Edward Owings Towne | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | Edward Owings Towne, Jr. February 19, 1859 or 1860 Pella, Iowa, U.S. |
Died | March 6, 1938 |
Occupation | Lawyer, playwright |
Education | Iowa Central University |
Notable works | "The Madonna in Chains" |
Spouse | Sara Johnston Cooper |
Edward Owings Towne, Jr. (February 19, 1859 [1] or February 19, 1860 – March 6, 1938) was an American lawyer in Chicago, who became a writer. He wrote poems, stories, plays, and comedies. [1] [2]
He was born on either February 19, 1859 [1] or February 19, 1860 in Pella, Iowa. His father, Rev. E. O. Towne (died 1874), [3] established Iowa Central University. His father was noted in "Souvenir History of Pella, Iowa (1847–1922)," as a land agent who greeted people arriving by covered wagon. [4]
Towne, Jr. studied at Iowa Central University. [2]
Towne wrote Aphorisms of the Three Threes (1887). [5] He wrote The completion of the spire, and other poems (1889). [6] He wrote the play By Wits Outwitted (1897). [7] He wrote Ideals of an Idol-breaker; A Poem of the New Philosophy (1913). [8] He wrote Philosophy of Jesus; A Narrative of the Life and Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth (1928). [9] [10] He wrote Scientific Money, a Cure for Panics and Financial Depressions (1930). [11]
Towne wrote the 1895 play Other People's Money, which was performed at Hoyt's Theatre in New York City the same year. [12] [13] He also wrote A Little Drunkardess, A Masked Battery, and Literary Duet By Wits Outwitted, [2] was staged in Cleveland, Ohio in 1893 and was accompanied by A Glimpse of Paradise by Frank S. Pixley. [14] [15] Tell Taylor starred in the show.[ which?] His play For Sweet Charity's Sake won him a thousand dollar prize in a Best One Act play competition circa 1895 and his play By Wits Outwitted ran for at least two years. [16] His story "The Madonna in Chains" was adapted into the 1923 film The Women in Chains. [17]
He was found guilty of conspiring to wreck the Lumbermen's Building and Loan Association in October 1898, and was fined US $1,500 and sentenced to serve an indeterminate sentence time in Joliet Prison (now Joliet Correctional Center). [18]
He died on March 6, 1938.
In 2004 a family in Vista, California found a shoebox full of family memorabilia including photographs, letters, and other documents from E. O. Towne and his family. [19] He corresponded with Charles Eastwick Smith, which is part of the "Charles Eastwick Smith letters from botanists" archives at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. [20]
Towne married Sara Johnston Cooper in 1889. [2] Their son Fenimore Cooper Towne was born c. 1893 and died at the family home in 1918 of sepsis poisoning [21] at the age of 25. [2]
Edward Owings Towne | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | Edward Owings Towne, Jr. February 19, 1859 or 1860 Pella, Iowa, U.S. |
Died | March 6, 1938 |
Occupation | Lawyer, playwright |
Education | Iowa Central University |
Notable works | "The Madonna in Chains" |
Spouse | Sara Johnston Cooper |
Edward Owings Towne, Jr. (February 19, 1859 [1] or February 19, 1860 – March 6, 1938) was an American lawyer in Chicago, who became a writer. He wrote poems, stories, plays, and comedies. [1] [2]
He was born on either February 19, 1859 [1] or February 19, 1860 in Pella, Iowa. His father, Rev. E. O. Towne (died 1874), [3] established Iowa Central University. His father was noted in "Souvenir History of Pella, Iowa (1847–1922)," as a land agent who greeted people arriving by covered wagon. [4]
Towne, Jr. studied at Iowa Central University. [2]
Towne wrote Aphorisms of the Three Threes (1887). [5] He wrote The completion of the spire, and other poems (1889). [6] He wrote the play By Wits Outwitted (1897). [7] He wrote Ideals of an Idol-breaker; A Poem of the New Philosophy (1913). [8] He wrote Philosophy of Jesus; A Narrative of the Life and Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth (1928). [9] [10] He wrote Scientific Money, a Cure for Panics and Financial Depressions (1930). [11]
Towne wrote the 1895 play Other People's Money, which was performed at Hoyt's Theatre in New York City the same year. [12] [13] He also wrote A Little Drunkardess, A Masked Battery, and Literary Duet By Wits Outwitted, [2] was staged in Cleveland, Ohio in 1893 and was accompanied by A Glimpse of Paradise by Frank S. Pixley. [14] [15] Tell Taylor starred in the show.[ which?] His play For Sweet Charity's Sake won him a thousand dollar prize in a Best One Act play competition circa 1895 and his play By Wits Outwitted ran for at least two years. [16] His story "The Madonna in Chains" was adapted into the 1923 film The Women in Chains. [17]
He was found guilty of conspiring to wreck the Lumbermen's Building and Loan Association in October 1898, and was fined US $1,500 and sentenced to serve an indeterminate sentence time in Joliet Prison (now Joliet Correctional Center). [18]
He died on March 6, 1938.
In 2004 a family in Vista, California found a shoebox full of family memorabilia including photographs, letters, and other documents from E. O. Towne and his family. [19] He corresponded with Charles Eastwick Smith, which is part of the "Charles Eastwick Smith letters from botanists" archives at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. [20]
Towne married Sara Johnston Cooper in 1889. [2] Their son Fenimore Cooper Towne was born c. 1893 and died at the family home in 1918 of sepsis poisoning [21] at the age of 25. [2]