Santa Clara County Biographies


This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm



A. EDGAR OSBORNE, M. D. Ph. D.
 
The successful efforts that are being made at the present day for the 
amelioration of the lot of the indigent, the insane, and the feeble-minded, are 
something of which too much can hardly be said.  It is only of late years that 
any general attention has been paid to the subject.  A number of learned and 
philanthropic gentlemen, chiefly medical men, have studied the matter and by the 
rearing of institutions for the care and treatment of the weak-minded, have 
accomplished a good that is shown most clearly by the surprisingly great success 
that has been met in relieving these mental disorders and in many cases entirely 
curing them.  Upon this coast the California Home for the Care and Training of 
Feeble-minded Children, an institution located on the extreme western borders of 
the town of Santa Clara, and which is described elsewhere in this volume, is a 
worthy representative of what is being done.  Though founded but a few years 
back, and not yet as extensive as it will be later, it is acknowledged to be one 
of the best managed and most successful on the continent, the appointments and 
arrangements being admirable, and the most perfect system prevailing throughout.
The superintendent is the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this 
article.  Dr. Osborne was born near Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, 
February 23, 1856, his father, Mr. Antrim Osborne, being the proprietor of the 
Waterville Woolen Mills.  When the subject of this sketch was between five and 
six years of age, his father purchased the Rose Valley Woolen Mills property, in 
the same county, removing his family thither, and there Dr. Osborne received his 
preliminary education, from private tutors and at the public schools.  He next 
attended the district Grammar School, going thence to the Pennsylvania State 
College (military), in Center County.  Here he took a four years� course in 
science, for two terms being the assistant of the professor of that department.  
He next went to the University of Pennsylvania (Medical Department), graduating 
March 12, 1877.  For one year after this he remained at practice in 
Philadelphia, at the same time pursuing a special course in the hospitals.  He 
then removed to Media, Pennsylvania, and began the practice of his profession.  
In 1879 Dr. Osborne graduated in the Department of Philosophy, of the University 
of Pennsylvania, taking the degree of Ph. D., being the youngest man to obtain 
that degree at that time.  While in Philadelphia Dr. Osborne was connected with 
the Presbyterian and the Philadelphia Hospitals, and at this time was the first 
resident physician to the Odd Fellows� Home.  Subsequently he became 
semi-officially connected with the Pennsylvania Training School for the 
feeble-minded. For the following eight years, in addition to his other 
professional work, he occupied the chair of Natural Sciences in the Media 
Academy, being also the organizer of the Department of Physical Culture, and 
establishing a gymnasium.
In October, 1886, Dr. Osborne, having attracted general attention by his studies 
of the subject of the care and treatment of the feeble-minded, was elected to 
succeed Dr. B. T. Wood in the office of Superintendent of the California Home 
for the Care and Training of Feeble-minded Children, assuming charge on December 
1, 1886, proving himself the right man for the position by the admirable manner 
in which he at once brought the institution to a high state of efficiency.
Drawing from a thorough knowledge and a wide experience, he is creating a higher 
plane of success.  Dr. Osborne is the only physician engaged in this work on the 
Pacific Coast, and is in charge of the only institution of the kind west of 
Nebraska.  Under his hands there are now 110 children, and there are fully 150 
applications for admission on file, waiting the completion of enlargements now 
contemplated.
Dr. Osborne was married on September 7, 1880, to Miss Margaret H. Paxton, the 
daughter of Col. J. C. Paxton, of Marietta, Ohio. They have no children, but 
have adopted a niece, who lives with them.  Mrs. Osborne is the matron of the 
institution.  Dr. Osborne is a member of the Delaware County Medical Society, of 
the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, of the National Medical Association, of 
the American Association of Medical Superintendents, and of the Media Institute 
of Science.  He was also the organizer and the President of the Media Medical 
Club.  By his original researches and independent treatment of medical and 
scientific subjects, he has made a name for himself in the line of new 
discoveries, and is cited as an authority in the lines that he has made 
especially his own.  He is a hearty, whole souled gentleman, whom it is pleasant 
to meet, affable and courteous, and a favorite with all.  In church matters the 
doctor and his wife are Presbyterians.  He is also a member in good standing of 
the Masonic Order, namely, of George W. Bartram Lodge, No. 298, Pennsylvania; of 
Howard Chapter, No. 14, R.A. M., and San Jose Commandery, No. 10, K. T., in San 
Jose.  He is also a member of the I. O. O. F., and is District Deputy Grand 
Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias.  He is also a member of the Delta Tau 
Delta Fraternity, a college society with a very large membership in this 
country.
The Osborne family has been identified with the history of America since the 
Colonial times, the Doctor�s branch of the family having settled at Danvers, 
Massachusetts, in the early days of that town, and trace their record back to 
Norman days in England and upon the continent.  He is also one of the editors of 
the interesting �Osborne Genealogical History,� the other two editors being 
resident in New York city.
 
Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California, 
Illustrated. - Edited by H. S. Foote.- Chicago:  The Lewis Publishing Company, 
1888.
Pg. 361-362
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
Proofread by Betty Vickroy