Jack Owsley
Encyclopedia
John Ebsworth "Jack" Owsley (March 17, 1883 – July 14, 1953) was an American football
player and coach and businessman. He played college football, principally as a left halfback, for Yale University
from 1901 to 1904. He was the head coach of Yale's undefeated 1905 football team that outscored opponents 226 to 4. He also served as the head football coach at the United States Naval Academy
in 1925. He gained a reputation as a wartime producer of armaments, working with Marlin-Rockwell Corporation
during World War I
and with the High Standard Manufacturing Company
during World War II
. He was one of the highest paid persons in the United States in 1941 and 1942.
, the mayor of Chicago from 1897 to 1905. Owsley attended preparatory school at the Phillips Academy
in Andover, New Hampshire
, graduating in 1902.
in 1901 at age 18. He played for the Yale Bulldogs football
team in 1901, 1903, and 1904. He played most of the 1901 season with Yale's freshman football team but was brought into the 1901 Harvard–Yale game a substitute. During the 1902 season, Owsley was ineligible due to "scholarship deficiencies." During the 1903 and 1904 seasons, Owsley was a starter, mostly at the left halfback position, but occasionally appearing at right halfback, fullback and quarterback. After the 1904 season, Owsley was selected as a second-team All-American at the halfback position by The New York Sun.
.
In 1905, Owsley was one of the advisers with whom President Theodore Roosevelt
consulted concerning his campaign to reduce the level of violence and reform the game of football. The New York Times described an October 1905 meeting between Roosevelt and "the men who rule the game," a group consisting of Owsley, Walter Camp
, and five other persons.
During the period from 1899 to 1912, Yale had 14 different head football coaches in 14 years – despite compiling a combined record of 127–11–10 in those years. During that 14-year span, the Yale football team has also been recognized as the national championship team by one or more of the major national championship selectors on seven occasions – 1900 (Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation, Parke Davis), 1901 (Parke Davis), 1902 (Parke Davis), 1905 (Parke Davis, Whitney), 1906 (Billingsley, Parke Davis, Whitney), 1907 (Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation, Parke Davis, Whitney), and 1909 (Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation, Parke Davis).
Owsley also served as an assistant coach and coach of the "scrub" team at Yale for several years thereafter. He returned to Yale as backfield coach under head coach Tad Jones
during the 1923 and 1924 football seasons.
, and was interviewed to become the head football coach for for the United States Naval Academy Midshipmen
. He was hired by Navy in January 1925, and became the 18th head football coach for the Navy football team. His coaching record at United States Naval Academy was 5 wins, 2 losses, and 1 ties. As of the conclusion of the 2007 season, this ranks him 28th at United States Naval Academy in total wins and 13th at United States Naval Academy in winning percentage (.688).
. In June 1906, he underwent surgery for appendicitis and traveled west to recuperate. He accepted a position with Merrill & Ring Lumber Co., at Seattle, Washington
, in the fall of 1906. He remained in Seattle until the fall of 1908. Owsley returned to Connecticut in November 1908 to help the Yale football team prepare for its game against Princeton.
Owsley married Helen Blanche Hall in November 1908 at New Haven, Connecticut
. Her father, John M. Hall, was the president of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. Owsley and his wife had two daughters, Julia, born November 27, 1913, and Helen, born August 18, 1920.
From 1908 until at least 1910, Owsley continued to work in the logging business, buying and selling lumber for people in the East. He lived in Seattle and made occasional short trips to the East.
In December 1915, Owsley became employed by Marlin-Rockwell Corporation
, the largest producers of machine guns in the world. On January 7, 1918, the company sent a letter in support of a passport application to allow Owsley, then holding the position of assistant general manager, to travel to France to investigate the use of machine guns in aircraft. The letter noted that Owsley was given the charge "to observe the requirements of the airplane program in France as it may apply to the Marlin Aircraft Guns, and return to our organization with the practical information that will enable us to co-operate with the Government in manufacture and shipment to best advantage of all concerned." His application was granted, and he arrived in Liverpool
, England, on January 22, 1918, as a passenger on the St. Paul. On July 1, 1918, Marlin-Rockwell submitted an affidavit in support of an application to renew Owsley's passport to allow him to remain in England, noting that his presence was needed to demonstrate the company's Browning machine rifle, Browning machine gun, Barlow bombs, and Marlin aircraft gun, and to observe bomb tests. He returned from Europe on September 30, 1918, as a passenger of the SS Adriatic.
At the time of the 1920 United States Census, Owsley was living in New Haven, Connecticut
, with his mother-in-law Julia W. Hall, his wife Helen H. Owsley, a daughter Julia Hall Owsley, and four live-in servants. His occupation was listed at that time as the manager of an oil field.
At the time of the 1930 United States Census, Owsley was living in New Haven, Connecticut
, with his mother-in-law Julia W. Hall, his wife Helen H. Owsley, two daughters, Julia and Helen, and five live-in servants. His occupation was listed at that time as a lumber dealer.
