A. D. Osborne Bio. Hancock County, WV ********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ********************************************************************** Submitted by Valerie Crook The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 227 Hancock County A. D. OSBORNE. An active and unselfish life, based upon high principles, animated by kindly impulses which have been faithfully devoted to industry and directed to the discharge of every duty and responsibility, may be justly regarded as a successful one, without reference to pecuniary results. Under such a searchlight A. D. Osborne may be pronounced as being a successful man in every sense of the phrase. He has held honorable and responsible posi- tions, has faithfully discharged his duties wherever placed, and has retained the confidence and respect of those with whom he has been associated. For a long period he has been identified with the cause of education, and as su- perintendent of the Grant District schools at Newell is carrying on a work that is bringing about excellent results. Mr. Osborne was born in Meigs County, Ohio, where he received his early education, and after attending the Kent State Normal School pursued a course at the Ohio State University at Athens. For five years previously he taught in the rural schools and then for fourteen years was principal of the Ward School at East Liverpool, Ohio, then locating at Newell, West Virginia, where he has been superintendent of the Grant District schools since 1916. Grant District has ten buildings, with twenty-four teachers and 704 pupils. In September, 1921, Superintendent Os- borne's report showed that the enrollment in the grades totaled 299, while 104 pupils were registered in the junior and senior high schools at Newell. The Newell Building was erected in 1912, and consists of eight rooms, a basement library and two portable outside rooms. The high school course consists of a full four years, both junior and senior. There are fourteen teachers, of whom seven are in the high school departments. The matter of education is an important one at Newell, as this is rapidly becoming a place of importance. Newell is one mile below Chester the two communities being separated by a bluff one-half mile long, with just room between for a railroad and road, which at places is very narrow. A bridge connects both Newell and Chester with East Liverpool, Ohio, these bridges being three-quarters of a mile apart, and a street ear line crossing each. Newell has two important industries, the Homer Laughlin China Company, the largest single china plant in the world; and the E. M. Knowles China Company. Mr. Osborne is secretary of the district school board, and a member of the West Virginia Teachers Association, the Hancock County Teachers Association and the Ohio Valley Schoolmasters Club. He is also one of the three members of the County Board of Equalization. He is a Mason and has attained to the fourteenth degree in the Scottish Rite. Mr. Osborne married Miss Annie Swan, of Washington County, Ohio, and they have two children: Vera, a graduate of Newell High School, who attended the Kent Normal School of Ohio, and is now a teacher in the first grade of the Newell School; and Gladys, a sopho- more at the Newell High School. The family belongs to the Presbyterian Church, in which Mr. Osborne is a mem- ber of the Board of Trustees and an active Sunday School worker.