PHILIP OWEN
Philip Owen, of the firm of Owen Brothers, extensive clothing manufacturers of Utica, was born in Boonville, Oneida county, June 1, 1830. Joseph Owen, his father; a native of Deerfield, Herkimer
county, settled in Boonville about the year 1818, and died there in 1882, aged eighty-three. He was a contractor and builder, owned a grist mill and saw mill, and bought and sold land quite
extensively. He married Phebe McDonald, who died in 1869, at the age of seventy-two They had six children: Ephraim, deceased; Mary A. (Mrs. Robert Bamber), of Utica; John, born September 1, 1825;
Eliza A. (Mrs. Ezekiel A. Butler), of Boonville ; Philip, of Utica; and Harriet, who died in infancy.
Philip Owen was educated in the public and select schools of Boonville, as was also his brother John. When sixteen John went to New York city and engaged in the dry goods business. Later Philip followed him and became a clerk in a dry goods store there, but subsequently returned to his native village and accepted a clerkship with John Cross. In 1854 the two brothers, under the firm name of P. Owen & Co., engaged in the general mercantile business in Boonville and continued successfully until about 1868. In the spring of 1870 they came to Utica and engaged in the manufacture of clothing on a large scale, the firm name being Owen, Pixley & Co. The business proved a success from the start. On February 1, 1885, Henry D. Pixley withdrew, and since then the firm has continued as Owen Brothers. They are among the most extensive manufacturers of clothing, not only in Utica, but in Central New York, and have built up a trade which extends throughout this State and into western territory. They have eight or more branch stores, the principal one being in Indianapolis, Ind. The two brothers are representative business men, enterprising, public-spirited, and progressive, and during a long and successful career have won the respect and confidence of all with whom they have come in contact. For more than twenty-five years they have been among the leading clothing manufacturers of Utica, and during that period many branches of business have felt the effects of their energy and good judgment.
Mr. Owen, while a resident of Boonville, served for a time as town clerk, but aside from this he has never accepted political honors, although often urged to do so. He is treasurer of the Utica Mechanics' Association, a member of Fort Schuyler Club, and a member of the Oneida Historical Society, to which his brother John also belongs.
On June 27, 1860, Mr. Owen was married to Miss Althea Wheelock, daughter of Col. Charles Wheelock, of Boonville. She died May 23, 1863, leaving a son, who died in infancy. In May, 1867, he married for his second wife Miss Jennie S., daughter of James Smith, of Houseville, Lewis county, N. Y.
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