Owen was the son of Brackett Owen, who was of Welsh descent, and Elizabeth McGehee. Brackett Owen (son of John Owen and Sara Brackett) was born June 10, 1739, in Prince Edward County, Virginia, and died March 14, 1802, in Shelby County, Kentucky. He was also a soldier, who established Owen's Station, a small frontier fort used during the later part of the Revolutionary War for protection against the Indians; Owen's Station was located about four miles from present-day Shelbyville. John Owen's great-grandparents Humphrey Owen and Catherine Nannau had migrated from Dolserau, near
Dolgellau, north
Wales. ==References==