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Term: Osborn, Joseph Horatio 1822 - 1892

Definition:

pioneer farmer, state Grange leader, reformer, politician, b. New York City. He moved west in 1843, traded furs in Waukesha briefly, and in 1844 settled permanently in Oshkosh, where he farmed, traded in real estate, and engaged in local politics. During the 1870's, Osborn became an active leader in the farmer protest movement. He joined the state Grange, helped promote its membership by giving speeches throughout the state, and from 1873 to 1874 was state Grange purchasing agent. He was chairman of its executive committee (1875), and state Grange master (1876-1877). As a prominent Grange leader, Osborn played an important role in securing the election of Democrat-Reform candidate William R. Taylor (q.v.) in the gubernatorial election of 1873. In 1874 he was appointed by Taylor to the short-lived (1874-1876) state board of railroad commissioners. With the rumored "railroad deals" of Taylor's last year in office, the breakdown of the Reform coalition, and the subsequent return to power of the Republicans in 1876, Osborn switched his allegiance to the Greenback party. In 1877 he was the unsuccessful Greenback candidate for Wisconsin secretary of state. After 1878 Osborn turned his interests primarily to the organization of labor societies and to his business interests in Oshkosh. He continued to maintain his farm near Oshkosh. He was one of the organizers of the Workmen's Cooperative Society, served as its secretary for a number of years, and was instrumental in the operation of the society's co-operative store in Oshkosh (1886-1890) . Wis. Mag. Hist., 35; P. V. Lawson, et al., eds., Mist. of Winnebago Co. (2 vols., Chicago, 1908); Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, May 9, 1892; J. H. Osborn Papers.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Joseph H. Osborn Papers for details.

View a related article at Wisconsin Magazine of History Archives.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.