Osborn, William was born in Sangerfield, May 9, 1809. As a boy he worked in his father's store and taught school for two winters. At the age of twenty-seven he was one of the commissioners for distributing the stock of the Oneida National Bank. In 1837 he went to Michigan to join an emigrating corps to locate the line of the Michigan Central Railway, and in 1841 he returned to Waterville and engaged in farming until 1845, when he sold his farm, excepting ten acres for a homestead and went to Missouri, where he took an interest in the contract for building the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, a contract amounting to $6,000,000, and they completed the railroad in 1849-50. He then organized the company to build the flat country railroad to Council Bluffs. In 1865 he took the contract to construct the central branch of the Union Pacific Railroad extending from Atchinson 100 miles west. All of his railroad contracts were of large magnitude, and were carried through most successfully by him. In 1830 he married Amelia Waldo, by whom he had one son and six daughters.
This grand residence was built as a wedding present for the daughter of a "Col. Wm. Osborne" and it's always been presumed that the "railroad man" was the Father of the Bride.
1 comment:
This house was the private residence of Colonel William Osborn (no "e") and his family. The original structure was owned by Jabez Hancock who was the brother of John Hancock.There was a house on this site as early as 1805. The house in this picture is the result of many add ons and remodels over the next 100 years, they are evident in the internal structure. This was not a one time construction, and I find no evidence that it was given to a daughter for a wedding present.
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