Michigan was declared the nation’s 26th state when admitted to the union on Jan. 26, 1837. At this time the state’s capital was located in Detroit.

Michigan’s first governor, when it was both a territory and when admitted to the union, was Stevens Thomson Mason. He was born in Virginia and moved to Michigan in 1830 when President Andrew Jackson appointed him Secretary of the Michigan Territory and Superintendent of Indian Affairs.

Since Michigan joined the union there have been 49 governors.

Only one hailed from Michigan’s upper peninsula, Chase Salmon Osborn.

A BIT OF

PRE-STATEHOOD MICHIGAN HISTORY

Michigan was originally a territory comprised of the lower peninsula. Due to mapping and a variety of other factors, a portion of the lower peninsula’s southeast corner, near Toledo, was in dispute between Michigan and Ohio.

In 1835, Michigan began a process to be accepted into statehood. A number of negotiations occurred for nearly two years, In the end, this lower peninsula region was succeeded to Toledo and Michigan was granted the entire upper peninsula.

This transaction, commonly called the Toledo War, allowed the framework for Michigan to become a state.

AN INDIANA HOOSIER MOVES TO THE U.P.

Chase Salmon Osborn was born on Jan. 22, 1860, in Huntington County, Indiana. The county is located immediately west of Ft. Wayne.

Osborn attended Purdue University; however, he left before graduating. He began a successful journalism career being editor of newspapers in Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. In his mid-20s, he moved to Sault Sainte Marie where he purchased and operated The Sault News.

The Sault’s River of History Museum notes Osborn also acquired ownership interest in 30 different newspapers, including The Saginaw Courier Herald.

In 1889, he was appointed Postmaster of the Sault and in 1895, he became Michigan’s Fish and Game Warden. Michigan’s Governor Hazen S. Pingree also appointed Osborn Commissioner of Railroads.

By the turn of the 20th century, Osborn was a significant industrialist mining iron ore north of the Sault on Lake Superior’s shoreline.

OSBORN ENTERS

POLITICS

In 1900, Osborn entered an unsuccessful bid on the Republican ticket to run for Michigan’s Governor. In 1908, he served as a Michigan delegate to the Republican National Convention nominating William Howard Taft for President. In addition, from 1908 to 1911, he was a member of the University of Michigan Board of Regents.

In 1910, Osborn made a successful bid to run for Michigan’s Governor. News accounts stated his campaign was coordinated by former Sault News editor, Frank Knox. In many instances, his campaign was run from an automobile traversing the state.

Osborn won the election and served as Michigan’s 27th Governor from 1911 to 1913. While in office, he stated he would serve only one term.

During Osborn’s tenure as Governor, he addressed issues such as enacting a workers’ compensation bill, taxation reform, the regulation of various businesses, labor laws to protect both women and children, use of convict labor to improve Michigan’s highway system, increasing aid to the state’s agricultural schools, and Michigan’s entry into prohibition. He was unsuccessful in enacting women’s suffrage.

When Osborn entered office, the state faced a million-dollar deficit. When he left the office, the state had a million-dollar surplus.

According to Purdue University archives, after leaving the governor’s office he undertook a world tour which included much of Africa, Siberia, and the Far East. In 1914, Osborn again ran for governor and lost. In 1918, and again in 1928, he ran for the Republican senatorial nomination and was defeated on both occasions.

In the 1928 presidential election, he was nominated to be Vice President on the Republican running ticket. He lost this position to Charles Curtis.

THE LATER YEARS

Throughout his adult life, he held a strong interest in the natural sciences, and he was a prolific writer. Besides publishing articles, he wrote 12 books over 30 years. One of his most prominent, published in 1919, was entitled “The Iron Hunter,” Osborn’s autobiography

Osborn continued to be interested in politics and strongly advocated for the League of Nations and later the United Nations.

In the 1930s with then-President Franklin Roosevelt, he discussed the possibilities of designing and constructing a Mackinac bridge.

A National Governors Association profile on Osborn revealed in his later years he was wheelchair-bound with a multi-year health battle. At his side was his bride, Stellanova Brunt Osborn. She had been his constant companion for 23 years, first as his secretary, as his adopted daughter for 18 years, and finally his wife. The adoption was voided shortly before the marriage. This was Osborn’s second marriage; his earlier marriage resulted in seven children.

Two weeks after marrying Stellanova, Osborn died in Poulan, Georgia on April 12, 1949, at 89 years old. He is buried on Duck Island located on the St. Mary’s River just south of the Sault.

The island’s property is known as the 3,000-acre Chase S. Osborn Preserve which focuses upon forestry and natural sciences. There are still a number of structures in disarray on the acreage. Originally the property was known as Osborn’s summer residence, it is now owned by the University of Michigan.

OSBORN TRIBUTES AND MEMORIALS

On the campus of Lake Superior State University, one of the student residences is called Osborn Hall. The Sault has a boulevard named after him. A significant Osborn memorial is located at Soo Locks Park just off Water Street. Finally, at 115 Ashmun Street is the former multi-story Sault News building. The building is now occupied by the Chippewa County Historical Society.

Jeffrey D. Brasie is a retired health care CEO. He frequently writes historic feature stories and op-eds for various Michigan newspapers. As a Vietnam-era veteran, he served in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Naval Reserve. He served on the public affairs staff of the secretary of the Navy. He grew up in Alpena and resides in suburban Detroit.