondence, subject files, account books and ledgers, and ephemera. The bulk of the collection covers the years 1875-1945.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into the following series:

I. Correspondence. II. Subject Files. III. Account Books and Ledgers. IV. Ephemera. V. Oversize.

Series I. Correspondence, 1850-1983 .

Box 1

Extent: 1 box.

The correspondence dates from 1850 to 1983, and the earliest letters are between members of the Newman family, including Isaac Van Meter Newman (b. 1835) and William W. Newman (1825-1884), and their sister Mary Katherine (Newman) Jordan (1822-1909). Topics include land sales, farming, weather, and health. The later correspondence is written to Mary Katherine Jordan and her husband Absalom Jordan (1813-1879). Many of the letters were written by his sister Susie Emma (Jordan) Millan (1865-1938) regarding her financial affairs. There are also numerous letters from Mary Katherine Jordan to her daughters Katie and Virginia Jordan while they were living with their aunt Mary Elizabeth (Jordan) Ferguson (1860-1919). Most of the post-1920 correspondence is addressed to Katie J. Owen, and much of it is from attorneys and insurance agents. There are also letters written by her husband Otis O. Owen, Sr. (b. 1897) while he was living and working in Roanoke.

Chronological.

Box 1 Folder 1
1850-1889 .
Box 1 Folder 2
1890-1899 .
Box 1 Folder 3
1900-1909 .
Box 1 Folder 4
1910-1919 .
Box 1 Folder 5
1920-1924 .
Box 1 Folder 6
1925 .
Box 1 Folder 7
1926 .
Box 1 Folder 8
1927-1929 .
Box 1 Folder 9
1930-1932 .
Box 1 Folder 10
1933-1939 .
Box 1 Folder 11
1940-1945 .
Box 1 Folder 12
1946-1949 .
Box 1 Folder 13
1963-1983 .
Box 1 Folder 14
n.d .

Series II. Subject Files .

Boxes 2-10

Extent: 9 boxes.

The subject files include accounts and receipts, address books, agreements and contracts, certificates, clippings, and Confederate States historical information. There is also correspondence Owen received from Francisco Colon Gordiany, who was a member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives. The letters date from 1930 to 1932, and many of them discuss politics on the island. There are also papers of Mary E. Ferguson, including accounts and receipts, bank books, correspondence, insurance papers, and tax records. Also included in the subject files are deeds, genealogical notes on the Eastham, Jordan, and Newman families, greeting cards, guardian's accounts, insurance policies, invitations, "love letters" from Otis Owen to Katie Owen, poetry, programs, and postcards. There are two large photo albums of Lucy Josephine (Hudnall) Salisbury (1855-1915), as well as numerous other family photographs, many of which are identified. There are also tax tickets and receipts, copies of the wills of Mary E. Ferguson and Katie J. Owen, and other items.

Alphabetical.

