John Eugene Osborne

For other people named John Osborne, see John Osborne (disambiguation).

John Eugene Osborne
3rd Governor of Wyoming
In office 1893–1895
Preceded by	Amos W. Barber
Succeeded by	William A. Richards
29th United States Assistant Secretary of State
In office April 21, 1913 – December 14, 1916
Preceded by	Huntington Wilson
Succeeded by	William Phillips
Personal details
Born	June 19, 1858(1858-06-19) Westport, New York, U.S.
Died	April 24, 1943(1943-04-24) (aged 84) Rawlins, Wyoming, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Selina Smith Osborne
Profession	Physician, Politician, Banker, Farmer

John Eugene Osborne (June 19, 1858 – April 24, 1943) was an American physician, farmer, banker and Democratic politician. He was the third Governor of Wyoming after the Wyoming Territory attained statehood in 1890.

Osborne was born in Westport, New York, the younger son of John C. Osborne and Mary E. Rail. His parents were both immigrants, his father from England and his mother from Canada. Osborne studied medicine at the University of Vermont and graduated in 1880. He was then hired as a surgeon by the Union Pacific Railroad, and moved to Rawlins, Carbon County, Wyoming.

In 1883, Osborne was elected to Wyoming's House of the Territorial Assembly, but resigned in 1885, when he left the Territory for a brief period. In 1888, he was appointed chairman of the Penitentiary Building Commission and also elected mayor of Rawlins. During the 1880s, Osborne was a physician and chemist in Rawlins, and operated a farm, at one point being the largest individual sheep owner in Wyoming. After the lynching of Big Nose George Parrott, Osborne helped conduct the autopsy, and had Parrot's skin tanned and made into a pair of shoes he later allegedly wore at his inauguration as governor.

In 1892, amidst unconfirmed claims of election irregularities, Osborne defeated Acting Governor Amos W. Barber in Wyoming's second gubernatorial elections since statehood. Many incidents surrounded the election, including an almost-certainly false allegation that Osborne had crawled along a ledge outside the Senate House and entered the Governor's Office through a window to prevent Barber from occupying the office before him.

Osborne was one of only a handful of Democrats to win the Governorship of Wyoming, and his term was stormy and rife with bitter fighting between his party and the Republicans. He completed his term on January 7, 1895, having declined renomination. From March 4, 1897 until March 3, 1899 he served in the 55th United States Congress as the U.S. Representative from Wyoming, but again declined renomination when his term expired.

Osborne was Assistant Secretary of State, serving the Wilson Administration from 1913 until December 14, 1915. He was also chairman of the board of the Rawlins National Bank. On November 2, 1907 he married Selina Smith of a prominent family in Princeton, Kentucky. They were the parents of a daughter, Jean Curtis Osborne.

Osborne was a Freemason and a member of the York Rite. He died in Rawlins in 1943, aged 84, and was buried in the Smith family plot at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Princeton, Kentucky.

References

• Osborne, The Political Graveyard
• John E. Osborne (D), Wyoming state archives
• John Eugene Osborne at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• The Hanging of Dutch Charley and Big Nose George, the election of John E. Osborne, Wyoming Tales and Trails
• "Lynching: History and Analysis", Journal of Social and Economic Studies Legal-Studies, Dwight Murphey, 1995.

Further reading

Ridenour, Hugh (2008), "John E. Osborne: A Real "Character" from the Old West", Annals of Wyoming:The Wyoming History Journal (Wyoming State Historical Society) 80 (3): 2–16 

Political offices
Preceded by Amos W. Barber	Governor of Wyoming 1893–1895	Succeeded by William A. Richards
Preceded by Huntington Wilson	United States Assistant Secretary of State April 21, 1913 – December 14, 1915	Succeeded by William Phillips
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Franklin Wheeler Mondell	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wyoming's 1st congressional district March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1899	Succeeded by Franklin Wheeler Mondell