Elias K. Owen

Elias K. Owen (November 21, 1834-April 8, 1877) was a United States Navy officer.

Biography
Born November 21, 1834, in Chicago, In 1848, Congressman Abraham Lincoln of Springfield, took his "boy friend" Elias Kane Owen to Washington and had him entered in Anapolis Naval Academy, at the age of 14 years. Midshipman, December 7, 1848. Passed midshipman, July 15, 1854. Master, September 15, 1855. Lieutenant, September 16, 1855. Lieutenant Commander, July 16, 1862. Commander, July 25, 1866. Retired, June 9, 1876. The lad became Commander Elias K. Owen, head of the Fifth Mississippi Squadron. During the Civil War he served in the Mississippi Squadron, commanding Louisville and a division of Admiral David Porter's squadron. After the Civil War he commanded the steam sloop Seminole in Panama, 1868-1869.

Owen died April 8, 1877 at Kaskaskia, Illinois.

Namesake
The destroyer Owen was named for him.

==References==