Robert Dale OWEN, Congress, IN (1801-1877)

OWEN, Robert Dale, a Representative from Indiana; born in Glasgow, Scotland, November 7, 1801; studied under private teachers and attended the Emanuel von Fellenberg School at Hofwyl, near Berne, Switzerland, 1820-1823; immigrated to the United States in 1825 with his parents, who settled in Posey County, Ind.; aided his father in the establishment of the social community of New Harmony, Ind., and on the failure of that project he returned to Europe for further study; returned to the United States in 1827 and became a citizen; was the founder and editor of the Free Enquirer, published in New York, 1828-1832; returned to New Harmony in 1832; member of the State house of representatives 1835-1838; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1838 to the Twenty-sixth Congress and in 1840 to the Twenty-seventh Congress; elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Congresses (March 4, 1843-March 3, 1847); chairman, Committee on Roads and Canals (Twenty-eighth Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1846 to the Thirtieth Congress; member of the State constitutional convention in 1850; member of the State house of representatives in 1851; appointed by President Franklin Pierce as Chargé d’Affaires to the Two Sicilies May 24, 1853, and Minister Resident June 29, 1854, serving until September 20, 1858; devoted the remainder of his life to writing on social problems; died at his summer home “Cosy Cove,” at Crosbyside, on Lake George, N.Y., June 24, 1877; interment in the Village Cemetery at Lake George, Warren County, N.Y.

Bibliography

Elliott, Josephine M., ed. Robert Dale Owen’s Travel Journal, 1827. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1977; Leopold, Richard William. Robert Dale Owen: A Biography. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1940. Reprint, New York: Octagon Books, 1969; Pancoast, Elinor, and Anne E. Lincoln. The Incorrigible Idealist: Robert Dale Owen in America. Bloomington, Ind.: Principia Press, 1940.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present