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Higher Office(s) Served: Representative

JOHN EUGENE OSBORNE was born in Westport, New York. After graduating from the University of Vermont Medical School in 1880, he practiced medicine in Rawlins, Wyoming and was appointed assistant surgeon for Union Pacific Railroad in 1881. Osborne was elected to the Territorial House of Representatives in 1882 and was chosen the second Mayor of Rawlins. His election to complete the unexpired gubernatorial term of Francis Warren became the subject of lengthy litigation over voting irregularities, and he took control of the Governor's office prior to the date of his inauguration out of the Democratic party's concern that Republicans would attempt to deny him the position. After completing his term as governor, Osborne went on to serve one term in the U.S. House of Representatives and was appointed an Assistant Secretary of State by President Woodrow Wilson, a position that he held from 1913 through 1917. After being defeated by Francis Warren for a U.S. Senate seat in 1918, he retired to private life in Rawlins, where he died.

Sources:

The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 11. New York: James T. White & Company.

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 4. Westport, CT: Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.

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