John Eugene Osborne (June 19, 1858 – April 24, 1943) was an American physician, farmer, banker, and politician who served as the
3rd governor of Wyoming and
United States representative
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
as a member of the
Democratic Party.
Early life
John Eugene Osborne was born on June 19, 1858, although his passport stated that he was born on June 19, 1860, in
Westport, New York, to John C. Osborne and Mary E. Rail.
In 1874 Osborne moved to
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...
, where he worked at a drug store and studied medicine at the
University of Vermont College of Medicine where he graduated in 1880. Later that year he moved to
Rawlins in the
Wyoming Territory
The Territory of Wyoming was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 25, 1868, until July 10, 1890, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Wyoming. Cheyenne was the territorial capital. The ...
where he established a drug store. In 1881 he was hired as a surgeon by the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...
.
Big Nose George Parrott
Following the botched hanging and subsequent execution of George Parrott, also known as
Big Nose George, in 1881,
Lillian Heath was 16 when she received the skull cap of Big Nose George, and went on to become the first female physician in
Wyoming
Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...
.
Career
Early politics
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.
Governor and congressman
Osborne was an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1892.
In July 1892, Osborne was given the Democratic nomination for governor at the state convention on the 37th ballot although he had removed his name from consideration before being convinced to put it back up. In the general election he defeated Edward Ivinson with 9,290 votes to 7,509 votes.
On January 2, 1893, Osborne was inaugurated, wearing the shoes he had made from Big Nose George's skin, although he had attempted to take office earlier on December 2, 1892, which was ruled as invalid and premature by the Wyoming Supreme Court on January 17. He was unable to attend
Grover Cleveland's presidential inauguration as he was afraid that Secretary of State
Amos W. Barber would appoint a Republican during the time that he would server as acting governor in Osborne's absence. During his tenure he fought with the state legislature which was divided with 22 Republicans, 21 Democrats, and 5 Populists. 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.
Later life

Osborne was a
free silver supporter and during the
1896,
1900
As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...
, and
1908 presidential elections he supported
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator, and politician. He was a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running three times as the party' ...
. In 1896 he served as chairman of the Wyoming delegation to the
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...
, in 1898 he served as vice chairman of the
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
, was made a member of the national committee in 1900, and served as the vice chairman of the finance committee in 1908. During the
1904 presidential election Bryan suggested that somebody like Osborne from the western United States should run for the Democratic nomination, but Osborne chose not to run.
On April 28, 1903, Governor
DeForest Richards died in office shortly after winning reelection in 1902 resulting in a special election. Osborne won the Democratic nomination by acclamation, but was defeated in a landslide in the
special election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections.
A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
by
Bryant Butler Brooks.
On November 2, 1907, he married Selina Smith of
Princeton, Kentucky, after they met on the island of
Madeira
Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...
when Selina, then named Jean Curtis Smith, was on a round-the-world trip with her sister, Kate, and brother-in-law. They became engaged for marriage upon returning to the United States two months later. Their honeymoon was interrupted "when his efforts to secure the
1908 Democratic National Convention for the West met with success and they were obliged to hurry to [Denver," where it was to be held. Mrs. Osborne was known as the "official hostess" for the convention.
[Marguerite Martyn, "Marguerite Martyn Finds Many Interesting Women in Denver Taking Part in the Preliminaries to the Democratic Convention," ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' July 5, 1908, image 1]
/ref>
In 1910, he served as chairman of the Wyoming Democratic Party. Osborne was appointed United States Assistant Secretary of State, Assistant Secretary of State by President Woodrow Wilson and served in his Woodrow Wilson, administration from April 21, 1913, until December 14, 1916. He was also chairman of the board of the Rawlins National Bank, and engaged in stock raising. In 1913, he suggested that the remains of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
should be placed on a battleship and travel through the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...
as a part of its opening ceremony. During the 1936 presidential election he was selected as one of the three Democratic presidential electors for Wyoming and vote for Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
and John Nance Garner
John Nance Garner III (November 22, 1868 – November 7, 1967), known among his contemporaries as "Cactus Jack", was the 32nd vice president of the United States, serving from 1933 to 1941, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A member of the ...
when the electoral college convened.
Osborne was a Freemason
Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
and a member of the York Rite. On March 2, 1942, his wife died in Louisville, Kentucky. On April 24, 1943, Osborne died in Rawlins, Wyoming
Rawlins is a city in Carbon County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 8,221 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Carbon County. It was named for Union General John Aaron Rawlins, who camped in the locality in 1867.
Demograph ...
, at age 84 after suffering a heart attack earlier in the week. He was interred at the Smith family plot at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Princeton, Kentucky.
Electoral history
References
External links
John E. Osborne (D)
Wyoming state archives
Wyoming Tales and Trails
"An Outlaw's Skin Was Made Into Shoes — Should they be on display?"
by Eric Grundhauser, ''Atlas Obscura'', December 19, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
National Governors Association
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
*
govtrack.us
Wyoming State Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osborne, John Eugene
1858 births
1943 deaths
19th-century American physicians
20th-century American politicians
American people of English descent
American people of Canadian descent
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wyoming
Democratic Party governors of Wyoming
Mayors of places in Wyoming
Members of the Wyoming Territorial Legislature
People from Westport, New York
Physicians from Wyoming
United States assistant secretaries of state
University of Vermont alumni
19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives