Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Finding Aid of the Osborne-Montague family papers
0190
0190
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Osborne-Montague family papers
Collection number: 0190
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
41.9 Linear feet
64 boxes, 1 map case drawer
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1890-1945
Date (inclusive): 1847-1992
Abstract: The Osborne-Montague family papers contains the papers of multiple generations of the Osborne and Montague families, as well
as of the families they married into (primarily the Tingstads and the Caleffs). Rodney Montague moved to Los Angeles in 1853,
while Henry Zenas Osborne moved to the area in 1878. Montague was a farmer; Osborne owned the Los Angeles Evening Express
and was a Congressman for California's 10th Congressional District from 1917 until his death in 1923. His son, Henry Zenas
Osborne, Jr., married Montague's grandaughter, Lilian Montague in 1906. The collection contains correspondence, business papers,
financial records, artifacts, photographs, newspapers, and ephemera from the various families represented.
A list of the books separated from the collection is available on-site.
[Box/folder# or item name], Osborne-Montague family papers, Collection no. 0190, Regional History Collection, Special Collections,
USC Libraries, University of Southern California.
The Osborne-Montague family papers were donated by the estate of Hortense Marie Osborne Tingstad upon her death in 1992.
The collection contains published materials; researchers are reminded of the copyright restrictions imposed by publishers
on reusing their articles and parts of books. It is the responsibility of researchers to acquire permission from publishers
when reusing such materials. The copyright to unpublished materials belongs to the heirs of the writers. Permission to publish,
quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.
The Osborne-Montague family papers contains the papers of four generations of the Osborne and Montague families. The collection
contains personal correspondence, financial and business records, photographs, ephemera, publications, scrapbooks, newspaper
clippings, and artifacts. Please see the scope and content notes for each individual series for more information on what is
contained therein.
Henry Zenas Osborne was born in New Lebanon, New York on October, 4, 1848 and married Helen Annas of Cazenovia, New York,
in 1872. In 1878, they moved to Bodie, California, where Henry was the editor and publisher of the
Bodie Free Press. In 1884, the family moved to Los Angeles, where he spent 13 years as the editor and publisher of the
Los Angeles Evening Express. From 1898 to 1906, he was a US Marshal for the Southern District of California, and he served as a Representative of California's
10th Congressional District from 1917 until his death in 1923. While in Congress, Henry served on the Committees for Rivers
and Harbors and for Appropriations. He was the last Union veteran of the Civil War to serve in Congress. He and his wife,
Helen, had four sons, Sherrill Blaisdell (1873-1949), Henry "Harry" Zenas, Jr. (1875-1948), Clarence Bristol (1881-1950),
and Raymond Gaylord (1885-1955), and one daughter, Edith Helene (1883-1960). All of his children attended Stanford University.
Helen Annas Osborne was born in Cazenovia, New York in 1849.
Sherrill was an attorney. He married Anna Lois Narver in 1905 and settled in Laguna Beach. They had one son and three daughters.
Clarence was a geologist and mining engineer. He married Lolita Lovejoy (1888-1985), in 1914. They had one son named Henry
Z. Osborne III.
Raymond was a testing engineer with chemical and physical laboratories in the Marsh-Strong Building in Los Angeles. He married
Frances Strowbridge (1896-1973) in 1920.
Edith Osborne married Samuel S. Stahl, a highway engineer from Sacramento, in 1914. He was a friend of Clarence. They had
two children, Osborne and Nancy.
Henry "Harry" Zenas, Jr., received his A.B. in Civil Engineering from Stanford in 1897. While at Stanford, Harry wrote for
the
Los Angeles Evening Express and the
Daily Palo Alto. He also attended law school at the University of Southern California for two and a half years, but did not graduate. From
1902-1919, he worked for the Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering in a variety of capacities, including serving as the Chief
Deputy Engineer for a period of eight months in 1903. Most of the projects he worked on involved street improvements and paving.
