The Historical Society of Scotch Plains and Fanwood is thrilled to have Ron Murad, a local resident of 34 years and a lover of history present his research paper on Thomas W. Osborn. Thomas W. Osborn, was born in Scotch Plains and was a descendant of Jonathon Osborn, the original owner of our Osborn-Cannonball Museum. To learn more about the Osborn family and to learn that once again an Osborn distinguished himself in life is exciting.
Although born in Scotch Plains, Thomas’ family moved to upstate New York when he was 9 years old. He graduated from law school at Madison (now Colgate) University. During the Civil War he was given a commission as a Lieutenant to form an artillery brigade from NY and remained the head of the Union Artillery, being promoted to Colonel, through the end of the war. Come to our Historical Society meeting on Wednesday September 27th, to hear how he became a U.S. Senator, returned to lawyering & was buried in North Adams, MA with a headstone showing only his name, date of birth and date of death.
Ron Murad’s discovery of Col. Thomas Osborn & his achievements not being recognized is a wonderful historical sleuthing story of its own. Ron is an active member of the Freemasons (the oldest fraternal organization in the world), presently a member of two Masonic research societies and a member of the Grand Lodge of NJ’s “Speakers Bureau.” Several years, on one of his trips to Gettysburg, he learned of Thomas Ward Osborn from Scotch Plains in a book about Freemasons at Gettysburg. Intrigued, he researched him. Last year presenting his research to a Garden State chapter of the National Sojourners, a Masonic organization made up of military individuals, resulted in the Veteran’s Administration making a white marble Civil War memorial gravestone now placed next to Col. W. Osborn’s current gravestone. A dedication ceremony will be held Sunday October 22nd at 1:00PM at Hillside Cemetery in North Adams, MA.
The upcoming meeting on Wednesday September 27th is free and all are welcome. The meeting begins at 7:30PM and is held at the historic Shady Rest Golf and Country Club, 820 Jerusalem Rd. (at the corner of Plainfield Ave.) in Scotch Plains. Refreshments and fellowship will follow the presentation. For questions, please email Info@HistoricalSocietySPFNJ.org or call 908/322-6700 Extension 230.
Note the change in the Historical Society’s meeting schedule: Beginning in September through November, meetings will be held on the fourth Wednesday of the month. They were previously held on the fourth Tuesday of the month.
The Osborn Cannonball House Museum will be open for visitors on Scotch Plains Day, Sunday, October 1st, 2023 from 11:00 am – 3:00 p.m. The museum joins the celebration of the founding of our community from the village of Scotch Plains in Elizabethtown, to the Township of Westfield, to the Township of Fanwood, to the present day Township of Scotch Plains. There will be costumed docents to give tours and tell the history of the amazing 18th century house, which is fully furnished with both colonial and Victorian era decor, and of the Osborn family–their thirteen children and their participation in the American Revolution.
