Owen W. Harrison was the youngest
son of John Strange Harrison and Mariah Louisa Baker.
Below is the biography of Owen W. Harrison from the “Compendium of History and Biography of Kalamazoo County, Mich.”, edited by David Fisher and Frank Little, published in Chicago by A.W. Bowen & Co. in 1906:“Owen W. Harrison is the youngest son of John S. Harrison, the oldest settler of Kalamazoo county. He is a native of this county, born in Prairie Ronde Township on October 8, 1868, and was reared and educated in the county, attending school at Schoolcraft and the college in Kalamazoo. After leaving school he took charge of the old homestead on which his grandfather located in 1827. This farm he now owns, and it is one of the best in the county. In 1902 he built a new dwelling, the old one having been destroyed by fire. The new house is modern in every respect, and in keeping with both with his own advanced taste and prosperity and the spirit of the time and locality. On December 20, 1893, Mr. Harrison was married to Miss Ida Shirley, a daughter of John Shirley, who was born in England and settled in Kalamazoo county in 1839. he died here in the spring of 1904 on his farm in Texas township, which he bought after reaching years of maturity, having come here with his parents in boyhood, and passed his early life on Grand Prairie, where they tool up residence on their arrival in the county. Mr. And Mrs. Harrison had two children, their son Paul C., who was born in 1896, and another who died a number of years ago. In fraternal relations Mr. Harrison belongs to the Knights of the Maccabees. He is a vigorous and skillful farmer, and excellent citizen with breadth of view and enterprise in regard to public affairs, and one of the most esteemed citizens of the county. The representative of one of the most distinguished families of the county, who have borne a leading apart in all phases of its progress and development from early pioneer days, he well sustains the teachings and examples of his house in every manly and worthy way.”
This web page is authored by Scott Duncan. All information listed without a reference should be verified.
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