\osborne\biograph\bio_j3  5/16/2001

1905 bio. of John H. Osborn


   Memoirs of the Lower Ohio Valley, Federal Publishing Co., Madison,
   WI, 1905.  Page 363.  (transcript)
   [See an 1889 bio. of John H. Osborn]
   [See an 1897 bio. of John H. Osborn]

   JOHN H. OSBORN, an old and well known resident of Evansville, Ind., has
been for several years prominently identified with the manufacturing
interests of the Lower Ohio Valley.  He was born in Boone county, Ill., but
when three years of age came with his parents, William and Ann (Burrell)
Osborn, to Cannelton, Ind., where he grew to manhood and obtained his
education.  He learned the trade of machinist, worked in different shops
in Louisville and Owensboro, Ky., and for nearly fifteen years was connected
with the cotton mills at Cannelton.  In 1875 he came to Evansville as master
Mechanic of the Evansville Cotton Mills.  Nine years later he was promoted
to the responsible position of superintendent of the mills, which he has
ever since held, his previous practical training giving him especially high
qualifications for the place.  Mr. Osborn was one of the organizers of the
White Oak Handle Company, which was incorporated in 1902 with a capital
stock of $35,000, and has been president of the company since the formation,
W.H. Patrick being the secretary and treasurer.  The company manufactures
plow handles exclusively and the demand for its products is constantly
increasing.  Aside from his private business interests Mr. Osborn finds time
to assist in the promotion of any enterprise tending to advance the
commercial prosperity of Evansville, and to devote to public affairs.
Although he is an ardent Republican, and has frequently been urged to accept
a nomination for public office, the only political position he ever held was
that of trustee of the Evansville waterworks, being a member of the board at
the present time.  In 1875 he declined to accept the nomination for
Congress, though in 1904 he was a delegate to the national Republican
convention which nominated Roosevelt and Fairbanks.  It is therefore from
no lack of loyalty to his political convictions that he declines political
honors, but simply from his devotion to his business undertakings.  Mr.
Osborn has served with marked ability as a director of the Central Trust
and Savings Company, the Union Savings Company, and the Evansville Business
Men's association.  In fraternal circles he is a well known figure, being
a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Ancient Order of United Workmen,
and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.  He is also a member of
the St. Paul's Episcopal church and is a liberal contributor to the
charitable work of his church.  In June, 1878, Mr. Osborn was united in
marriage to Miss Mary A. White, of Evansville.


Bio. of John L. Osborne-5768


        Standard Hist. of Jasper + Newton Cos., IN, L.H. Hamilton,
        Chicago, Lewis, 1916.  Page 686.  (transcript)
        (Contributed by Rosetta Hotler)

