3. The Jas. Owens and Family Window.
The Jas. Owens and Family window is located on the east side of the church.  It is the first window south of the communion rail, and between Stations of the Cross 13 and 14.  The Owens window is 70 inches wide and 18 feet tall.  It is distinguished from most other windows by the large, round rosette, incorporated into the window design, that matches the rosette above the exterior doors on the opposite side of the building (position 16).
For long-time St. Paul natives the name "Owens" is synonymous with the retail and grocery businesses.  There are also a couple of homes on East Lafayette Street that are still referred to a the 'old Owens homes' even though the family has been gone for decades. 

Like many other early Osage Mission - St. Paul folks, James J. Owens' roots go east to Kentucky.  James was born at Grayson Springs, in Grayson County, on March 10, 1860.  His parents, John Yates Owens and Ella J. Cunningham Owens were native Kentuckians.   James was one of ten children of John and Ella Owens, but only five survived.
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(Photo and Banner Photo - Ron Brogan)
PictureJames J. Owens (From Annals of Osage Mission)
The Owens family moved from Kentucky to Missouri in 1869 and two years later they moved to the nearly new town of Osage Mission, where the father engaged in the hotel business  for several years.  James finished his education here and at age of sixteen years he began cutting his teeth in the mercantile business in the store of Leonard Steadman earning $2 per day.  The book Who's Behind the Window, describes a series of changes, business ventures and a partnership with a brother; then the eventual start of the James J. Owens enterprise which eventually included several businesses which comprised both retail establishments and a hotel.     
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Postcard Photo - Northeast Corner of Central and 5th Streets. The Owens Department Store is in the LH End of These Businesses. Presently, the Refuge Bar. (Postcard Found on Ebay)
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Jas. J. Owens Dry Goods on Southeast Corner of Central & 5th Streets — Position of Existing Post Office & Library. (Photo .St. Paul Journal April 9, 1908)
On October 25, 1887 James married Miss Mary Lillian Abell, also a Kentuckian and the daughter of Kentucky parents. Together they had eight children:

​Mary Eva Owens                                                 1887-1888          Osage Mission, Kansas
Mary Ethel, Sister Ethelbert Owens*               1889-1972           El Paso, Texas    
John Albert Owens                                              1891-1956           Prescott, Arizona
Albert Leonard "Ab" Owens                              1893-1970            St. Paul, Kansas
Raymond Joseph Owens                                    1895-1959            Parsons, Kansas
Mary Eleanor, Sister Lillian Owens* [1]             1899-1992           Nerinx, Kentucky 
Carmel H. Owens                                                 1905-1950c
James Gabriel "Bud" Owens                               1904-1989             Shawnee Mission, Kansas  

James J. Owens passed away on November 21, 1934, his wife Mary Lillian Abell Owens followed on June 30, 1944.  Both are interred at St. Francis Cemetery.  However, the Owens memory and legacy remained in Kansas with son's Ab and Bud Owens until the late days of the 20th century.

*  Owens Family Religious Vocations.   The above is a very brief synopsis of about thirteen pages of manuscript of the book Who's Behind the Window.  The Owens story presented in that book traces family genealogical ties from St. Paul all of the way back to the 1600's Europe.  As with several other donor families, the Owens' had several women who professed to the religious life.  However one did not complete her vows:

Anna S., Owens**                                             (1857-1932)                 Sister of Mercy                      
Mary Ethel, Sister Ethelbert Owens               (1889--1972)                Sisters of Loretto
Mary Eleanor, Sister Lilliana Owens [1]          (1899-1992)                 Sisters of Loretto
Katherine, Sister Mary Oswald Abell              (1867-1939)                 Sisters of Loretto
Louise F., Sister Mary Louis Abell                    (1880-1965)                 Sisters of Loretto
** Did not take final vows, never married
Some Reference Information:
1.  Mary Eleanor, Sister Lilliana Owens.  One of the Owens 'Sisters" distinguished her self as a scholar, teacher and religious historian.  Sister Lilliana Owens entered the order of the Sisters of Loretto in 1917 and took her vows the following year. She received her bachelor’s degree from Loretto Heights College, Denver. She earned masters and doctoral degrees in history from St. Louis University. During her career, she taught at the Old Loretto Academy in Nerinx and was principal of Nerinx Hall High School at Webster Groves, Missouri. She also taught in Kansas City, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.   In addition to publishing several books and papers about the role of the church, and the Lorettos, in settlement of our country, she was also a bit of a "special Projects" specialist.  For example, during the1940's through the 60's several attempts were made to connect with youth through religious-themed comic books.   During May of 2020 we ran a two-part article about Sister Lilliana on our The Catholic Osage Mission Facebook Page.  Click the links below for more information about Sister Owens, and an article she wrote about St. Paul.

https://www.facebook.com/CatholicOsageMission/posts/2550903845177101  (Part I, with St. Paul article)
https://www.facebook.com/CatholicOsageMission/posts/2553256841608468  (Part II, including comic books)
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The James Owens and Family window #3 rosette features Jerusalem's scourging pillar and flagellums.  This is a reminder of the price of sin and the Flagellation of Christ that inflicted 5,466 wounds.
​(Photo Ron Brogan)