Library of Congress Diary of William Owen from November 10, 1824 to April 20, 1825 ed. by Joel W. Hiatt. INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS. VOLUME IV. NUMBER 1. DIARY OF WILLIAM OWEN From November 10, 1824, to April 20, 1825 EDITED BY JOEL W. HIATT LC INDIANAPOLIS: THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY. 1906. 601 25 Pat 14 F521 .I41 114026 08 iii PREFACE. 3 456 Part 2 8 The manuscript of this diary of William Owen has remained in the hands of his only daughter—formerly Mary Francis Owen, now Mrs. Joel W. Hiatt—for many years and its existence, save to a few, has been unknown. It is fragmentary in form. It is possibly the close of a journal which had been kept for years before. Its first sentence in the original is an incomplete one, showing that there was an antecedent portion. The picture of the times is so graphic than the Indiana Historical Society publishes it, on account of its historical value. Mr. Owen was 22 years old at the time of its composition. Diary of William Owen from November 10, 1824 to April 20, 1825 ed. by Joel W. Hiatt. http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbtn.14024 Library of Congress William Owen was the second of four sons born to Robert and Ann Caroline Owen, of Scotland. Their names were Robert Dale, William, David Dale, and Richard. Three of them, Robert Dale, David Dale and Richard are known where ever the sun shines on the world of literature or science. William, who, because of habit or for his own amusement, wrote this diary is not known to fame. He was the second son, Robert Dale being his senior by one year. He was born in Scotland in 1802. His father, Robert Owen, was one of the most successful cotton manufacturers of the United Kingdom. His last factory was situated in New Lanark, on the Clyde, in Scotland. It had been built by David Dale, the maternal grandfather of William Owen, and had been purchased of him by Robert Owen and associated capitalists. David Dale had occupied an exalted position in the business portion of Scotland by reason of his sagacity, his wealth and his high moral qualities. His factory operatives were distinctly better off morally and physically than the most of those in the United Kingdom. When Robert Owen bought this establishment it was his ambition to make it the model in all the world as regards the physical, moral and intellectual condition of its operatives. To this end he bent all the energies of his iv great executive abilities. New Lanark became the place to which the feet of philanthropists of the world were turned. The number of visitors from 1815 to 1825, the year in which Robert Owen bought the village and lands of New Harmony, Ind., according to the register at New Lanark, was nearly 20,000. It was in such an atmosphere that the first years of William Owen's life were spent. The spirit of the place was one of intense business activity, rigid system and all pervading benevolence. His education up to the age of 15 years was conducted by private instructors. At the age of 15 he, with his brother Robert Dale, was sent to one of the most unique institutions of learning in the world, the college of M. deFellenberg, at Hofwyl, in Switzerland. The instruction was under the most eminent professors and embraced all the branches of learning, but its great peculiarity lay in the spirit which pervaded the place and its mode of regulating the entire student life. The professors exercised no authority outside Diary of William Owen from November 10, 1824 to April 20, 1825 ed. by Joel W. Hiatt. http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbtn.14024 Library of Congress the class room. The discipline was committed to the student body who chose from their number their own rulers and who made all laws for their government, subject only to the veto of Von Fellenberg, a power which he rarely exercised. Princes and impecunious students stood on terms of perfect equality. Those became rulers in the student body who were thought to be best fitted for such positions, regardless of the rank of their parents. The ideal which this body placed before itself was perfect manlines and uprightness of character, coupled with strict attention to their duties. What a fine training for a citizen of a republic! William Owen completed the course here in three years, when it is supposed he returned to New Lanark to engage in its activities. Nothing is known of his life between his graduation at Hofwyl and the commencement of this diary in 1824. v His father was coming to this country to inspect the property of Rappites at Harmony, Ind., with a view to its purchase and to the establishment of a community there in which he hoped not only to duplicate the great good that he had accomplished at New Lanark, but to greatly improve on the happy conditions which he had established there. He chose William Owen to accompany him and it is an account of that journey which is given in the accompanying narrative. This is not the place to discuss the philosophy of Robert Owen or the reasons for his failure to realize his cherished ideals. They were noble; and his sons having been reared amid the benign influences of New Lanark, and having witnessed the great good that he accomplished there were in hearty sympathy with his plans. It may not be amiss to invite the attention of the reader to the reflections of Mr. Owen on the subject of a community in the latter portion of his journal. They evince rare wisdom in one so young. When Robert Owen arrived in New Harmony, after having returned to England, William Owen assumed for a short time the editorial care of the New Harmony Gazette, a paper Diary of William Owen from November 10, 1824 to April 20, 1825 ed. by Joel W. Hiatt. http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbtn.14024 Library of Congress which they established in 1825. Soon, however, he relinquished that to take charge of the busines interests of the family. He superintended the conduct of a general store which had been acquired from the Rapps. From that time on his life was given to business. He helped to establish the Posey County Agricultural Society. It was designed to stimulate by competition the production of the best in that line. He organized the Thespian Society for the production of plays. His activities were incessant and unwearied in all directions that promised to promote the happiness and welfare of the people. In 1835 he was an incorporator of a proposed Manual Labor College. In 1834 he was chosen by the Evansville Branch as Director of the State Bank of Indiana. Dr. Schneck says of him in this connection: “And, indeed, he was always selected to make out the yearly exhibit of their financial condition.” vi His activities were not confined to the humdrum of personal business but he extended his investigations to the domain of national finance. As showing his erudition in this field I produce an autograph letter addressed to him by James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, then a leading member of the U. S. Senate. Washington, 22 February, 1842. “Dear Sir: I have been honored by the receipt of your letter of the 27 ultimo accompanied by your plan of an Exchequer. You will perceive from the reports of the Committees of the Senate and the House that they have adopted some of its principal features. What may be the result, it is not possible for me to predict; but for myself I feel strongly disinclined to authorize this Government to issue any paper currency intended for circulation or to deal in the exchanges of individuals, no matter what restrictions may be imposed by law to prevent the abuse of the power. I entertain strong doubts both of the constitutionality and expediency of any such measures. Diary of William Owen from November 10, 1824 to April 20, 1825 ed. by Joel W. Hiatt. http://www.loc.gov/resource/lhbtn.14024 Library of Congress Whilst I say this, however, I must do you the justice to declare that in my humble judgment, your plan evinces a thorough acquaintance with the subject and it is developed with clearness and force.” Yours respectfully, JAMES BUCHANAN. WILLIAM OWEN, ESQ. From the editorial writings in the Gazette, from fugitive scraps of poetry which he left, and from two Fourth of July orations which he delivered in New Harmony it may be justly concluded that his literary abilities were of a high order and that, had he chosen that sphere of life, he would have shone with as much brilliancy as did his brother Robert Dale Owen. His oration on the Fourth of July, 1835, is especially rich in exalted, generous sentiment expressed in noble and commanding diction. Mr. Owen died in New Harmony in 1842, at the age of 40 years. JOEL W. HIATT. New Harmony, Ind., January 16, 1896. 7 DIARY OF WILLIAM OWEN. Wednesday 10th November, 1824. We sailed from one of the wharfs on the North River. Opposite to us was Hoboken, a small village. Having the tide in our favor, we sailed on at 10 or 12 knots per hour. The banks of the Hudson are at first rather flat, with small heights on which houses are prettily scattered. After some time we passed the spot where the river divides, forming the north and east branch of the Hudson River, thereby enclosing Manhattan Island on which New York is situated and which constitutes the county of the same name.