John Wesley Osburn
birth: 29 Apr 1839, Rush County, Indiana to Harmon and Elizabeth “Eliza” Jane Packard Osburn
death: March 27, 1903, Pueblo, Colorado
burial: Crownland Cemetery, Noblesville, Indiana

marriage: 23 Dec 1868, Hamilton County, Indiana
Juliet Johnson
birth: Abt. 1850, Hamilton County, Indiana to Phineas and Sarah Dehart Johnson
death: August 28, 1881, Hamilton County, Indiana
burial: Crownland Cemetery, Noblesville, Indiana

Children of Juliet Johnson and John Wesley Osburn:

• Estelle Quail Osburn, 1871-1949, married (1) George W. Kent, Jr. (2) Raymond Paul Martz
• Carrie Lee Osburn, 1873-1939, married John Kyle Smiley

Ancestor here lived in:

• Rush County and Hamilton County, Indiana 1839-1886.
• Wichita and Burrton, Kansas, 1886-1893.
• Corning, Arkansas, 1893-1903.

Other Information:

 John Wesley Osburn (“J. W.”) was the fourth of nine children born to Harmon and Eliza Jane Packard Osburn. His brother, Edward Walker Osburn, wrote: “He was educated in the public schools and taught for a number of years. Most of his life was spent in farming and dealing in stock. He was a great lover of fine horses.” On the 1860, 1870 and 1880 U.S. censuses, his occupation is listed as “Farmer” and as “Milch Dary” (sic). He married (1) Juliet Johnson in 1868. She died in 1881. They had two daughters. He married (2) Eliza J. Howard in 1882. They had no children. In 1886, the family moved to Wichita, Kansas, where J. W. worked as real estate and loan agent. Later that year, the family moved to Burrton, Kansas, where he became owner and editor of the Burrton Weekly Graphic. Eliza Howard Osburn died in 1887. In April, 1890, J. W. Osburn was elected to the Burrton city council on the Citizens Party ticket. The main issue in the election was installation of electric lights in the town. He was in favor of it. In March 1893, J. W. sold the newspaper and moved to Corning, Arkansas, to marry Dr. Joyce Fredrica Richards Hobson. Mrs. Dr. Hobson, as she was addressed, had practiced eclectic medicine in Noblesville, Indiana, until 1891, when she had moved to Corning. The couple lived in Arkansas, along with J. W. Osburn’s daughters, until 1903. For reasons of health, John Wesley and Joyce F. Osburn moved to California. The climate reportedly did not agree with him, and they began their journey home in March 1903. J. W. Osburn’s health deteriorated, and they were forced to stop at the home of his nephew, Oliver Lincoln Reed, in Pueblo, Colorado. There, he died on March 27, 1903. His body was brought to Noblesville, Indiana, and interred in Crownland Cemetery.

Submitted by:
Alexander Blair Smith
Email: alexsmith17131@gmail.com