Selwyn N. Owen

Who was Selwyn N. Owen?

Selwyn N. Owen was a Democratic lawyer in the U.S. State of Ohio who was a judge on the Ohio Supreme Court 1883-1889.

Selwyn N. Owen was born at Steuben County, New York, before his family moved to Columbus, Ohio, and then Huron County, Ohio in 1837. He attended school in Norwich Township, and Norwalk Academy. He attended Antioch College until 1856, and then was principal of a seminary in Clark County, Kentucky. He returned to Norwalk in 1857, where he read law in the offices of Cortland Kennon and Gideon T. Stewart. He enrolled in Cincinnati Law School in 1861, and graduated in 1862.

Selwyn N. Owen was admitted to the bar in 1862 and began practice in Fremont, Ohio. In 1863 he moved to Bryan, Ohio, where he had a large practice. In 1876, he was elected to the Common Pleas bench, and was re-elected in 1881.

In 1883, he was nominated by the Democrats for an Ohio Supreme Court seat, and defeated Republican John H. Doyle. William H. Upson resigned December of that year, and Owen was appointed to fill the vacancy. He began his five-year term in February, 1884, serving until February, 1889. In the 1888 election, the Democrats nominated Lyman R. Critchfield, who lost.