Thomas A. Osborn

Who was Thomas A. Osborn?

Thomas Andrew Osborn was the sixth Governor of Kansas.

Osborn was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania. As a young man, he was apprenticed as a printer, from which he supported himself through Allegheny College. In 1856 he began to study law under a Meadville judge and was admitted to the Michigan bar in 1857. He married Julia Delahey and they had one child.

In November of 1857, Osborn moved to Lawrence, Kansas where he became a compositor for the Herald of Freedom. The following year, Osborn was practicing law in Elwood, Kansas and was known to be a Republican and Free-State supporter. He was elected to the state senate in December, 1859. He became president of the senate in 1861 and presided over impeachment proceedings of the governor. Osborn was appointed U. S. Marshall and held that post from 1865 to 1867. Elected in 1872, and reelected in 1874, he was Governor of Kansas from 1873 to 1877. Osborn was Minister to Chile from 1877 to 1881 and Minister to Brazil from 1881 to 1885,

Osborn's wife died in 1892. In 1898 he was engaged to Marguerite Fowler Richmond of Meadville, Pennsylvania. While awaiting their wedding, Osborn died and his body was returned to Kansas.