Chase Osborn
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Chase Osborn | |
|---|---|
 Osborn from 1910Michiganensian | |
| 27thGovernor of Michigan | |
| In office January 2, 1911 – January 1, 1913 | |
| Lieutenant | John Q. Ross |
| Preceded by | Fred M. Warner |
| Succeeded by | Woodbridge N. Ferris |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 22, 1860 Huntington County, Indiana |
| Died | April 11, 1949 (aged 89) Poulan, Georgia |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Lillian G. Jones, Stellanova Brunt |
Chase Salmon Osborn(January 22, 1860 – April 11, 1949) was an American politician, newspaper reporter and publisher, and explorer. He served as the 27thgovernor of Michiganfrom 1911 to 1913. The governor spent time atPossum Pokein Georgia, using it as a retreat and a place to write. He died there on April 11, 1949, aged 89.
Early life in Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin
[edit]Osborn was born in a log house inHuntington County, Indianato George A. Osborn and Margaret (Fannon) Osborn, who named him Chase Salmon after abolitionistSalmon Chase,who became the nextU.S. Secretary of the TreasuryunderAbraham Lincoln,and later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He was educated atPurdue University,where he became a member of theSigma Chifraternity, yet left before graduating. From there he moved to Chicago, Illinois, and briefly worked for theChicago Tribune.On May 7, 1881, while a reporter for theEvening WisconsininMilwaukee, Wisconsin,he married Lillian G. Jones. They moved north, near the Michigan border, toFlorence, Wisconsin,where he ran a local newspaper and prospected for iron.
Life and politics in Michigan
[edit]Osborn later moved toSault Ste. Marie, Michiganwhere he ran another newspaper,The Sault News,and also began his involvement in politics. In 1889, he was appointed Postmaster of Sault Ste. Marie and, in 1895, state Fish and Game Warden. In 1898, GovernorHazen S. Pingreeappointed OsbornCommissioner of Railroads,a position in which he served from 1899 to 1903. After selling out his newspaper, he and Walter J. Hunsaker boughtThe Saginaw Courier Herald.In 1900, he was unsuccessful to win theRepublicannomination for Governor of Michigan, losing toAaron T. Bliss,who won the general election. In 1908, he served as adelegateto theRepublican National Conventionfrom Michigan to nominateWilliam Howard Taftfor U.S. president. That same year he became a member of theUniversity of MichiganBoard of Regentsand served from 1908 to 1911.
In 1910, Osborn was elected the 27th Governor of Michigan and served from 1911 to 1913. His tenure as governor was focused on reforms as the state deficit was eliminated; a workmen's compensation bill was sanctioned; and a presidential primary law was authorized. In 1912, Osborn campaigned forTheodore Rooseveltfor president to unseat the current President Taft. After Roosevelt lost the Republican nomination and bolted from the party to start theProgressive Party,Osborn still campaigned for him inIllinois,Missouri,andOklahoma,yet not in Michigan. Osborn did not run for a second term and is to date the only governor of Michigan from theUpper Peninsula.
After his term as governor, Osborn traveled the world and came back for another attempt to become governor again and unseat his successor, DemocratWoodbridge N. Ferris,but was unsuccessful. In 1918 he was acandidatein theprimaryforUnited States Senator from Michigan,being defeated by fellow RepublicanTruman H. Newberry.He supportedWoodrow Wilson'sLeague of Nations,and urged participation in world affairs during the 1920s and 1930s despite the consensus ofisolationismduring those years. Osborn met Stellanova Brunt in 1924, and she took a job as his researcher and secretary. In 1928, he was a candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. vice president, yet was defeated byCharles Curtis,who later won withHerbert Hooveras president. In 1930, he was again a candidate in the primary for theU.S. Senate,being defeated by fellow RepublicanJames Couzens.In 1931, Chase and Lillian Osborn legally adopted 37-year-old Stellanova, and she changed her last name to Osborn. In 1934, he was elected chairman of theMichigan Republican Party.In 1936, he was a candidate for Presidential Elector to electAlfred Landon,who lost toFranklin Roosevelt.In 1939, he met with Roosevelt to lobby for construction of theMackinac Bridge,a project that was completed in 1957 after the deaths of both Osborn and Roosevelt.
Retirement, death, and legacy
[edit]After politics, Osborn returned to the newspaper business and became active in the pursuit of iron ore prospecting. He was a member of theAudubon Society,National Rifle Association of America,Sons of the American Revolution,Freemasons,Elks,Kiwanis,Knights of Pythias,Lions Club,Odd Fellows,Sigma Chi,andSigma Delta Chi.He was also the author of several books.
Osborn used a wheelchair, and Stellanova became his full-time nurse. After his wife Lillian died, Stellanova's adoption was annulled. On April 9, 1949, at Osborn's Georgia residence, he at 89 and Stellanova at 54 were married. He died two weeks later at Possum Poke, his residence inPoulan, Georgia.He is interred at Duck Island, his Michigan residence onSugar Island,near Sault Ste. Marie in theSt. Marys River.
Osborn's bookThe Iron Hunter(1919; republished 2002) is autobiographical. The title refers to work he did prospecting for iron ore in Wisconsin and the Michigan Upper Peninsula and reflects his love of the outdoors. He wrote several other books and co-wrote some with his adopted daughter, Stellanova, who also wrote several books herself.
There is an undated oil painting on canvas of Governor Osborn on display at theBay Mills Community CollegeLibrary and Heritage Center inBrimley, MI.The riverfront walk in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan features a historical monument and bust of Osborn. The Student Union at the Ann Arbor campus of theUniversity of Michiganalso holds a bust of Osborn on the first floor. The femalefreshmandormitory atLake Superior State Universityin Sault Ste. Marie is named in honor of him.
See also
[edit]Sources
[edit]- Biodata from "Politicalgraveyard.com"
- Wayne State University Press publicity for republication ofThe Iron Hunter
- Shaul, Richard D. 2004. "To a Different Drum."Michigan History,September/October 2004
- U.S.S. Chase S. Osborn
- Chase Salmon Osborn and Stellanova Osborn website
- "Osborn, Chase Salmon,"Men of progress: embracing biographical sketches of representative Michigan men; with an outline history of the state...(The Evening News Association, Detroit, 1900), p. 131
- National Governors Association
- Bentley Historical Library
- Governor Osborn's home in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
- A Michigan Love Story by Stan J. Wooded
- Hunts' Guide to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, "Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan: Riverfront walk along Water Street and Brady Park"
Further reading
[edit]- Fuller, George, Ed.,Messages of the Governors of Michigan, Volume 4(East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Press)ISBN0-87013-723-9;ISBN978-0-87013-723-5.
External links
[edit]
- Works by or about Chase OsbornatInternet Archive
- Honoring Governor Osborn / Preserve
- Governor Chase S. Osborn Website
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
- 1860 births
- 1949 deaths
- People from Huntington County, Indiana
- American Presbyterians
- Republican Party governors of Michigan
- People from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
- Politicians from Milwaukee
- Regents of the University of Michigan
- Members of the Sons of the American Revolution
- Burials in Michigan
- Writers from Indiana
- Writers from Michigan
- Writers from Milwaukee
- People from Florence, Wisconsin
- 20th-century American politicians
- Michigan State Historic Sites in Chippewa County
- 20th-century Michigan politicians