   JOHN L. OSBORNE.  Few Jasper County families have been more closely
identified with the agricultural activities and the good citizenship of
the county that that of Osborne, represented by John L. Osborne, whose
valuable and productive farmstead is in Hanging Grove Township, located
two miles due north of the village of Lee.  Mr. Osborne came to this
county when a boy, and more than half a century has passed since the name
was established in this section of Western Indiana.
   His father was Lemuel A. Osborne, a son of Joseph and Winifred (McKinney)
Osborne.  Lemuel A. Osborne was born July 10, 1818, in Champaign County,
Ohio, and was married February 10, 1843, to Olive Patton, who was also
born in Ohio, a daughter of Francis and Elizabeth Patton.  From Clarke
County, Ohio, Lemuel A. Osborne moved to Fulton County Indiana, in 1850,
and lived on a farm near Rochester for eleven years.  In 1863 he removed
to Hanging Grove Township, in Jasper County, and that was his home until
his death on March 9, 1874.  He is buried in the Osborne Cemetery located
on a part of his old farm in Hanging Grove Township.  He and his wife are
the parents of eleven children: Elizabeth W., who married Hamline
Carpenter, and both are now deceased; Myrtie Z., the widow of Ezra L.
Clark, and living in Rensselaer; Joseph F., deceased; John L.; Levi S.,
deceased; Mary, wife of Ernest Mason, living in Grand Rapids, Michigan;
Amanda W., who married John F. Warren and lives in Oklahoma City; Ella I.
the wife of A.W. Cole, and their home is in Lafayette, Indiana; Carrie,
who died in infancy; Olive G., who married Charles Sprigg, living in
Oklahoma City; and Hattie, deceased wife of Isaac Onstott.  The late
Lemuel A. Osborne is still well remembered by the older citizens of
Hanging Grove Township.  At the time of his death he owned 160 acres of
land, and had been quite successful as a farmer and in general business
affairs.  He was a member  of the Methodist Church, a republican in
politics, was township trustee and held some other local offices.  He had
a great circle of friends, was hospitable and made his home a center for
the good society of that community, and he had many personal traits which
endeared him to all who knew him.  At the same time he was strong in his
convictions, and anyone knew what he would do under given circumstances.
  John L. Osborne, who is now the principal representative of the family
in Jasper County, was born November 8, 1850, in Fulton County, Indiana, on
his father's place just a mile south of Rochester.  He was about thirteen
years of age when his father moved to Jasper County, locating in section
35 of Hanging Grove Township, and Mr. Osborne has made his home now for
more than half a century either in Marion or Hanging Grove townships.  He
gained his education in the local schools of this county and his native
county, and has been well prospered as a farmer since taking up that
vocation.
   On November 17, 1875, he married Miss Mary F. Mellender, daughter of
George F. and Martha (Hoback) Mellender, who were born in Johnson County,
Indiana, of German descent.  Five children have been born into the Osborne
household: Omer L., who is a single young man living in Schenectady, New
York; Linnie P., wife of Hay Rishling of Marion Township; Estel F., who
married Vera Lefler and lives in Hanging Grove Township; Olive, who married
George Culp and lives in Marion Township; and John, Jr., still at home.
   Like his father before him John L. Osborne has always voted the
republican ticket and his name is quite familiarly associated with
township affairs.  He served one term on the township advisory board, was
for five years township assessor, and was township supervisor four years.
He and his wife are members of the Methodist Church at Lee, and he is
affiliated with the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Rensselaer.  His farm
comprises eighty acres, and while his time has been devoted to its
improvement and operation, he has always shown himself a public spirited
worker for improvements that would benefit the entire community.


Bio. of John W. Osburn-2386


   History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, Eckley and
   Perry, Chicago and New York, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1921.
   Page 647.  (transcript)
   [See another bio. of John W. Osburn-2386]
   [See the bio. of Alexander G. Osburn-2387]
   [See the gen. of Samuel Osborn-2388]

