John Willson Osborn

Wabash Valley profiles : a series of tributes to hometown people and events that have shaped our history

Description:	One typed page including portrait; biography of John Osborn, pioneer journalist. ABASH VALLEY WP R O F I L E SA series of tributes to hometown people and events that have shaped our history.John Willson Osbornhough his bloodlines were steeped in British military tradition, pioneer journalist John Willson Osborn deserted the Tory cause during the War of 1812, earning the right to claim bounty lands in Indiana appropriated for Canadian volunteers. Terre Haute became a beneficiary. Born in St. Johns, New Brunswick, Canada, on Feb. 7, 1794, John was the grandson of Col. John Willson, a British army officer, and the son of Capt. Samuel Osborn of the British navy. As a teenager, he became printers apprentice to editor-publisher Joseph Willocks at the Upper Canada Guardian and Freemans Journal. A member of the Canadian Parliament with Major Abraham Markle, Col. Willocks, like Markle, was sympathetic to the American cause during the War of 1812. After Willocks was killed at Fort Erie, Markle assumed command of the Canadian rebels. Osborn closed the newspaper and joined the Irish Greens, a group of volunteers centered in western New York. As a result of that subversive act. Col. Willson disinherited his grandson. Undaunted, Osborn founded newspapers in Homer and Cortlandville, NY, and on March 31, 1814, wed Ruby Webb Bishop. He also befriended Amory Kinney, who was studying law in Cortlandville under Samuel Nelson, later a U.S. Supreme Court justice. Both Osborn and Kinney vehemently opposed slavery. In 1817, Osborn settled in Vincennes as a partner at the Western Sun with pioneer Indiana publisher Elihu Stout. But Stout did not share Osborns anti-slavery stance and the alliance soon ended. In 1819 lawyer Kinney joined Osborn in Vincennes and the two united to test the Indiana Constitution on behalf of Polly, servant daughter of a slave acquired legally by the Lasselle family during the Revolution. Polly lost in the trial court but in May 1820 the Indiana Supreme Court reversed, asserting that the state constitution mandated total and entire prohibition of slavery. The edict was unpopular in Vincennes and in 1823 Osborn hauled his printing press to Terre Haute. The first issue of Osborns Western Register and Terre Haute Advertiser, Vigo Countys maiden newspaper, was published July 21, 1823. In late 1830 21-year-old Samuel B. Gookins, who wed the Osborns daughter Mary on Jan. 23, 1834, became the editor. Daughter Hannah wed Circuit Court judge Solomon J. Claypool and daughter Ruby married Lucius P. Chapin. In 1826 attorney Kinney and poet George W. Cutter, son of Osborns sister, also situated in Terre Haute. Osborn St., which traverses the Gookins former Strawberry Hill estate, was named in Johns honor. In 1834 Osborn moved to Greencastle to found The Ploughboy and The Temperance Advocate, Putnam Countys first newspapers, and to promote the establishment of Asbury College (now DePauw University). In 1841 he was elected Indiana State Printer but retired due to ill health after one term. However, when the War Between the States began, Osborn relocated to Sullivan to publish Stars and Stripes in support of the Union cause. Declining health compelled him to abandon the venture and he died Nov. 12, 1866, at age 72, at the Claypool residence in Greencastle.TTERRE HAUTE(812) 238-6000NATIONAL BANKAlways Close to HomeDate published: July 6, 2000Filename: Osborn, John profile
Origin:	2000-07-25
Created By:	McCormick, Mike
Publisher:	Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Source:	http://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/vchs/id/567
Collection:	Vigo County Historical Society
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/
Copyright:	Copyright Undetermined
Subjects:	Osborn, John Willson, 1794-1866 Journalists Pioneers Abolitionists Wars & Conflicts People Business & Industry

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