In 1942 Marie Girvin OWENS commissioned a genealogical study of the family of her father and husband, entitled, “Crerar, Owens, and Allied Families.” (a copy of which she gave to the Library of Congress).

JOHN E. OWENS, M. D., CHIEF SURGEON CHICAGO * NORTHWESTERN RAILWAY, SUPERINTENDING SURGEON ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILWAY.
John Edwin Owens, M. D., is the son of a Maryland planter, and was born on his father's farm at Charleston, Cecil County, in that State, on October 16, 1836. His parents were John and Martha (Black) Owens. The former, although a graduate of Dickinson College, at Carlisle, Pa., and in every way fitted for a professional avocation, preferred the life of a farmer. He had an extensive plantation, and, as was the universal custom in the South in those days, was a large slave holder. Soon after the close of the war Mr. Owens removed to Baltimore, where he died in 1874. The Owens family originally came from Wales, the American branch having been established by Dr. Owens's great grandfather, Jonas Owens, who came to this country early in the present century.