   JOHN W. OSBURN.  Much data of marked interest as touching the history of
Harrison County to be recorded in connection with the career of this
representative farmer and honored citizen of Cadiz Township.  He is a native
son of this county and a scion of one of its sterling pioneer families, and
it was given him to go forth from this county as a gallant young soldier of
time Union in the Civil war, and his loyalty in civic life has always been
on a parity with that which he thus manifested in his service in the great
conflict which perpetuated the nation's integrity.
   Mr. Osburn was born in Archer Township, Harrison County, October 3, 1840,
and is a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Welch) Osburn, both natives of
Pennsylvania, the former having been born in Wesmoreland County April 4, 1813,
and the latter in Lancaster County August 26, 1816.  Samuel Osburn was a son
of Alexander and Mary (Barnes) Osburn, whose marriage was solemnized in
Pennsylvania, May 10, 1808, and who became the parents of seven children:
William, Susanna, Samuel, John, Jane, Martha (died in early childhood) and
Mary.  After the death of his first wife Alexander Osburn married Martha
Rankin, of Washington County, Pennsylvania, and two children were born of
this union, James D. and Rebecca.  Alexander Osburn was born in Westmoreland
County, Pennsylvania, May 14, 1785, and was a son of Samuel and Susanna
(Garven) Osburn, whose marriage was solemnized in County Derry, Ireland,
Samuel Osburn was born either in Scotland or Ireland and was a representative
of one of the sterling old Scotch families that left their native land to
escape the indignities showered upon those of the Seceder religious faith
and who found refuge in the north of Ireland, which has continued a
Presbyterian stronghold through the long intervening years, the Osburns
having been rigid Presbyterians at the time of the memorable and historic
exodus of those of this faith from Scotland into the northern part of Ireland.
Samuel Osburn immigrated from Ireland to America about 1770, and established
his residence in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.  He served as a soldier
in an infantry regiment in the War of the Revolution, and also assisted in
driving the hostile Indians out of the western part of the Keystone State.
He and his wife were zealous members of the Presbyterian Church and continued
their residence in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, until their deaths.
Their children were the following : Archibald (born in Ireland), Elizabeth,
John (killed by accident when a young man), Martha, Jane, Matthey, Alexander
and Mary.
   Early in the year 1816 Alexander Osburn came with his family from
Pennsylvania and numbered himself among the early settlers in what is now
Harrison County, Ohio.  He had previously acquired a tract of wild and heavily
timbered land in the present Athens Township, and on the same he had erected
a long cabin, so that a modest home was ready for his family upon their
arrival in what was little more than a wilderness.  On this pioneer farm
the devoted wife and mother died January 5, 1824, aged forty-three years,
and in 1828 he removed from this original homestead of 160 acres to the land
which he then purchased in Archer Township, where he passed the remainder of
his life and where lie died at the venerable age of eightytwo years, his
second wife having passed away December 25, 1848.  Mr. Osburn was a man of
marked vigor and progressiveness in his day and generation and did much to
further the development of agricultural and live-stock industry in Harrison
County, where it is believed he was the first to introduce fine wool sheep
into Archer Township.  He enlisted for service in the War of 1812, but the
conflict came to a close soon afterward.  He was a staunch whig in politics,
and he and his family were most zealous members of the Presbyterian Church,
in which he served as ruling elder and in which he represented the
Steubenville Presbytery at the General Assembly of the church in the year
1846.
   Samuel Osburn was about three years old at the time of the family arrival
in Harrison County, where he was reared under the conditions of the pioneer
epoch.  He received the advantages of the schools of the locality and period
and remained on the old homestead farm of his father in Archer Township until
1906, when he and his devoted wife removed to Cadiz, the county seat, where
both died in the year 1908, after a wedded companionship of seventy-two and
one-half years.  The fine old homestead farm of 172 acres was made by him
one of the most attractive and valuable in Archer Township, and he was an
honored leader in community sentiment and action.  He was originally an
ardent whig, but united with the republican party at the time of its
organization and ever afterward continued a staunch supporter of its cause,
the while he was specially active in support of the Government during the