Owsley had developed a reputation as "a wartime production authority in New England" based on his service with Marlin-Rockwell during World War I
. In 1940, Owsley helped organize High Standard Manufacturing Company
, an armaments company based in New Haven, Connecticut. In October 1940, Owsley secured a $12 million order from the British Purchasing Commission for machine guns to be mounted on airplanes for the Royal Air Force
. In 1941 and 1942, Owsley was included on a list compiled by the Treasury Department
of the top salary earners in the United States. His salary in 1942 was reported as $421,206, a reduction of $122,000 from his 1941 salary. Owsley served as High Standard's vice president until 1945, continuing thereafter as a director until his retirement in approximately 1948. In a draft registration card completed at the time of World War II
, Owsley indicated that he was living at 300 Prospect Street, New Haven, Connecticut, with his wife Helen Hall Owsley, and that he was working for the High Standard Mfg. Co. in Hamden, Connecticut
.
Owsley's wife, Helen, died in August 1943. Owsley later remarried to Mary Gunn.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player and coach and businessman. He played college football, principally as a left halfback, for Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
from 1901 to 1904. He was the head coach of Yale's undefeated 1905 football team that outscored opponents 226 to 4. He also served as the head football coach at the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
in 1925. He gained a reputation as a wartime producer of armaments, working with Marlin-Rockwell Corporation
Marlin Firearms
Marlin Firearms Co., formerly of North Haven, Connecticut, is a manufacturer of high power, center fire, lever action, and .22 caliber rimfire rifles. In the past, the company made shotguns, derringers and revolvers...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and with the High Standard Manufacturing Company
High Standard Manufacturing Company
High Standard Manufacturing Company Inc. is an American manufacturer of firearms, based in Houston, Texas. The company was originally founded in Hamden, Connecticut in 1926 as a supplier to the numerous firearms companies in the Connecticut Valley.-History:...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He was one of the highest paid persons in the United States in 1941 and 1942.
Early years
Owsley was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1883. His father was Heaton Owsley (1856–1930), an Illinois native and manufacturer. His mother, Harriet (Byrne) Owsley was a Mississippi native who died in the same year that Owsley was born. He was the nephew of Carter Harrison, Jr.Carter Harrison, Jr.
Carter Henry Harrison, Jr. served as Mayor of Chicago . The City's 30th mayor, he was the first actually born in Chicago....
, the mayor of Chicago from 1897 to 1905. Owsley attended preparatory school at the Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...
in Andover, New Hampshire
Andover, New Hampshire
Andover is a town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,371 at the 2010 census. Andover includes the villages of Cilleyville, Potter Place, and East Andover, in addition to the town center...
, graduating in 1902.
Yale
Owsley enrolled at the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale UniversityYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1901 at age 18. He played for the Yale Bulldogs football
Yale Bulldogs football
The Yale Bulldogs football program represents Yale University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision . Yale's football program is one of the oldest in the world, having begun competing in the sport in 1872...
team in 1901, 1903, and 1904. He played most of the 1901 season with Yale's freshman football team but was brought into the 1901 Harvard–Yale game a substitute. During the 1902 season, Owsley was ineligible due to "scholarship deficiencies." During the 1903 and 1904 seasons, Owsley was a starter, mostly at the left halfback position, but occasionally appearing at right halfback, fullback and quarterback. After the 1904 season, Owsley was selected as a second-team All-American at the halfback position by The New York Sun.
Yale
Owsley returned to Yale in the fall of 1905 as the head coach of the school's varsity football team. Owsley led the team to a perfect 10–0 record, as his team outscored opponents by a combined score of 226 to 4. The 1905 team coached by Owsley has been recognized as that year's national championship team by Parke Davis and Caspar WhitneyCaspar Whitney
Caspar William Whitney was an American author, editor, explorer, and war correspondent. He originated the concept of the All-American team in college football in 1889 when he worked for Harper's Magazine....
.
In 1905, Owsley was one of the advisers with whom President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
consulted concerning his campaign to reduce the level of violence and reform the game of football. The New York Times described an October 1905 meeting between Roosevelt and "the men who rule the game," a group consisting of Owsley, Walter Camp
Walter Camp
Walter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football...
, and five other persons.
During the period from 1899 to 1912, Yale had 14 different head football coaches in 14 years – despite compiling a combined record of 127–11–10 in those years. During that 14-year span, the Yale football team has also been recognized as the national championship team by one or more of the major national championship selectors on seven occasions – 1900 (Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation, Parke Davis), 1901 (Parke Davis), 1902 (Parke Davis), 1905 (Parke Davis, Whitney), 1906 (Billingsley, Parke Davis, Whitney), 1907 (Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation, Parke Davis, Whitney), and 1909 (Billingsley, Helms, Houlgate, National Championship Foundation, Parke Davis).