Box 2 Folder 1
Accounts and Receipts, 1856-1899 .
Box 2 Folder 2
Accounts and Receipts, 1900-1909 .
Box 2 Folder 3
Accounts and Receipts, 1910-1919 .
Box 2 Folder 4
Accounts and Receipts, 1920-1921 .
Box 2 Folder 5
Accounts and Receipts, 1922-1929 .
Box 2 Folder 6
Accounts and Receipts, 1930-1939 .
Box 2 Folder 7
Accounts and Receipts, 1940-1949 .
Box 2 Folder 8
Accounts and Receipts, 1950-1979 .
Box 2 Folder 9
Accounts and Receipts, n.d .
Box 2 Folders 10-12
Address Books .
Box 2 Folder 13
Addresses .
Box 2 Folder 14
Admission Tickets .
Box 2 Folder 15
Agreements and Contracts .
Box 2 Folder 16
Almanac (portion) .
Box 2 Folder 17
Applications .
Box 2 Folder 18
Baby Book - Otis Oscar Owen, Jr. .
Box 2 Folder 19
Baseball Schedules .
Box 2 Folder 20
"Belle Boyd - Southern Spy of the Shenandoah" .
Box 2 Folder 21
Boy Scouts .
Box 2 Folder 22
Broadside .
Box 2 Folder 23
Brook Hill Estates .
Box 2 Folder 24
Calendars .
Box 2 Folder 25
Calling/Business Cards .
Box 2 Folder 26
Certificates .
Box 3 Folders 1-2
Clippings .
Box 3 Folders 3-4
Colon Gordiany, Francisco .
Box 3 Folder 5
"Confederate History of Alexandria" by William Robert Adam, UDC Essay .
Box 3 Folder 6
"Confederate Soldier Fathers of Members," Warren Rifles Chapter, Front Royal, Virginia Division No. 95, General Organization No. 934, United Daughters of the Confederacy .
Box 3 Folder 7
Deeds .
Box 3 Folder 8
Diaries, 1930-1931 .
Box 3 Folder 9
Divorce .
Box 3 Folder 10
Election Ticket, 1912 .
Box 3 Folder 11
Envelopes .
Box 3 Folder 12
Equal Suffrage League Fliers .
Box 3 Folder 13
Ferguson, Mary E. - Accounts and Receipts .
Box 3 Folder 14
Ferguson, Mary E. - Agreements .
Box 3 Folder 15
Ferguson, Mary E. - Bank Books .
Box 3 Folder 16
Ferguson, Mary E. - Correspondence .
Box 3 Folder 17
Ferguson, Mary E. - Deed, 1910 .
Box 3 Folder 18
Ferguson, Mary E. - Insurance .
Box 3 Folder 19
Ferguson, Mary E. - Tax Tickets and Receipts .
Box 4 Folder 1
Front Royal Methodist Church .
Box 4 Folder 2
Front Royal/Warren County Historical Facts .
Box 4 Folder 3
Genealogical Notes .
Box 4 Folder 4-5
Greeting Cards .
Box 4 Folder 6
Guardian's Accounts .
Box 4 Folder 7
"A History of the Graduating Class of 1912" .
Box 4 Folder 8
Hudnall, Annie E. .
Box 4 Folder 9
Insurance Policies .
Box 4 Folder 10
Inventory of Absalom Jordan's Property, 1868 .
Box 4 Folder 11
Inventory and Appraisment - Martha C. Jordan Home, 1910 .
Box 4 Folder 12-13
Invitations .
Box 4 Folder 14
"Jefferson Davis' Service to the United States" .
Box 5 Folder 1
Memorandum Book .
Box 5 Folder 2
Memorial Record - Martha Catherine Jordan, 1940 .
Box 5 Folder 3
"Memories in Marble: The Story of Front Royal's Four Confederate Monuments" .
Box 5 Folder 4
Miscellaneous .
Box 5 Folder 5
Newman - Family and War Records .
Box 5 Folders 6-7
Notebook - Confederate States History .
Box 5 Folder 8-10
Owen, Otis O. - "Love Letters" .
Box 5 Folder 11
Pay Stubs - Otis O. Owen, Jr., 1944.
Box 8
Photograph Albums (2) of Lucy Josephine Salisbury .
Box 9
Photographs .
Box 5 Folder 12
Poetry .
Box 5 Folder 13
Postcard Album .
Box 5 Folder 14
Postcard Album (Empty) .
Box 10
Postcards .
Box 6 Folder 1
Prescriptions .
Box 6 Folder 2
Program - Field Day, Randolph-Macon Academy, 1912 .
Box 6 Folder 3
Program - Front Royal Remount Horse Show and Sale, 27-28 June 1941 .
Box 6 Folder 4
Program - Front Royal-Riverton Bridges Dedication, 1941 .
Box 6 Folder 5
Program - Stonewall Jackson Bust Unveiling, New York University, 1957 .
Box 6 Folder 6
Program - Thanksgiving Dinner, 2nd Battalion, 36th Infantry, Camp Devens, Massachusetts, 1920 .
Box 6 Folder 7
Program - Warren County Centennial, 7-9 August 1936 .
Box 6 Folder 8
Program - Warren County Civil War Centennial Commemoration, Battle of Front Royal, 19-20 May 1962 .
Box 6 Folder 9
Program - "Welcome Home Our Boys," Front Royal, 1919 .
Box 6 Folder 10
Promissory Notes .
Box 6 Folder 11
Puerto Rico House of Representatives .
Box 6 Folder 12
Randolph-Macon Academy Catalogs .
Box 6 Folder 13
Randolph-Macon Woman's College Catalog .
Box 6 Folder 14
Ration Books .
Box 6 Folder 15
Report Cards .
Box 6 Folder 16
Resumes and Letters of Recommendation .
Box 6 Folder 17
Roster of Warren County Veterans, C.S.A., 1907 .
Box 6 Folder 18
Sale of Lots and Maintenance of House .
Box 7 Folder 1
School Notebook - "Nature Study Animals" .
Box 7 Folder 2
Sears, Roebuck and Company - Orders .
Box 7 Folder 3
Slave Hire Receipt, 1861 .
Box 7 Folder 4
Southern Teachers' Agency and State Co-Operative Teachers Agency .
Box 7 Folder 5
Speech - Sen. Strom Thurmond at Dedication of Confederate Museum, Front Royal, 28 June 1959 .
Box 7 Folder 6
Staunton Hill Club Catalog .
Box 7 Folder 7
Student Orders and Regulations - 99th C.T.D. Aircrew, State Teachers College, Springfield, Missouri, 1944 .
Box 7 Folder 8
Suit Papers .
Box 7 Folder 9
Survey - "Updike Farm," Rappahannock County, 1924 .
Box 7 Folder 10
Tax Tickets and Receipts, 1871-1930 .
Box 7 Folder 11
Tax Tickets and Receipts, 1931-1935 .
Box 7 Folder 12
Tax Tickets and Receipts, 1936-1939 .
Box 7 Folder 13
Tax Tickets and Receipts, 1940-1979 .
Box 7 Folder 14
Temperance .
Box 7 Folder 15
Tobacco Sales .
Box 7 Folder 16
Victor Records Catalog, 1922 .
Box 7 Folder 17
Warren County Courthouse - History .
Box 7 Folder 18
Will of Mary E. Ferguson .
Box 7 Folder 19
Will of Katie J. Owen .

