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. He was the 27th governor of Michigan, serving from 1911 to 1913. During his time away from work, he visited Possum Poke in Georgia, where he used it as a retreat and a place to write. He died there 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 abolitionist Salmon Chase, who later became the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under Abraham Lincoln and then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Osborn attended Purdue University, where he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity, but he left before finishing his degree. After that, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, and worked briefly at 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 moved to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, where he worked at a newspaper called The Sault News. He also became involved in politics. In 1889, he was named Postmaster of Sault Ste. Marie. In 1895, he became the state Fish and Game Warden. In 1898, Governor Hazen S. Pingree appointed Osborn as Commissioner of Railroads. He held this position from 1899 to 1903. After selling his newspaper, Osborn and Walter J. Hunsaker bought another newspaper, The Saginaw Courier Herald. In 1900, Osborn tried to win the Republican nomination for Governor of Michigan but lost to Aaron T. Bliss, who later won the election. In 1908, Osborn was a delegate to the Republican National Convention from Michigan to support 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. He served from 1911 to 1913. During his time as governor, the state eliminated its budget deficit, passed a workmen’s compensation bill, and approved a law for presidential primaries. In 1912, Osborn supported Theodore Roosevelt’s campaign for president to challenge President Taft. After Roosevelt lost the Republican nomination and left the party to form the Progressive Party, Osborn campaigned for Roosevelt in Illinois, Missouri, and Oklahoma but not in Michigan. Osborn did not run for a second term and remains the only governor of Michigan from the Upper Peninsula.
After leaving office, Osborn traveled internationally and later tried to become governor again to challenge his successor, Democrat Woodbridge N. Ferris, but failed. In 1918, he ran in the primary for U.S. Senator from Michigan but lost to Republican Truman H. Newberry. Osborn supported Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations and encouraged involvement in global affairs during the 1920s and 1930s, even though many people favored isolationism at the time. In 1924, Osborn met Stellanova Brunt, who later 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 served with Herbert Hoover as president. In 1930, Osborn ran in the primary for U.S. Senator 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, Osborn 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, Osborn met with Roosevelt to support building the Mackinac Bridge, which was completed in 1957 after both men passed away.
Retirement, death, and legacy
After leaving politics, Osborn went back to working in newspapers 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, passed away, 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 about his own life. The title refers to his work looking for iron ore in Wisconsin and the Michigan Upper Peninsula and shows his love for the outdoors. He wrote other books and co-wrote some with his adopted daughter, Stellanova, who also wrote books.
A portrait of Governor Osborn is in the collections of the Michigan State Capitol. Painted in 1931 by Robert Grafton, the painting shows him in a realistic style from the waist up. The portrait is not on display now, but more details can be found on the Capitol’s website.
There is also an undated oil painting of Governor Osborn on display at the Bay Mills Community College Library and Heritage Center in Brimley, MI. A historical monument and bust of Osborn are located on the riverfront walk in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The Student Union at the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan has a bust of Osborn on the first floor. A female freshman dormitory at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie is named after him.