New-York tribune., 1902-02-10
THE DEATH OF MRS. OSBORN.
HER LIFE WAS ONE OF CONSTANT CARD AND |
THOUGHT FOR OTHERS.

THOUGHT FOR OTHERS.
To the Editor of The Tribune
Sir: In the death of Mrs Osborn February
the city has lost representative of much that is
best in its life 1t seems fitting that a
tended sketch than the usual brief notices should
be published and I venture to send the following:
She was the eldest child of Mr.. and Mrs. Jona-
than Sturges and born at her parents early
home, in Beaver-st. February 9, 1890 This
then a neighborhood of pleasant private dwellings
The growth of New-York is illustrated by the
changes OF residence TO Greenwch-st. in 1S33 to
Murray-st. in 1874 and 10 No. East Fourteenth-st.
in 1851, from which Mrs. Osborn married in
1853. In 1871 her husband and father bought ada
cent property at Park-ave and Thrty-sixth-st.
which has continued to he the city home of the
family.
Mr. Sturges was a leader in that group Of New
York merchants to whom both the city and coun-
try much OF their prosperity. He also In
fuential in every movement that helped develop
the moral and intellectual life of the community.
From her father Mrs. Osborn inherited her singular
abilities for judging and cearness OF vision in
planning; from her mother she inherited her
capacity for service. Among the institutions that
Mrs Sturges influential IN establishing and
directing the Wilson Industrial School the
School of Design for Women the Society Of Decora-
tive Art the Hahnemann Hospital and the Wom-
ans Beard Of Missions OF the Reformed Church.
OF her girlhood Mrs. Osborn retained bright
elections The great fire OF 1885 and other incl
dents OF note she described vividy in after years.
Mr.. Osborn prominent East India merchant,
closely associated with Mr.. sturges in financial In
tcrests. In 1853 he was chosen president OF the
Illinois Central Railroad. After their marriage FOR
several years Mr.. and Mrs. Osborn made their
home in Chicago. from which city he pushed his
road the prairies OF the State and southwark
until after the close OF the Civil War. It extended
TO New-Orleans. The part Mr. Osborn took in the
development of the Mississippi Valley has never
been fully told Some day he will be known In
the foremost rank Of the men who have made the
nation
In the tremendous responsibilities he assumed
and the constant strain under which he labored
Mrs. Osborn both the balance and the main
support of her husband. Without her calm. wise
and sympathetic interest in all that concerned him
his life would have broken under the stress For
the first twenty years OF his married life he was
fighting constant battle against nature and ad-
verse men, and most Of the time received but faint
support from those whose interest he had the
right TO call In Jowetts "Recollections of Tenny-
son" statement is made OF the poets wife which
may with absolute truth be affirmed of Mrs. Os-
born: The greatest influence would be passed over
in silence II were TO omit her name. She her
husbands best critic and the whose authority
he most willingly recognized"
In the large philanthropies and the innumerable
objects of personal benehcence that interested Mr.
Osborn his wife was both inspiration and a
guide. Together they organized the Training
School for Nurses connected with Bellevue Hospi-
tal-the first Of its kind in America-and it's
largest supporters Until the day of her death this
school was her constant The Children's Ali
Society. the Hospital for the Ruptured and Grip
pied, the Half Orphan Asylum and the city mis-
sons were not only largely supported, but carefully
directed. by Mrs Osborn either personally or
through her sons
These and other institutions were but part of
her interests Nor were they limited TO the city.
Many in New Orleans Chicago and other places
have lost in her a constantly helpful friend.
In 1859 Mr.. Osborn purchased an extensive tract
in the Highlands of the Hudson. opposite West
Point. There for the remaining years. except dur
ing the winter months, they made their home
There also her surviving sons have their summer
homes. The estate has been gradually enlarged
and developed until it Is one Of the most beautiful
the friend Of a multitude many of whom looked
10 her for support In DR. John Browns spare
seems wen Is Of Mrs osbrn OF ebe ST of he
people for her and their pride in her were wonder
of her household her Observation-Disclosures for her
something like alteration. She so tender heart
ed and interested in all their interests so steadfast
a friend; So modest was she, so just in her sense
Of herself that every one was at ease with her and
felt that whatever she did and said and felt was
was always being and doing good In a multitude
long summer day not without its clouds but, on
the whole happy delightful an. and benehce9t in no
garded with immediate. Unmixed and deserved af-
she did the pure fresh unblunted attachments of
childhood to their friends. Until death bright;
''thoughtful breath that becomes traveller be;
life and DEATH. She retained 10 the last all
her faculties and affections-her memory, her
humor her interest in life her tender fidelity TO
friends her love Of nature and all things fair.
The beauty, well as the power, of Mrs Os-
horns character best seen in her home. There
she ruled in love, holding by attachment that
was unquestioned the devotion OF her husband and
children The loss OF her only daughter several
wears ago followed almost Immediately by the
death by drowning OF her second son, was griev-
ous sorrow The long illness of her husband was
no ordinary strain. and his death in 1894 left her
very lonely
But through these and other trials she was sus-
tanned by an unfaltering faith No description or
Mrs Osborn can be adequate that fails TO note her
spjrituaI nature AS said of another. When
She praved she saw the face of God smiling on
her And so after life Of constant helpfulness,
Of brave endurance and OF large attainment in the
bettering of the world she has passed beyond our
Vision. 1.-The Pilgrim they laid in large upper
chamber. whose windows opened toward the east
New-York Feb. s, 1902, j. H. II.