I had a great-great uncle, John Law Osborn. He was born March 1,1844 in Henderson County, Illinois and died Jan 24, 1848, in Oregon City, Oregon Territory. If he had a tombstone it would read:
John Law Osborn
1844 – 1848
He was less than 4 when he died, but what a life he lived. The real story is in that dash, that little mark on tombstone between the date of birth and the date of death. That little dash is what matters most about people. Oh, our date of birth is important. It tells everyone when we arrived on this earth. The date of death is important too. It tells everyone when we departed this earth. Family members and strangers will come a look at our tombstones. Genealogists will note the beginning and ending dates of our lives and fit us onto the family tree.
He learned to walk on the Oregon Trail. His sister Nancy was only five and Sylvia Jane was under four in the spring of 1845. His mother Margaret was pregnant when they started across the continent that spring. She gave birth to Alexander Rogers Osborn on the Continental Divide. The family spent the winter of 1845-46 at the Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu, in what is now Southeastern Washington State. They would come down the Columbia River in the spring of 1846. The wagon trail went as far as The Dalles. From there it was down the river on rafts, with a portage around the rapids at the Cascades.
In the summer of 1846 Marcus Whitman found the Osborn’s at the Willamette Mission and hired John Law’s father, Josiah, to work at his mission at Waiilatpu. The family journeyed back up the Columbia River by Hudson Bay Company boats, only to arrive in time to be at the mission for the massacre that occurred on November 29, 1847. His family had already suffered the loss of Sylvia Jane. She died November 24, 1847, at the Mission. Another child was stillborn on November 14, 1847. Both are buried in the Mission Cemetery.
The family survived the Indian attack by hiding under the floorboards of the Mission. Than night they would escape and reach Fort Walla Walla, an outpost of the Hudson Bay Company. On January 2, 1848, along with remaining sixty two captives who had been rescued from the Indians, they started down the Columbia River in open boats. Nancy would later talk of the cold and of the portages around Celilo Falls and the Cascades. The journey downriver took 6 days. On Monday, January 9th, the party was transported from Fort Vancouver, headquarters of the Hudson Bay Company, to where the City of Portland now stands. There Governor George Abernethy of the Oregon Provisional Government welcomed the former captives and survivors. John Law Osborn died two weeks later.
The family would settle near Brownsville, Oregon, in the Willamette Valley. Four years to the day after the death of Sylvia Jane, twin daughters, Narcissa and Melissa, would be born to Josiah and Margaret Osborn. Narcissa is my Great Grandmother.
Today only God knows the burial place of John Law Osborn, somewhere in the vicinity of Oregon City. There are no photographs of him. No books have been written about John Law. No movies have been made documenting his life. His story is all but forgotten, except for a handful of family members who have taken the time to research his short life.
John Law has taught us that it doesn’t matter how much we own, the cars, the house, or the cash we have in the bank. What really matters is how we live our life and how we love. What matters is how we spend our dash.
John Law was only given 46 months to live out his life here on earth. How much time will you have? Are there things you’d like to change, family members you’d like to spend time with, places you’d like to visit, books you’d like to read, stories you’d like to tell?
We just need to slow down enough to enjoy our life, to be less quick to anger and to show appreciation more. We need to love the people in our lives more and treat each other with respect and to smile more . The time will come soon enough when our eulogy is being read. Are we going to be proud of the things they say about how we spent our dash?
John Law Osborn
1844 – 1848
He was less than 4 when he died, but what a life he lived. The real story is in that dash, that little mark on tombstone between the date of birth and the date of death. That little dash is what matters most about people. Oh, our date of birth is important. It tells everyone when we arrived on this earth. The date of death is important too. It tells everyone when we departed this earth. Family members and strangers will come a look at our tombstones. Genealogists will note the beginning and ending dates of our lives and fit us onto the family tree.
He learned to walk on the Oregon Trail. His sister Nancy was only five and Sylvia Jane was under four in the spring of 1845. His mother Margaret was pregnant when they started across the continent that spring. She gave birth to Alexander Rogers Osborn on the Continental Divide. The family spent the winter of 1845-46 at the Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu, in what is now Southeastern Washington State. They would come down the Columbia River in the spring of 1846. The wagon trail went as far as The Dalles. From there it was down the river on rafts, with a portage around the rapids at the Cascades.
In the summer of 1846 Marcus Whitman found the Osborn’s at the Willamette Mission and hired John Law’s father, Josiah, to work at his mission at Waiilatpu. The family journeyed back up the Columbia River by Hudson Bay Company boats, only to arrive in time to be at the mission for the massacre that occurred on November 29, 1847. His family had already suffered the loss of Sylvia Jane. She died November 24, 1847, at the Mission. Another child was stillborn on November 14, 1847. Both are buried in the Mission Cemetery.
The family survived the Indian attack by hiding under the floorboards of the Mission. Than night they would escape and reach Fort Walla Walla, an outpost of the Hudson Bay Company. On January 2, 1848, along with remaining sixty two captives who had been rescued from the Indians, they started down the Columbia River in open boats. Nancy would later talk of the cold and of the portages around Celilo Falls and the Cascades. The journey downriver took 6 days. On Monday, January 9th, the party was transported from Fort Vancouver, headquarters of the Hudson Bay Company, to where the City of Portland now stands. There Governor George Abernethy of the Oregon Provisional Government welcomed the former captives and survivors. John Law Osborn died two weeks later.
The family would settle near Brownsville, Oregon, in the Willamette Valley. Four years to the day after the death of Sylvia Jane, twin daughters, Narcissa and Melissa, would be born to Josiah and Margaret Osborn. Narcissa is my Great Grandmother.
Today only God knows the burial place of John Law Osborn, somewhere in the vicinity of Oregon City. There are no photographs of him. No books have been written about John Law. No movies have been made documenting his life. His story is all but forgotten, except for a handful of family members who have taken the time to research his short life.
John Law has taught us that it doesn’t matter how much we own, the cars, the house, or the cash we have in the bank. What really matters is how we live our life and how we love. What matters is how we spend our dash.
John Law was only given 46 months to live out his life here on earth. How much time will you have? Are there things you’d like to change, family members you’d like to spend time with, places you’d like to visit, books you’d like to read, stories you’d like to tell?
We just need to slow down enough to enjoy our life, to be less quick to anger and to show appreciation more. We need to love the people in our lives more and treat each other with respect and to smile more . The time will come soon enough when our eulogy is being read. Are we going to be proud of the things they say about how we spent our dash?
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