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Surnames: Osborne, Osborn, Troxel, Troxell;Catlin
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/CII.2ACIB/211
Message Board Post:
The following is a newspaper obit (source unknown) for Sarah Jane Catlin, widow of Ralph
Osborne. I am trying to find out more about this family (Sarah is my wife's great,
great grandmother), particularly regarding Ralph and Sarah's daughter Sarah Effie
Osborne who married David Troxel.
Mrs R. H. Osborne
Sarah Jane, widow of Rev R.H. Osborne, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs Rev R. Y.
Williams, in Moweaqua, Illinois, October 26 1922, in the 79th year of her age. Her former
name was Catlin, and she was born in M’Arthur, Ohio, January 29, 1844. Her early
childhood was spent in Cincinnati. In girlhood she came with her family to Coles County,
Illinois. At the age of ten years she was bereft of her mother, and the responsibility of
caring for a family of small children fell on her shoulders. With motherly fidelity she
performed this difficult duty. At the age of 16, she was converted and united with the
Methodist Episcopal church. When she grew to womanhood she taught school for a time. At
the outbreak of the Civil War, the family resided in the village of Farmington, in the
neighborhood of where the step mother of Abraham Lincoln dwelt. Here, shortly before
Lincoln’s first inauguration, she helped in serving the President-elect his last meal in
the!
old, parental home. On November 9, 1865, she was married to Ralph H. Osborne, a business
man of Farmington. They later lived in Mattoon. In 1887 while residing in Lerna,
Illinois, her husband decided to give himself to the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and after he entered the Illinois Conference in 1889, she gave her time and best
efforts to the duties of her station in the parsonages and churches of the Charleston
Circuit, Martinsville Circuit, Deland, Moulton Church Shelbyville, and Neoga. After Rev.
Osborn’s retirement in the fall of 1898, they lived for a time in Mulberry Grove and
Altamont, returning to Neoga where he passed away December 24, 1913. Mrs. Osborne who
unceasingly cared for him during his long illness, had a clear Christian experience. She
was never demonstrative, but rather of a quiet and constant trend of mind, heart and life.
She lover her Lord, and took great delight in his service, and when no longer able to go
to church!
, the Bible was her daily companion. In great feebleness for six years prior to her going
hence, she patiently endured, never voicing a word of complaint. During her last months
when failing site made it impossible for her to read, she would repeat the familiar hymns,
especially her favorite, “There is a fountain filled with blood.”
She was the mother of seven children. One son, Winfield, died in early life, and the
step-son, Lyman, passed away in 1915. Three daughters and three sons survive her: Mrs.
R.Y. Williams, Moweaqua; Mrs. D. B. Troxell, Deland; Mrs. W.H. Shubert, Charleston; D L;
Centralia; C.C. and L.A. Osborne, Neoga, Illinois. A brother, George Catlin, of Monon,
Indiana; a sister, Mrs. K.L. Snyder, Denver, Colorado, and a half-sister, Mrs. Laura Smith
of Alton, Illinois, still live, besides fourteen grand-children and three
great-grand-children. Funeral services were held in Neoga Methodist church, Oct. 27,
1922, the pastor Peter Kittel in charge, with sermon by Rev. C.B. Taylor, who was serving
his first charge at Lerna when Rev. Osborne gave himself to the ministry. Interment was
in the Neoga Cemetery.
Notes:
It is not known which newspaper the obituary was published in.
In the copy that I have, the date of death has been changed by hand to read 26. The date
in the original is not clear.
In the copy that I have, the name Troxell has been changed by hand to Troxel (the current
family spelling).
Mrs R.Y Williams was born Clara Christine Osborne.
Mrs D.B. Troxell was born Sarah Effie Osborne
Mrs W.H. Shubert was born Bessie Medora Osborne
D.L. is David LeRoy Osborne
C.C. is Clarence Catlin Osborne
L.A. is Leonard Alonzo Osborne
Winfield Osborne may also be known as Ralph Winfred Osborne.