period of the Civil war.  Mr. Osburn was one of the leading members of the
Presbyterian Church in Harrison County and served many years as ruling elder,
besides which he thrice represented the Steubenville Presbytery in the
General Assembly of the church, his wife likewise having been a devoted
member.  It is worthy of special record that Mr. Osburn had the exceptional
distinction of serving simultaneously as elder, deacon, trustee and Sunday
School superintendent of the Presbyterian Church in Archer Township, besides
serving at the same time as leader of the singing at the church services.
He and his wife were venerable and revered pioneer citizens of the county
at the time when they passed from the stage of their mortal endeavors.  Mrs.
Osburn was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a daughter of John and
Jane (McClellan) Welch, her father having been a native of Ireland and having
come to America with his parents when he was a youth.  John Welch came with
his family to Harrison County, Ohio, about the year 1822, and settled in
Archer Township, where he obtained 160 acres of Government land and where
he remained until a few years prior to his death, when he rented the farm to
one of his sons and moved to another farm in Stock Township, where he passed
the remainder of his life, as did also his wife, both having been active
members of the Presbyterian Church.  They became the parents of ten children:
Mary, Elizabeth, Anna, Samuel, John, Matthew, Jane, James, David and William.
All of the children are now deceased with the exception of William, who
resides at New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas County.  Samuel and Elizabeth (Welch)
Osburn became the parents of six children: Alexander died July 24, 1875, at
the age of thirty-four years, the maiden name of his wife having been Sarah
Hedges; John W., immediate subject of this sketch, was the next in order of
birth; Jane is the wife of Morrison Moorehead, of Green Township; Martha is
the wife of Granville Dickerson, of Nodaway County, Missouri; Amanda is the
wife of Lyons A. Welch, of Archer Township, Harrison County; and Matthey
Beatty remains on his father's old home farm in Archer Township.
   John W. Osburn gained his early education in the schools of Archer
Township, and continued to be associated with the activities of the home
farm until the outbreak of the Civil war, when his youthful patriotism soon
found ways and means to manifest itself.  On the 9th of August, 1862, he
enlisted as a private in Company F, Ninety-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry,
but in 1863 was discharged for physical disability.  After recuperating his
health he responded to the call for volunteers by enlisting, in May, 1864,
in Company K, One Hundred and Seventieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which
he was made sergeant of his company and with which he took part in two
battles and several skirmishes.  He was discharged September 10, 1864, and
mustered out at the expiration of his term of service.  After the close of
his military service Mr. Osburn remained on the old home farm of his father
until 1874, when he purchased and removed to his present farm of 126 acres
in Cadiz Township, one and one-half miles southwest of the county seat.  As
an agriculturist and stock-grower Mr. Osburn's success has been based on
long experience and upon vigorous and progressive policies, with the result
that he has long been known as one of the representative exponents of farm
industry in his native county.  He is a staunch republican in politics, is
affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic, and he and his wife and their
elder daughter are active members of the Presbyterian Church in the city of
Cadiz.
   In 1871 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Osburn to Miss Lyra Belle
Thompson, who was born in Green Township, Harrison County, a daughter of
Samuel and Sarah Jane (Moorehead) Thompson, and of this union have been
born two children, Elizabeth Gertrude and Sarah Alice.  The elder daughter
remains at the parental home and is popular in the social life of the
community, and Sarah Alice is the wife of Oliver H. Dickerson, of Duluth,
Minnesota, where both hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Their three children are sons -- John Osburn, Joseph Holmes and Samuel.
   Jane (McClellan) Welch, maternal grandmother of Mr. Osburn, was a daughter
of Samuel and Elizabeth (Oliver) McClellan, who were living in the vicinity
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the time of the Revolutionary war, in which
conflict he served as first lieutenant in the cavalry, then known as the
"flying camp."  He was taken prisoner at the surrender of Fort Washington
and was confined on Long Island, New York.  He managed to escape, but was
recaptured and was held as a prisoner of war until his exchange was effected.


