Edward Owings Towne
American lawyer and playwright
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
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February 19, 1859 or 1860
Edward Owings Towne | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | Edward Owings Towne Jr. February 19, 1859 or 1860 Pella, Iowa, U.S. |
| Died | March 6, 1938 (aged 78 or 79) |
| Occupation | Lawyer, playwright |
| Education | Iowa Central University |
| Notable works | "The Madonna in Chains" |
| Spouse |
Sara Johnston Cooper
(m. 1889) |
Early life and education
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 studied at Iowa Central University.[2]
Career
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]
Personal life and family
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]
Book publications
- Aphorisms of the Three Threes (1887)[5]
- The Completion of the Spire, and Other Poems (1889)[6]
- By Wits Outwitted (1897)[7]
- Ideals of an Idol-breaker; a Poem of the New Philosophy (1913)[8]
- Philosophy of Jesus; A Narrative of the Life and Teachings of Jesus of Nazareth (1928)[9][10]
- Scientific Money, a Cure for Panics and Financial Depressions (1930)[11]