Series III. Account Books and Ledgers .

Box 11

Extent: 1 box.

The account books and ledgers are the earliest items in the collection, and date back to 1843. Some of them were kept by Absalom Jordan while he was sheriff of Rappahannock County in the 1850's, and include lists of tax and fee bills due, militia fines, and personal accounts and expenses. There are bank books, memorandum books, a 1918 class roll, a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings, estate accounts of Absalom Jordan, and personal accounts of Mary Katherine Jordan. Also included in this series is a "Character Book" kept by Virginia L. Jordan, 1917-1921, that contains personal facts regarding friends, many of whom were classmates of hers at Front Royal High School.

Box 11
Account Books and Ledgers .

Series IV. Ephemera .

Box 12

Extent: 1 box.

The ephemera includes patches and a medal, Confederate States and United States flags, cigarette packages and hand-rolled cigarettes, fabric swatches, souvenir fans, and a deck of cards featuring noted Confederate leaders.

Box 12
Ephemera .

Series V. Oversize .

Extent: 1 folder.

The oversize items include a house floor plan of 315 Blue Ridge Avenue in Front Royal, the marriage certificate of Katherine Byrd Jordan and Otis O. Owen (1919), United Daughters of the Confederacy membership certificate (1952), chalk drawings of William A. Jordan, Sr. and John Green Newman, and other items.

Box PP Oversize Box 64
Oversize .