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Note: Web site www.osborne-origins.org bio of John Lockhart bio of P. B. Osborn The Biographical Record of Hamilton County, Iowa, Chicago, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1902. Page 579. (transcript) P.B. OSBORN. P.B. Osborn, who is engaged in the milling business in Ellsworth, owning and operating a mill with the capacity of seventy-five barrels of flour per day, was born in Washington county, Iowa, on the 20th of November, his parents being Nathan and Elizabeth A. (Olds) Osborn, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Indiana. In early life the father engaged in teaching school. At the time of the Mexican war he enlisted for service and was afterward granted a land warrant in recognition of his aid. With this he secured government land in Iowa, becoming one of the pioneer settlers of the state. He is now engaged in farming to some extent on Boone river. In his family were five children: Mrs. Sarah Ellen Hennis; Lucretia King, who died September 5, 1901; P. B., of this review; Mrs. Ann Eliza Davis, of South Dakota; and one that died in infancy. In the common schools of his native county Mr. Osborn of this review pursued his education and afterward spent two terms as a student at Battle Creek, Michigan. In 1879 he went to South Dakota, where he entered land from the government, remaining a resident of that state for sixteen years, during which time he devoted his energies largely to the cultivation and improvement of his own property. In the spring of 1895 he traded his land in South Dakota for a mill on the Boone river, south of Webster City, Iowa and removed to that place, which continued to be his home for four years. He was then offered good inducements to come to Ellsworth. The proposition he accepted, receiving fifteen hundred dollars and a free site upon which to locate his plant. His mill stands upon his own land and since coming to Ellsworth he has prospered in his work. At first he manufactured but sixty barrels of flour per day, but an increasing trade has caused him to enlarge the output to seventy-five barrels per day. He sells all of the best patent flours in his locality and sends his second grade flour to the Chicago markets. His enterprise, thorough understanding of the business and capable management have resulted in bringing to him creditable success. On the 18th of October, 1878, in South Dakota, Mr. Osborn was united in marriage to Miss Adella M. Stickney, who was born in New York, December 4, 1859, and was the sixth child of William and Adelia (Hoeg) Stickney, the former of English lineage and the latter of German descent. Mrs. Osborn acquired her education in the Oneida schools and later engaged in teaching in the country schools of New York and for three or four terms in the schools of South Dakota. She has one sister and one brother, who live in South Dakota. Her mother died February 26, 1902, after an illness of ten days, at the age of eighty-one years. Her father, however, is living a retired life in Oneida, New York. Her brother, Leroy, makes his home in Syracuse, New York. Mrs. Martha M. Barber is living in Bridgewater, South Dakota. Homer is a resident of Parkston, South Dakota. George H. is living in Oneida, New York. Emogine died at the age of six years. Mrs. Osborn is the youngest of the family. By her marriage she has become the mother of six children: Nathan, born December 11, 1888; Chauncey Gordon, born July 4, 1891; Eleanor Ida, born November 2, 1892; Mabel Winnifred, born March 30, 1895; Lillie F., born November 5, 1896; and Geneva, born July 6, 1899. Mr. Osborn is now serving as a member of the city council for a term of two years. He was a delegate to the free silver state convention and is liberal in both his political and religious views. Fraternally he is connected with the Odd Fellows' Society, has served as vice grand in Ellsworth and is identified with the Order of the Rebeckah. He is familiar with pioneer conditions and with the development of the west. When he entered his land in Dakota he drove to and from that state, covering about three thousand miles in one year. The first year he built a dugout and lived there in true pioneer style. He owns the ground in Ellsworth upon which his mill and warehouses now stand and also has additional land where his mill is located on the Boone river; He also has a pleasant home in the northern part of the town and his property is the visible evidence of his well directed labors and his energy in business affairs.
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