Rosena Clementine Chapman was born Feb. 15, 1832, the youngest child of Francis John Chapman and Mary Leigh. She married James Marion Owens on July 9, 1849 in Liberty Co., GA. James was born Sept. 15, 1826. They had the following children:

		M	i	Samuel Marion OWENS was born 1 Jan 1850 and died 7 Nov 1934.
		F	ii	Oregon Ohio OWENS was born 21 Nov 1851 and died 1 Feb 1910.
		M	iii	Franklin OWENS was born 12 Jul 1854 and died 7 Jan 1928.
		M	iv	James Marion OWENS Jr. was born 15 Oct 1857 and died 19 Jul 1930.
		M	v	George Gaston OWENS was born 12 Aug 1860 and died 23 Oct 1944.
		F	vi	Mary Leigh OWENS was born 8 Nov 1863. She died 10 May 1947 in Eustis, Lake, Florida.
		M	vii	John Chapman OWENS was born 14 Oct 1866 and died 5 Jun 1939.
		M	viii	Frederick Lafayette OWENS was born 6 Nov 1869 and died 3 Jun 1950.
		F	ix	Rosena E. OWENS was born 2 Nov 1873 in Hawkinsville, Orange, Florida. She died 2 Feb 1876 in Hawkinsville, Orange, Florida.

James Marion Owens represented McIntosh County, Georgia in the Georgia House of Representatives in 1857-58 and 1861-62 and again in an extra session in 1863. In 1857 he was a member of the military affairs and public education committees. In 1858 and 1861 he was a member of the public education committee. The capital at this time was located in Milledgeville.

James Marion Owens and wife Rosena Clementine Chapman moved with their children to Florida from Liberty County, Georgia in 1870. They lived on the west side of St. John river, in a town named "St Francis" also know as "Hawkinsville" a part of Orange Co., now Lake Co. A child was born in Hawkinsville; Rosena E Owens, b. November 02, 1873 and died there February 02, 1876. She was buried in the Ponceanna Cemetery. St. Francis and Hawkinsville are not on maps of today (1997). They Lived there for about seven years before moving on to Umatilla, Lake Co. Florida. He purchased over 400 acres in Orange County and put most of the acreage into orange groves around Umatilla, FL.

James was into state politics. The "History of Orange Co.", page 46, has James M Owens serving as chairman of the board of County Commissioners during the period of 1878 to 1881. For thirty years, James Owens was prominently identified with the interests of this part of the state. He was for a number of years one of the Commissioners of Orange County and held a similar position in Lake County several years thereafter. He occupied other official positions in state and county, and was ever faithful to the trusts commuted to his care. In former years, Mr. Owens was a familiar figure at St. Francis, and the orange trees budded by him in 1875 still bloom in fragrant memory of his nurturing care, and yield their golden fruit as an annual tribute to his well directed efforts.

Before the advent of railroads in middle and southern Florida, and when river transportation made "Old Town" (now St. Francis) a place of importance, Mr. Owens handled large shipment of merchandise for the back county settlements in the Lake Region. He built the first dock at this point in 1872 and realized quite an income from the wharf charge of from ten to twenty-five cents on each package, which was cheerfully paid by the shippers. For a term of years he had the contract for carrying the mail between Hawkinsville and Ft Marion.

Harry Straker, a great-grandson, heard his mother speak of all the cattle James Marion Owens had, and that James would be gone for days rounding up the cattle with the farm hands. When the women heard the crack of his bull whip, this was the signal for them to get all the gates open and the children into the house. The cattle ran wild before roundup and were quite unpredictable and dangerous.