George Banker Owens Collection

Collection

Identifier: MGC-1167

Scope and Contents

The collections consists of photos, documents, correspondence, and artifacts relating to the life of George B. Owens as well as his genealogy. Although many of the items relate to his personal life, they also have a broader context. As a student and later a teacher in Johnson County, Kansas and Wyandotte County, Kansas schools, many of the photos are not only not only of him, but class photos, and photos of school buildings. The collection helps form a history of the early rural schools in the area. The photos and artifacts relating to his military career include many early photos of airplanes from World War I. Family history items include genealogy charts, biographies, photographs, deeds, books, and newspaper clippings.

Dates

Creation: Mid-1800s-2014

Creator

Owens, George Banker, 1887-1982 (Person)

Biographical / Historical

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Alfred Owens was born about 1845 and his family moved to Cedar County, Missouri in 1860. Alfred drove wagons for the army and was involved in the Battle of Westport during the Civil War. After the war, Alfred moved to South East Kansas where he married Amelia Madden. Their son, George Banker Owens, was born in a covered wagon, near Ottawa, Kansas, on July 4, 1887. During World War I and World War II, George was a Captain and pilot with the United States Air Force. Occupations during his lifetime included lawyer, teacher, principal, and business owner. He taught in the Wyandotte County schools from 1906 to 1940 and was later a principal at Turner High and Piper High schools. He was president of Owens Construction Company. In 1972, the Owens Foundation donated 70 acres of land to the city of Independence for a nature park for the youth and families of Independence. In 1977, the park was dedicated to George B. Owens. He died in 1982 in Kansas City, Missouri at the age of 94 and is buried in George Owens Nature Park in Independence, Missouri.

Charles Bartberger came from Karlsruhe, Germany and settled in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His son, Erwin G Bartberger, married Elizabeth (Lizzie) Anderson and then moved to South Park, Johnson County, Kansas during the 1880s. (South Park was later incorporated into the city of Merriam.) In 1891, Erwin G Bartberger and R.B. Teachenor started a photo-engraving business in Kansas City, Missouri. E. G. Bartberger had been a wood engraver in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and became the first man in Kansas City to make a zinc etching. Their daughter Ethel P Bartberger was born on December 24, 1892. Ethel was a teacher and a high school superintendent. Ethel died in 1973 and is buried in Pleasant View Cemetery in Shawnee, Kansas.

George Banker Owens and Ethel Bartberger married in 1923 and together they had one son named George Edwin Owens.