The Osborne Family Reunion, Washington State, Part 1

by Glenn N. Holliman

The same weekend in July 2014,  the Wilson-Greer-Osborne and associated families were gathering in Boone, North Carolina for a family historical forum, Osborne cousins met for an annual event in Skagit County, Washington.  These cousins are descendants of William I. Osborne who was born at Sutherland, Ashe County, North Carolina in 1869.  He was the oldest child of Richard Franklin 'Frank' (1846-1897) and Nancy Emmaline 'Emma' Wilson Osborne (1850-1919).   

Cousin Jeanie Bond, Osborne descendant, and I have been exchanging copy and photographs the past few weeks.  This is a two part series - first a bit of history of the family and then scenes from the 2014 reunion.  Some of the following pictures are courtesy of Shirley Sorrell, Clinton Getzinger and Dale Wilson, fellow genealogists whom we are fortunate to have to capture family stories. -GNH

Some History of an Osborne Branch in the Pacific Northwest by Jeanie Bond, great, great grand daughter of Isaac and Carolina Greer Wilson

William I. Osborne's mother, Emma, was the oldest child of Isaac and Nancy Greer Wilson.  Frank and Emma, who met when Frank and G.W. Osborne took refuge in the Wilson home during the Civil War, raised their family on the Green Valley side of the hill where Isaac Wilson's Cemetery is located in Ashe County, North Carolina.  They attended the Sutherland Methodist Church, and what they did not grow, they bought in Trade, Tennessee.  William I. Osborne was the oldest of Frank and Emma's children, and many of his grand nieces and nephews still live in the NC/TN area.

My immediate family believes that William was the first of many who migrated out of the North Carolina mountains to the great Northwest.  Ashe and surrounding counties were  not economically productive enough to support the many offspring of the clans that had pioneered the ridges and valleys in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

   

William traveled to Washington State first by himself, but became so homesick that his employer put him on train and sent him home.  Then, just a few years later, he went west again, in the company of his sister Martha Jane (Jenny) Osborne Thomas and her young family. This time, he settled permanently in the Skagit Valley where his seven acres of flat land abutting a partially wooded hill pasture must have reminded him of Mountain City, TN, as it did me and my mother when we traveled east in 1991.  Later, Roby Frank Hardy Osborne joined his brother William I. Osborne in Sedro-Woolley, Washington. 

Below, an advertisement in the Watauga-Democrat of Boone, North Carolina.

With glowing reports of work and available land, it was not long before there were hundreds of “Tar Heel” families logging the hills, farming the flats and producing children. The phone directory for the “Upper Skagit” and Darrington areas read very much the same as one you might find for Trade, or Boone, or Creston, NC. Stout, Forrester, Riddle, Thomas, Wilson, Dunn, Main and, of course Osborne, can be easily be found in either location.

 Below William Isaac Osborne (1869-1953) and his father, Richard Franklin "Frank" Osborn (1846-1897).  The photographer is Hodges of Bristol, Tennessee and the photo MAY have been taken on the occasion of William's first trip to the Pacific Northwest about 1888.  He looks much younger than 19 and may have gone to the Pacific Northwest at a much younger age.  This is the earliest photo of William, and the only known photo of Frank.    

"One sad failing...." The February 4, 1897 Watauga-Democrat ran this article on the death of Richard Frank Osborne, the father of William I. Osborne and many others. Clipping courtesy of Clinton Getzinger, a direct descendant of Frank Osborne.

                   Below are Frank's wife, Emma, their daughter Effie Marilla Osborne

                  Miller with her children Florence Miller and Victor (Dusty) Osborne

                   and on the far right is Frank and Emma’s youngest son, Robert Bruce T.

                  Osborne. They are posed next to Frank and Emma’s home on Brushy Fork

                   Road, Sutherland, NC ca. 1903.

Below right are William I. Osborne (1869-1953) and his wife, Waneta T. Drever Osborne and their children Harry William,  Robert Frank, Hattie Blanche and, the child in christening dress is my Uncle Chester Clarence.  The photo was taken in Sedro Woolley, Washington by Mrs. Pilcher who purchased the studios of Darius Kinsey.  

A later photograph below, the family of William and Waneta Osborne at the home of Waneta's parents, 1917 in Washington State.  Standing in the back are Chester (1907-1986) and Hattie (1903-1923.) Middle row: Lawrence (1909-1988), Waneta (1879-1923) and William (1869-1953).  In front: Helen (1912-1914), Juanita (1917-2009) on her mother's lap, Derward (1916-2014) on his father's lap and Verner (1915-1957).  Not pictured are two older boys, Harry (1899-1986) and R. Frank (1901-1986) who were away working and, the only child surviving today, Cecil Mark was not born until 1919.

Below, this is a photo of the siblings in 1980, the first one that we specifically took photos by generation.  They are, left to right, Cecil Mark, Juanita, Derward, Helen, Lawrence, Chester, R. Frank and Harry. Missing are: Hattie who died in child birth in 1923; Charles who died as an infant, cause unknown, and Verner who died by misadventure in 1957. - Jeanie Bond

Next posting, photographs from the 2014 Osborne Reunion in Washington State....

All are invited to join in building the family tree at Wilson-Greer-Osborne-Forrester-Donnelly and Associated Families of Western NC at Ancestry.com.  Just write to glennhistory@gmail.com for an invitation.  Please let me know of any errors, omissions or additions to the above story.