Henry Z. Osborne Papers: Finding Aid mssOsborne1
Marisa Diehl and Brooke M. Black
The Huntington Library
August 2022
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Henry Z. Osborne papers
Creator:
Osborne, Henry Zenas, 1848-1923
Identifier/Call Number: mssOsborne1
Physical Description:
12.9 Linear Feet
(11 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1878-1924
Abstract: Papers belonging to American newspaper publisher and politician Henry Z. Osborne.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more
information.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Henry Z. Osborne papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Gregory H. Bock, July 1997. Additional material purchased in part by the Library Collectors' Council from Michael
Vinson Western Americana, January 2013.
Henry Z. Osborne (1848-1923) was born in New York and spent most of his adult life in California, residing in Bodie before
moving on to Los Angeles. Osborne was active in publishing, politics and mining ventures both in California and nationally.
He was the editor of the Los Angeles Evening Express as well as an active Republican and a mining enthusiast. He had a long
and varied political career which included a U.S. Collector of Customs post, from 1890 to 1894, a U.S. Marshallship, from
1898 to 1906, and a congressional seat, from 1917 to 1923. In 1872, Osborne married Nellie (Helen Annas) Osborne with whom
he had five children - Sherrill B. Osborne, Henry Z. Osborne, Clarence B. Osborne, Raymond G. Osborne and Edith Osborne Stahl.
Osborne died in 1923 in Los Angeles.
The collection includes 720 pieces of correspondence, 32 receipts and account statements and 15 pieces of ephemera. All receipts
and accounts belonged to Henry Z. Osborne and the majority of them are for mining-related expenses. The ephemera is primarily
related to politics in general, and California politics in particular, although other interests are also represented. Of note
is a book containing photographs of the construction of the harbor in San Pedro, California. The majority of the correspondence
is addressed to Osborne, although 24 of the letters were authored by him. Subjects addressed within the correspondence, and
the collection as a whole, include: the Associated Press, California politics and government (especially Los Angeles), California's
political candidates, the Central Pacific Railroad Company, the Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express, the Los Angeles Times
(and Harrison Gray Otis), William McKinley, mines and mineral resources of Arizona and California (particularly in Trinity
County), political patronage in California, California's selection and appointment of public officials, the Southern Pacific
Railroad Company, and the Osborne family. Significant correspondents include: Thomas Robert Bard, Charles F. Bassett, Stephen
Bowers, Robert Nelson Bulla, Charles Frederick Crocker, M. H. DeYoung, Charles Sanford Diehl, Morris March Estee, Henry T.
Gage, Ulysses S. Grant, Marcus Alonzo Hanna, William Henry Harrison Hart, Collis Potter Huntington, Henry Edwards Huntington,
William George Kerckhoff, Paris Kilburn, Henry Harrison Markham, Valentine Stuart McClatchy, Joseph McKenna, James McLachlan,
Frank McLaughlin, Nelson Appleton Miles, William H. Mills, George Clement Perkins, Samuel Morgan Shortridge, John Diedrich
Spreckels and Charles Dwight Willard.
Processed by Maria E. Diehl in January 2001. In 2022, Brooke M. Black created a finding aid.
Arranged in the following series: 1. Correspondence; 2. Oversize.
Individual call numbers included in the collection: mssHM 61755-62462, mssHM 62477.
The Huntington Library also has the Henry Z. Osborne addenda (mssOsborne2).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Legislators -- United States -- Archives
Mines and mineral resources -- Arizona
Mines and mineral resources -- California
Mines and mineral resources -- California -- Trinity County
Patronage, Political -- California
Political candidates -- California
Public officers -- Selection and appointment -- California
California -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
California -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
California -- Politics and Government -- 19th century
California -- Politics and Government -- 20th century
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Newspapers
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Politics and Government -- 19th century
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Politics and Government -- 20th century
Ephemera -- California
Letters (correspondence) -- California
Receipts -- California
Bard, Thomas Robert, 1841-1915
Bassett, Charles E.
Bowers, Stephen, 1832-1907
Bulla, Robert N. (Robert Nelson), 1850-1953
Crocker, Charles Frederick
DeYoung, M. H.
Diehl, Charles Sanford, 1854-
Estee, Morris M. (Morris March), 1833-1903
Gage, Henry Tifft, 1852-1924
Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885
Hanna, Marcus Alonzo, 1837-1904
Hart, William Henry Harrison, 1848-
Huntington, Collis Potter, 1821-1900
Huntington, Henry Edwards, 1850-1927
Kerckhoff, William George, 1856-1929
Kilburn, Paris
Markham, H. H., 1840-1923
McClatchy, V. S. (Valentine Stuart), 1857-1938
McKenna, J. (Joseph), 1843-1926
McKinley, William, 1843-1901
McLachlan, James, 1852-1940
McLaughlin, Frank, Major, 1840?-1907
Miles, Nelson Appleton, 1839-1925
Mills, William H.
Otis, Harrison Gray, 1837-1917
Perkins, George C. (George Clement), 1839-1923
Shortridge, Samuel Morgan, 1861-1952
Spreckels, John Diedrich, 1853-
Willard, Charles Dwight, 1866-1914
Associated Press
Central Pacific Railroad Company
Southern Pacific Railroad Company
Los Angeles evening herald and express
Los Angeles Times (Firm)
Box 1
1878-1891 August 24 HM 61755-61832
Box 2
1891 September 23-1892 June 18 HM 61833-61907
Box 3
1892 June 24-1893 April 25 HM 61908-61988
Box 4
1893 April 28-1895 November 11 HM 61989-62066
Box 5
1895 November 14-1897 January 16 HM 62067-62119
Box 6
1897 January 18-1897 December 16 HM 62120-62190
Box 7
1897 December 23-1898 November 29 HM 62191-62263
Box 8
1898 December 1-1899 June 24 HM 62264-62324
Box 9
1899 June 27-1905 September 16 HM 62325-62394
Box 10
1906 January 15-before 1924 HM 62395-62442