W. G. Owens

William G. Owens (July 7, 1877 - March 29, 1945) was an American attorney and politician who was credited in his pre-law youth with the devising of a perpetual motion machine, an invention that apparently came to nothing, receiving no further coverage after the first local press notices. Despite this early setback, Owens went on to have a successful career as an attorney, serving as a county attorney in Renville County, Minnesota, and as an assistant state attorney and district judge in North Dakota, going on to become president of the North Dakota Bar Association the year before his death, as well as a state politician, being elected as a representative for the 41st legislative district in North Dakota.

Press Coverage

 * &mdash; “The Morgan Messenger says that W. G. Owens of Lone Tree Lake, this county, is working on a perpetual motion contrivance that he is confident will prove a success. He says that water will be the source of power and confined air its auxiliary, while gravitation works in its proper propensities.” (Lone Tree Lake is 13 miles north of Sleepy Eye.)