Thomas H. Osbourn Family papers
Collection
0235-MDHC
The Thomas H. Osbourn Family papers consist mainly of tax documents for the Prince George's County, Maryland, properties held by various members of the family in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The correspondence includes a letter of recommendation from Benjamin Hallowell, who was president of the Maryland Agricultural College in 1859.
This collection is open for research.
Photocopies of original materials may be provided for a fee and at the discretion of the curator. Please see our Duplication of Materials policy for more information. Queries regarding publication rights and copyright status of materials within this collection should be directed to the appropriate curator.
82 Items
The Thomas H. Osbourn Family papers consist mainly of tax documents dating from 1865 to 1949 for the Prince George's County, Maryland, properties held by various members of the family. The correspondence includes a letter of recommendation from Benjamin Hallowell, dated 1840, who was president of the Maryland Agricultural College in 1859.
Thomas H. Osbourn was born in Maryland in 1820 and died in 1883. As a youth he attended the Alexandria Boarding School in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1853 he was elected sheriff in Prince George's County and was a member of the Whig party. Osbourn was a tobacco farmer in Prince George's County, Maryland, for many years. He owned property south of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, near Croom, and also south of Brandywine, near the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad line. The tax records of his heirs indicate property names of Pt. Timberleigh and Linwood. He and his wife, Eliza Ann (1824-1902?), had at least twelve children. Three daughters, Eugenia, M. Louise, and Anna died within a few days of each other in November 1861. Another daughter, Mary (1846-1922), married John Wallace (1856-1896). Their daughter Edith (1884-1977) married Murray Metz. Eliza Ann, Thomas's wife, inherited his Prince George's properties at his death. Following her death about 1902, their daughter, Mary, and grand-daughter Edith, inherited the remaining properties.
The collection is organized into three series:
Joan Riggin, an Osbourn family descendant, donated the Papers of the Thomas H. Osbourn Family to the University of Maryland Libraries in 2006.
The materials have been placed in acid-free folders and stored in an acid-free box. The map is filed in a mapcase.
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives