Biographical Sketch of J. G. Orsborn, Johnson County, Missouri, Warrensburg Township >From "History of Johnson County, Missouri," by Ewing Cockrell, Historical Publishing Company, Topeka, Cleveland, 1918. ********************************************************************** J. G. Orsborn, a well known citizen of Warrensburg and Civil War veteran, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania in 1843, the son of Joseph and Charity Orsborn, natives of Pennsylvania. In 1856 the Orsborn family moved to Ohio and located in Noble county. To Joseph and Charity Orsborn were born ten children: Mrs. Louisa Thomas, of Marion, Kansas; Mrs. Mary (Morton) Kelly, died in Noble county, Ohio, in 1916; J. G., the subject of this review; John H., was killed at Brigham, Utah, twenty-five miles from Salt Lake City, in 1870; E. G., a Civil War veteran, serving in the Thirtieth Ohio Infantry, and whose death occurred in 1902; Elizabeth H., wife of Mr. Kent, resides in Indiana; Mrs. Sarah Jane Morrison, died in Noble county, Ohio; Francis Marion, was killed in early manhood in a railroad accident in Virginia; Rachel Melvina Harper, resides in Guernsey county, Ohio; and Samuel B., died in Noble county, Ohio. Both father and mother died in Noble county, Ohio. J. G. Orsborn attended school in Noble county, Ohio. When he was nineteen years of age he enlisted in the Civil War in Noble county, Ohio, August 13, 1862 and was in the service for three years. He was mustered out June 26, 1865 at Washington, D. C. His regiment was in the Kanawha campaign of 1862. Mr. Orsborn was detailed by Maj. General Sherman to the navy, in which he served twenty-two months on the Mississippi and Florida coasts and the Caribbean sea. He took part in the battle of Nashville, Tenn., and then joined his regiment three days before Sherman arrived at Columbia, S. C., and he was with Sherman from that time until the war closed, taking part in the Grand Review at Washington. Fifty years later, in 1915 he took part in the National Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic and marched over the iden- tical streets in the Capital City. After the Civil War, J. G. Orsborn returned to his home in Noble county, Ohio, and for a number of years he was in the oil drilling business. In August, 1867, he came to John- son county, Missouri and for about one year and a half remained in Warrensburg and Holden. As there was no railroad at that time by which connections could be made with Ft. Scott, Kansas, Mr. Orsborn made the trip there in his spring wagon, taking with him some people from Holden. When he was ready to return three persons from Baxter Springs, Kansas accosted him, wishing to know how they could get to the railroad by Sunday. They remarked that they would gladly give sixty dollars if they could get to the train by Sunday and a bargain was immediately made whereby they were to pay Mr. Orsborn the above stated sum if he made the desired connection and twenty dollars if he missed the train. They made the trip in one day and arrived in Holden one hour before the departure of the train, and he received the sixty dollars. Mr. Orsborn returned to Ohio in 1869. March 23, 1871, J. G. Orsborn and Maria J. Toland were united in marriage at Zanesville, Ohio. Maria J. (Toland) Orsborn is the daughter of Willis and Arminta Toland. She was reared and educated in Muskingum county, Ohio, and there both her father and mother died. Their remains are interred in Duncan Falls cemetery in Muskingum county, Ohio. To J. G. and Maria J. Orsborn have been born the following children: Harry, who is an ordained minister of the Bap- tist church and began his ministerial work at Blackwater in Johnson County, Missouri, and is now a professor in the Minneapolis High School Minneapolis, Minnesota; Lura M., who was the wife of Professor Emery Killion, a member of the Missouri Legislature, whose death occurred at Sweet Springs, Missouri, and she later married Miner Lewis and now re- sides at Roundup, Montana, where her husband is a prominent merchant; Herbert C., who was a soldier in the Spanish-American War, serving in the fifth Missouri Infantry, and in 1906, while engaged in electrical engineering at Warrensburg, was accidentally killed by a train on the Missouri Pacific railway; Orville J., who was the organizer of the 1st teachers' agency west of the Mississippi, which was known as the Mid- land Teachers' Agency, and is now in the United States mail service in Salt Lake City, Utah, after working out of Warrensburg for a number of years; Dr. George E. Orsborn, who is a graduate of the Warrensburg State Normal and later took a course in the Minnesota State Normal, was engaged in teaching in Knob Noster for two years and in the Philippine Islands, where, at the age of twenty-one, he was superintendent of one hundred seventy schools and postmaster in a city having a population of twenty thousand, now, a graduate of the Kansas City and Denver Medical schools, was assistant surgeon at St. Luke's Hospital in Denver, Colo- rado, and is now a brigade surgeon in the national army, with rank of major; and Ernest C., who for ten years was employed as telegrapher and auditor by the Great Northern Railroad Company and is now manager of the Roundup Taxi Company, Roundup, Montana. Mr. and Mrs. Orsborn de- voted their lives to the welfare of their children rather than to the accumulation of wealth. They always kept the children in school and gave each a good education, that which no one can take from them. Mrs. Orsborn has a sister, Elizabeth, resideing in Warrensburg. Mr. Orsborn remained in Ohio from 1869 until 1885, when he came back to Missouri and located at Holden, where he resided for three years. He was appointed engineer and custodian of the State Normal building and grounds and for three years resided in Warrensburg. He then moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where he was employed as engineer for the Kansas City Cable Company. For three years Mr. Orsborn was at Liberty, Mo., and from there returned to Warrensburg, where he took charge of the electric light plant at Pertle Springs. Later he put in operation a new plant at Warrensburg. For eight hundred seventy-eight nights Mr. Orsborn was on duty at the Warrensburg plant and never missed a night. He was employed as engineer at Columbia, Mo., for three years and after leaving Columbia entered the employ of the Mohler Brothers' Nursery Co. with whom he remained four years. For some time Mr. Orsborn was en- gaged in the real estate business. In 1905 he and his family moved to Minnesota on land in the Chippewa Indian reservation, which Mr. Orsborn entered from the government. After he had proven his claim they re- turned to Warrensburg. He has in his possession many fine specimens which he has collected while on hunting and fishing trips in various parts of the country. A splendid astronomical telescope containing a lens which cost $500 was until recently the property of J. G. Orsborn, who used it in connection with a lecture given on astronomy. He sold the telescope to the Warrensburg State Normal School. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. 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