Bio. of John W. Osborn-1694


        A Standard History of Starke County, Indiana, The Lewis Publishing
        Co., Chicago & NY, 1915.  Page 420.  (transcript)
        [See the bio. of William Osborn-1689]

   JOHN W. OSBORN.  Among the old families of Starke County who still have
descendants, usefully and prominently identified with citizenship, there is
probably none that can claim longer residence than the Osborns.  More than
three score and ten years have passed since they first found homes in this
county, and as pioneers they gave more than ordinary sacrifices in the
building and establishment of homes, and in the later period their lives
have been led along the paths of quiet industry and prosperity and as
farmers and good citizens they have done their full share for the enrichment
of community life.
   Special attention is directed to the late John W. Osborn, who for many
years was one of the leading farmers and citizens of North Bend Township,
and whose son, George Osborn, now lives in section 12 of that township.
John Wesley Osborn was born in Delaware County, Ohio, January 23, 1832.
His parents were George M. and Anna (Hall) Osborn.  His father was born in
Pennsylvania, January 30, 1802, and died at Eagle Lake, in Starke County,
July 15, 1845.  The mother was born in 1804, probably in Ohio, and died
April 25, 1845, at Eagle Lake.  During their residence in Delaware County
all their children were born, and in 1840 George M. Osborn brought his
family out to Starke County, locating at Eagle Lake in what is now
Washington Township.  The Osborns gave the name to that body of water, on
account of the large numbers of eagles found nesting about its shores.
Their settlement there preceded the organization of Starke County by a
number of years, and their outlook for several years was over a landscape
of almost unbroken wilderness, forest, lake, marshes and sandy ridges.
Only five families at that time comprised the total population of what
is now Starke County. All the hand was wild, some in prairie, other
parts covered with timber, and a portion under water.  It was a mighty
task to turn the virgin sod, fell the forest trees and drain the swamps,
and yet these old time pioneers so prominently represented by the Osborn
family proved equal to overcoming the obstacles which lay in their
path.  While the members of the earliest generation did not live to see
all their hopes materialized, they laid the foundation upon which their
successors have built prosperity and have continued lives of influence
and usefulness. George M. Osborn and wife are both buried near Eagle
Lake, having died when little past middle life.  They were both church
people, and possessed the sterling traits of pioneers.  To those generations
of thie family now living many stories are preserved of the old times in
Starke County, when the family lived in log cabin homes, and when the
Indians were frequent visitors and almost as numerous as civilized men.
After arriving in Starke County the head of the family walked through the
woods, blazing a trail as he went, thirty miles to Winamac, the seat of
the land office, in order to enter the land.  In plowing and in all farm
work they used oxen, but aside from the needs of home consumption there
was little market for grain, and what surplus they had was taken by wagon
over the rough roads to Michigan City.  The diet of those early settlers
consisted largely of wild game and fish, with coarse meal for bread, and
much of the fruit was supplied from the wild bushes growing in the woods.
The Osborn family had their farm improvement well under way before many
neighbors came, and the community became fairly well settled, introducing
the institutions of the school and the church.
   After the death of George M. Osborn and wife their oldest son, William,
who is now living at the age of eighty-seven in Culver, took the
responsibilities of head of the family.  John W. Osborn at the time the
family arrived in Starke County was only eight years of age.  Later as the
other sons grew up they moved into North Bend Township, and secured new
and much better land than their father had settled among the sand dunes
about Eagle Lake.  All the four sons entered Government land, acquired good
farms, and because of their priority of settlement in North Bend Township
the locality was long known as the Osborn Neighborhood.  The greater part
of the land acquired by these pioneers, divided among several farms, is
still in the Osborn family.
   John W. Osborn located his farm on sections 11 and 12.  His first
habitation was a log cabin, similar to the other buildings erected by his
brothers and neighbors, and he cut down the trees to open up a garden
spot, and gradually, year after year, extended the area of cultivation
until the greater part of his land was available for crops.  He planted
a large number of fruit trees, and his was one of the first orchards in the
township, and an old pear tree, which is said to have been the first planted
in the county, is still standing on the farm.  John W. Osborn was a man
of progressive ideas, thrifty and business like in his management, and
in a few years was able to supplant the log house with a commodious
eight-room dwelling that for a number of years was regarded as the best
mansion in that locality.  This old landmark, built more than forty
years ago, is still in use, and one of the best built structures in the
township.  It has been the center of associations for the family of John
W. Osborn through more than a generation, and it stands as a monument
to his enterprise.  John W. Osborn finally retired from farming and
spent some ten or twelve years before his death at Culver, where he died
September 11, 1906.
   John W. Osborn was married in North Bend Township, November 13, 1853,
to Sarah Mischler.  She was born November 13, 1834, in Canada, and was
still a young girl when her parents came to Indiana, and most of her years
until marriage were spent in Starke County.  She is still living, at the
venerable age of eighty, and has her home with her son George.  She is a
member of the Methodist Church and her husband was of the same faith and
was also reared in a democratic household, but throughout most of his
career was a republican.  During the war John W. Osborn was one of Starke
County's gallant soldiers, going out as a member of Company E in the
Fifty-second Regiment of Indiana Infantry in 1861, and remaining in the
service until his honorable discharge on July 25, 1865.  He was assigned
to service in the pioneer corps, was with Sherman’s army in its campaigns
up to Atlanta and from that time on the march to the sea, and his chief
work was in building bridges for the army on its advance through Confederate
territory.  He escaped unhurt, and for many years was an active member of
the Grand Army Post at Culver.  Politically he did much service in behalf
of his friends, but never sought any office for himself. John W. Osborn
and wife became the parents of eleven children, and seven of them are still
living.
   George W. Osborn, the fourth of the family, was born on the farm that is
still his home June 30, 1862. He grew up in this vicinity, and the most
interesting associations of his entire life are about the old homestead
that was established in North Bend Township in pioneer times.  He
acquired his education in the common schools, and after his marriage
went west to South Dakota, entered land from the Government, and in
turn had his share of pioneering in a new country. He lived in that
state seven years, spent a year in Nebraska, and for five years was a
resident in Hamlet in Starke County. Since his return to the old homestead
on sections 11 and 12, in North Bend Township, he has actively prosecuted
his business as a farmer, and now owns 300 acres of splendidly improved
and valuable lands.  He grows all kinds of grain, keeps good stock, and is
one of the most substantial men of the community.
   Mr. Osborn was married in Washington Township, of Starke County, April 6,
1884, to Miss Ella Lenora Leighty.  She was born in Montgomery County, Ohio,
January 9, 1867, and was a girl when her parents, Daniel and Elizabeth
(Harp) Leighty, came to Starke County.  Her parents were both natives of
Ohio but were of German parentage.  They were Ohio farmers and followed
the same business in Starke County, but spent their last years in Culver.
Mrs. Osborn's father died there December 28, 1913, at the age of
eighty-three, and her mother passed away February 12, 1914, aged
seventy-eight.  Her mother's death was caused by asphyxiation from the
fumes of a base-burner stove.
   Mr. and Mrs. Osborn are the parents of two children: Clarence, born
February 26, 1885, was educated in the public schools of his home township,
and is now one of the progressive young farmers of the county; Maybelle E.,
born in South Dakota, was reared in Starke County and completed a thorough
musical education and is one of the popular memhers of the younger social
circles in her community.  Mr. Osborn is a republican in politics.