Chase Salmon Osborn was born on January 22, 1860, and died on April 11, 1949. He was an American politician, newspaper reporter, publisher, and explorer. Osborn worked as the 27th governor of Michigan from 1911 to 1913. During his time away from work, he stayed at a place called Possum Poke in Georgia. He used this location as a place to rest and write. Osborn passed away at Possum Poke on April 11, 1949, at the age of 89.
Early life in Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin
Osborn was born in a log house in Huntington County, Indiana, to George A. Osborn and Margaret (Fannon) Osborn. His parents named him Chase Salmon after an abolitionist named Salmon Chase, who later became the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under Abraham Lincoln and served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Osborn attended Purdue University, where he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity, but he left before graduating. Afterward, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, and briefly worked for the Chicago Tribune. On May 7, 1881, while working as a reporter for the Evening Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he married Lillian G. Jones. The couple moved north, near the Michigan border, to Florence, Wisconsin, where Osborn operated a local newspaper and searched for iron deposits.
Life and politics in Michigan
Osborn later moved to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, where he worked at a newspaper called The Sault News and began participating in politics. In 1889, he was named Postmaster of Sault Ste. Marie, and in 1895, he became the state Fish and Game Warden. In 1898, Governor Hazen S. Pingree appointed Osborn as Commissioner of Railroads, a role he held from 1899 to 1903. After selling his newspaper, he and Walter J. Hunsaker purchased The Saginaw Courier Herald. In 1900, he tried to win the Republican nomination for Governor of Michigan but lost to Aaron T. Bliss, who later won the election. In 1908, he was a delegate to the Republican National Convention, helping to nominate William Howard Taft for president. That same year, he joined the University of Michigan Board of Regents and served until 1911.
In 1910, Osborn was elected the 27th Governor of Michigan, serving from 1911 to 1913. During his time in office, he worked to fix the state’s budget, passed a law to help workers who were injured on the job, and supported a law that allowed voters to choose presidential candidates. In 1912, he campaigned for Theodore Roosevelt to run for president against the current president, William Howard Taft. After Roosevelt lost the Republican nomination and left the party to form the Progressive Party, Osborn continued to support him in Illinois, Missouri, and Oklahoma, but not in Michigan. Osborn did not seek a second term and remains the only governor of Michigan from the Upper Peninsula.
After leaving office, Osborn traveled internationally and later tried to return to politics to replace his successor, Democrat Woodbridge N. Ferris, but was not successful. In 1918, he ran in the primary for U.S. Senator from Michigan but lost to Republican Truman H. Newberry. He supported Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations and encouraged the United States to take part in global affairs during the 1920s and 1930s, even though many people at the time believed the country should stay out of foreign conflicts. In 1924, he met Stellanova Brunt, who became his researcher and secretary. In 1928, he ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. vice president but lost to Charles Curtis, who later became vice president under Herbert Hoover. In 1930, he ran again for the U.S. Senate but lost to Republican James Couzens. In 1931, Chase and Lillian Osborn legally adopted Stellanova, and she changed her last name to Osborn. In 1934, he was elected chairman of the Michigan Republican Party. In 1936, he ran for Presidential Elector to support Alfred Landon, who lost to Franklin Roosevelt. In 1939, he met with Roosevelt to push for the construction of the Mackinac Bridge, a project completed in 1957 after both Osborn and Roosevelt passed away.
Retirement, death, and legacy
After leaving politics, Osborn returned to the newspaper business and became involved in searching for iron ore. He was a member of several groups, including the Audubon Society, National Rifle Association of America, Sons of the American Revolution, Freemasons, Elks, Kiwanis, Knights of Pythias, Lions Club, Odd Fellows, Sigma Chi, and Sigma Delta Chi. He also wrote several books.
Osborn used a wheelchair, and Stellanova became his full-time nurse. After his wife, Lillian, died, Stellanova’s adoption was canceled. On April 9, 1949, at Osborn’s home in Georgia, he married Stellanova when he was 89 years old and she was 54. He died two weeks later at his home in Poulan, Georgia, called Possum Poke. He is buried at Duck Island, his home in Michigan on Sugar Island, near Sault Ste. Marie in the St. Marys River.
Osborn’s book The Iron Hunter (1919; republished 2002) is an autobiography. The title refers to his work searching for iron ore in Wisconsin and the Michigan Upper Peninsula and shows his love for the outdoors. He also wrote other books and co-wrote some with his adopted daughter, Stellanova, who wrote books herself.
A portrait of Governor Osborn is in the collections of the Michigan State Capitol. Painted in 1931 by Robert Grafton, the painting shows a realistic image of Osborn with part of his body visible. The portrait is not currently on display, but more details are available on the Capitol’s website.
An undated oil painting of Governor Osborn is displayed at the Bay Mills Community College Library and Heritage Center in Brimley, MI. A historical monument and bust of Osborn are also located on the riverfront walk in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. A bust of Osborn is displayed in the Student Union at the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. The female freshman dormitory at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie is named in his honor.