James W. Owens (congressman)

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James W. Owens (October 24, 1837 – March 30, 1900) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from Ohio. Born in Franklin County, Indiana, he studied at Miami University (graduated 1862) and earned a law degree from the University of Michigan (1864–65). He served in the Civil War, starting as a private in the 20th Ohio Infantry and later becoming a captain in the 86th Ohio Infantry. After the war, Owens practiced law in Newark, Ohio, and was elected prosecuting attorney of Licking County in 1867, reelected in 1869. He served in the Ohio State Senate from 1875 to 1880, acting as its president, and was a trustee of Miami University from 1878 to 1896.

Owens was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat and served two nonconsecutive terms from 1889 to 1893. He represented Ohio’s 16th district (1889–1891) and then the 14th district (1891–1893). In the Fifty-second Congress he chaired the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Interior. He did not seek renomination in 1892 and returned to practicing law. Owens died in Newark, Ohio, in 1900 and is buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery.