Canada Ownbey (1811-1894), came to Adair County in 1834 (before it was Adair County). The photo of him here is from Violettes History of Adair County. (I think it was taken after he became blind.) During the Native American unrising in this area, Canada was commissioned as a lieutenant. He later served on the Adair County Court. He purchased a large amount of land (in what was later the south part of Kirksville) from the federal land office in Fayette, Missouri, when James K. Polk was U.S. President. This land covered all of what later came to be known as Ownbey Lake and College Park on S. First St., west to Boundary St. and all of Ownbey Cemetery, and the surrounding area. He and his wife Lucinda (Walker) had 11 children, one of whom was Benjamin Franklin Ownbey (1846-1927) who obtained part of his fathers land and started the Ownbey Lake recreational area. The Ownbey family originally came from England 2 generations before Canada Ownbey, where the name was also spelled Owenby. Canadas father was Joseph Porter Owenby who was born in NC, married in Kentucky, and came to Missouri where he was one of the first settlers of Macon County, west of what is now LaPlata. His wife/Canadas mother, Hannah Ownbey, died in 1847 and was buried on the family farm at LaPlata. In her honor, Joseph Porter Owenby donated that section of his farm as a public burying ground, and that is now LaPlata Cemetery. Joseph was eventually buried there also. Canada Ownbey also started his own cemetery, Ownbey Cemetery on Boundary St. in Kirksville. Canada and his wife & 28 of their known descendants are buried there.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 03:51:31 +0000
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