John J. Osborn - Bishop Post, G.A.R.

Born in 1839 in Allen County, Ohio, John J. Osborn was 21 when he answered the call to duty.  Company I of the 27th Ohio Regiment was just forming in August, 1861, and John must have been one of the first in line.  He enlisted on August 3, 1861 for a three year term of service.

The 27th served in Missouri until March, 1862, but eventually they joined Grant in Mississippi and then Sherman in Atlanta for the major battles there.

John mustered out on August 17, 1863, having served 3 years and 14 days.  The only disability John reported on the 1890 veterans' census was rheumatism; however, the regiment, itself, lost over 200 men throughout the war.

After returning from the war, John married Margaret McClure on August 3, 1865, and the couple would go on to have ten children together, losing two in early childhood.  They settled first in Allen County, Ohio, where John worked at farming.  In the 1870 and 1880 censuses for Allen County, the children at home were Isaac, Ida, Francis, James, Mary, and Harrison Arthur.

By 1900, the family had moved to a rented house on Jackson Street in Defiance.  John had secured a job as an engineer at a sawmill and the family had added children - Louis, Gertrude and an adopted daughter, Rosa McClure.  William McClure, Margaret's brother, aged 42 and single, was also living with them.

From a public tree on Ancestry - Margaret and John J. Osborn with daughter, Ida Osborn Rotsel and three of her children, Margaret, Nellie and Violet Rotsel  

 In 1910, John was a wood sawyer, self-employed at 70 years old.  Ida, 65, and William McClure (John's brother-in-law), 54, completed the household which was still at the Jackson Street home.  

J. J. Osborn died on June 12, 1917 in Williams County where he was residing with his son, Arthur.  It is probable that Margaret was also there; she lived on until 1930.

Go to their findagrave site

(This is part of a series on Civil War veterans of Defiance County who were part of the G.A.R., Bishop Post, that headquartered in the city.  Formed in 1879, the post was named after a local man, Captain William Bishop, Company D, 100th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Army who died as a result of wounds received in battle.  The veterans' photos are part of a composite photo of members that has survived.  If you have other information or corrections to add to the soldiers' stories, please add to the comments!)