Owsley also served as an assistant coach and coach of the "scrub" team at Yale for several years thereafter. He returned to Yale as backfield coach under head coach Tad Jones
T. A. Dwight Jones
-External links:...
during the 1923 and 1924 football seasons.
Navy
In December 1924, Owsley traveled to Annapolis, MarylandAnnapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
, and was interviewed to become the head football coach for for the United States Naval Academy Midshipmen
Navy Midshipmen football
The Navy Midshipmen football team represents the United States Naval Academy in NCAA Division I-A college football. They are a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision independent school and coached by Ken Niumatalolo since December 2007...
. He was hired by Navy in January 1925, and became the 18th head football coach for the Navy football team. His coaching record at United States Naval Academy was 5 wins, 2 losses, and 1 ties. As of the conclusion of the 2007 season, this ranks him 28th at United States Naval Academy in total wins and 13th at United States Naval Academy in winning percentage (.688).
Business career and family
After the 1905 football season, Owsley worked for the Scovill Manufacturing Company in Waterbury, ConnecticutWaterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, on the Naugatuck River, 33 miles southwest of Hartford and 77 miles northeast of New York City...
. In June 1906, he underwent surgery for appendicitis and traveled west to recuperate. He accepted a position with Merrill & Ring Lumber Co., at Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, in the fall of 1906. He remained in Seattle until the fall of 1908. Owsley returned to Connecticut in November 1908 to help the Yale football team prepare for its game against Princeton.
Owsley married Helen Blanche Hall in November 1908 at New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
. Her father, John M. Hall, was the president of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. Owsley and his wife had two daughters, Julia, born November 27, 1913, and Helen, born August 18, 1920.
From 1908 until at least 1910, Owsley continued to work in the logging business, buying and selling lumber for people in the East. He lived in Seattle and made occasional short trips to the East.
In December 1915, Owsley became employed by Marlin-Rockwell Corporation
Marlin Firearms
Marlin Firearms Co., formerly of North Haven, Connecticut, is a manufacturer of high power, center fire, lever action, and .22 caliber rimfire rifles. In the past, the company made shotguns, derringers and revolvers...
, the largest producers of machine guns in the world. On January 7, 1918, the company sent a letter in support of a passport application to allow Owsley, then holding the position of assistant general manager, to travel to France to investigate the use of machine guns in aircraft. The letter noted that Owsley was given the charge "to observe the requirements of the airplane program in France as it may apply to the Marlin Aircraft Guns, and return to our organization with the practical information that will enable us to co-operate with the Government in manufacture and shipment to best advantage of all concerned." His application was granted, and he arrived in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England, on January 22, 1918, as a passenger on the St. Paul. On July 1, 1918, Marlin-Rockwell submitted an affidavit in support of an application to renew Owsley's passport to allow him to remain in England, noting that his presence was needed to demonstrate the company's Browning machine rifle, Browning machine gun, Barlow bombs, and Marlin aircraft gun, and to observe bomb tests. He returned from Europe on September 30, 1918, as a passenger of the SS Adriatic.
At the time of the 1920 United States Census, Owsley was living in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, with his mother-in-law Julia W. Hall, his wife Helen H. Owsley, a daughter Julia Hall Owsley, and four live-in servants. His occupation was listed at that time as the manager of an oil field.
At the time of the 1930 United States Census, Owsley was living in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, with his mother-in-law Julia W. Hall, his wife Helen H. Owsley, two daughters, Julia and Helen, and five live-in servants. His occupation was listed at that time as a lumber dealer.
Owsley had developed a reputation as "a wartime production authority in New England" based on his service with Marlin-Rockwell during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In 1940, Owsley helped organize High Standard Manufacturing Company
High Standard Manufacturing Company
High Standard Manufacturing Company Inc. is an American manufacturer of firearms, based in Houston, Texas. The company was originally founded in Hamden, Connecticut in 1926 as a supplier to the numerous firearms companies in the Connecticut Valley.-History:...
, an armaments company based in New Haven, Connecticut. In October 1940, Owsley secured a $12 million order from the British Purchasing Commission for machine guns to be mounted on airplanes for the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
. In 1941 and 1942, Owsley was included on a list compiled by the Treasury Department
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
of the top salary earners in the United States. His salary in 1942 was reported as $421,206, a reduction of $122,000 from his 1941 salary. Owsley served as High Standard's vice president until 1945, continuing thereafter as a director until his retirement in approximately 1948. In a draft registration card completed at the time of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Owsley indicated that he was living at 300 Prospect Street, New Haven, Connecticut, with his wife Helen Hall Owsley, and that he was working for the High Standard Mfg. Co. in Hamden, Connecticut
Hamden, Connecticut
Hamden is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant." Hamden is home to Quinnipiac University. The population was 58,180 according to the Census Bureau's 2005 estimates...
.
Owsley's wife, Helen, died in August 1943. Owsley later remarried to Mary Gunn.