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Term: Owen, David Dale 1807 - 1860

Definition:

geologist, b. near New Lanark, Scotland. He was the son of the social philanthropist, Robert Owen, and brother of Robert Dale Owen. He was educated in Europe, and in 1828 joined his father and brother at the utopian socialist community they had founded in New Harmony, Ind. In 1831 he went to Europe to attend lectures in chemistry and geology at London Univ., returning to the U.S. in 1832. He graduated from the Ohio Medical College in Cincinnati (M.D., 1836), but his chief interest was always geology. In 1839 he was appointed government geologist, under the direction of the General Land Office, to make the first national survey of the Mineral Point, Dubuque, and Galena lead region of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois. With the aid of a large staff he published his report in 1840, a report that revealed the extent of the productive lead region in southern Wisconsin, and demonstrated that lead and zinc ores were limited to the magnesian limestone. In 1847 he was authorized to conduct a survey of the Chippewa land district, an authorization later extended to include a more complete survey of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota. The work was concluded in 1852, and published as the Report of a Geological Survey of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota, and Incidentally of a Portion of Nebraska Territory. Although never technically a resident of Wisconsin, Owen's geological surveys added greatly to the information about Wisconsin. He later served as state geologist for the states of Kentucky, Arkansas, and Indiana, and was working in Arkansas at the time of his death. Dict. Amer. Biog.; Platteville Witness, Feb. 11, 1920; WPA MS.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the David Dale Owen Letter for details.

View a related article Wisconsin Magazine of History Archives.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.