Thomas Andrew Osborn (October 26, 1836 – February 4, 1898) was the sixth

governor of Kansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

. Osborn was born in

Meadville, Pennsylvania Meadville is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The city is within of Erie and within of Pittsburgh. It was the first permanent settlement in Northwestern Pennsylvania. The population was 13,388 at the 2010 censu ...

. As a young man, he was apprenticed as a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * Jame ...

, 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 1857, Osborn moved to

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

, where he became a compositor for the ''Herald of Freedom''. The following year, Osborn was practicing law in

Elwood, Kansas Elwood is a city in Doniphan County, Kansas, United States, located west across the Missouri River from Saint Joseph, Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,125. History A trading post was established at Elwood in ...

, 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 re-elected in 1874, he was governor of Kansas from 1873 to 1877. Osborn was Minister to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

from 1877 to 1881 and Minister to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

from 1881 to 1885, Osborn's wife died in 1892. In 1898, he was engaged to Marguerite Fowler Richmond of

. While awaiting their wedding, Osborn died and his body was returned to Kansas. He is buried in

Topeka Cemetery The Topeka Cemetery is a cemetery in Topeka, Kansas, United States. Established in 1859, it is the oldest chartered cemetery in the state of Kansas. The 80-acre cemetery had more than 35,000 burials by 2019, including several prominent Kansans. Am ...

in Topeka, Kansas.

References

External links

*
Publications concerning Kansas Governor Osborn's administration available via the KGI Online Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osborn, Thomas A. 1836 births 1898 deaths People from Doniphan County, Kansas People from Lawrence, Kansas People from Meadville, Pennsylvania Republican Party governors of Kansas Lieutenant Governors of Kansas 19th-century American diplomats Ambassadors of the United States to Chile Ambassadors of the United States to Brazil Methodists from Kansas 19th-century American politicians People buried in Topeka Cemetery Methodists from Pennsylvania Kansas lawyers Michigan lawyers