From 1919-1923, he served as the Chief Engineer for the Board of Public Utilities. In 1922 he served as the Executive Chairman
of the Los Angeles Traffic Commission. After his father's death in 1923, Harry ran for his seat in Congress, but lost. After
losing the election, he formed an engineering consulting firm with Walter E. Jessup. The firm of Osborne & Jessup was involved
with a number of development projects, including the Greater Jefferson-Exposition Boulevard Improvement Association, the Beverly
Drive Improvement Association and the Venice Boulevard Improvement Association. The partnership was dissolved in 1933. From
1933 to 1940 Harry was a structural draftsman for the Los Angeles Bureau of Power & Light. From 1941 until his death in 1948,
Harry held a variety of positions with the Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering.
Harry married Lilian Montague Osborne in 1907 and they had two children--Hortense Montague Osborne Tingstad (1909-1992) and
William Montague Osborne (1925-1986).
Lilian Montague Osborne was born in 1885 in Los Angeles, California to Henry Kemp and Hortense Caleff Montague. She attended
30th Street Elementary School, Los Angeles High School and Stanford University. Lilian was an active member of the Women's
University Club, the Women's Athletic Club, the California Congress of Parents and Teachers, and the Wilshire Council of the
PTA. She and her husband, Henry Zenas Osborne, Jr., had two children--Hortense Marie, born 1909, and William Montague, born
1925. Lilian passed away in 1959.
William Montague Osborne was born in Los Angeles in 1925. He attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo from 1943-1946, where he studied
engineering. He did not serve in World War II because he had a bad back and was classified 4-F. He married Bette McConnell
in 1946 and they had three children.
Hortense Marie Osborne Tingstad was born on July 19, 1909 in Los Angeles. She attended the Girl's Collegiate School and then
graduated with a BA in political science from the University of Southern California in 1931. She worked for various welfare
departments of the state of California until her retirement in 1967. She married Edward Maurice Tingstad, of Detroit, Michigan,
in 1946. In 1977 Edward was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. Hortense's experience with the disease led her to establish
the Alzheimer's Disease Research Fund at the Andrus Gerontology Center in May of 1982. Her husband passed away later that
year. In 1990, she received an Alumni Service Award from USC's General Alumni Association. Hortense passed away in Los Angeles
in 1992.
Hortense Caleff Montague was born in 1855 in Minnesota. Her family moved to Riverside sometime after 1867. She moved to Los
Angeles after marrying William Henry Montague (1849-1890) on May 18, 1880. She and her husband had three daughters--Stella
Montague Schneider (b. 1881), Lilian Montague Osborne, and Helene Montague Collin (b. 1890). After her husband passed away
in 1890, Hortense managed his estate, which included real estate in Pomona, Los Angeles and Alameda, until her death in 1910.
Peter Mowatt Caleff was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts (Maine) in 1818. In 1853, he married Elizabeth Truax, who was born
in 1833 in Montreal, Canada. They settled in San Bernardino sometime after 1867. They had two daughters, Hortense Caleff Montague
and Emma V. Caleff (b. 1861), and a son, George Caleff (b. 1867). Emma Caleff never married. She was a school teacher. Peter
Caleff passed away in 1892. Rodney Montague was born on August 6, 1800 in Wilmington, Vermont. He moved west to Illinois in
1822, and settled in Ohio in 1835. In 1843 he married Eunice P. Denison, of Brooklyn, Ohio. They had two sons, Newell Smith
Montague (b. 1847) and William Henry Kemp Montague (1847-1890) before she passed away in 1848. In 1850, Rodney continued his
westward travels, settling in Gainesville, Texas. He returned to Ohio in 1853 to marry his wife's sister, Louisa Denison.
After reaching California in 1856, the Montagues settled in Los Angeles, where Rodney purchased 35 acres of land at Adams
and Main Street. He raised nursery stock and grew fruit. Louisa died in 1871; Rodney passed away on March 6, 1886. They were
both Spiritualists who believed they could contact the spirits of people who had passed away.
The papers of Henry Zenas Osborne (1848-1923) and his children can also be found in the following collections: the Henry Zenas
Osborne Papers (Collection 772) at UCLA's Charles E. Young Research Library; in the Papers of Henry Z. Osborne, 1878-1924
(mssHM 61755-62462, HM 62477) at the Henry E. Huntington Library; in the Osborne Family Papers (SC 636) at Stanford University's
Department of Special Collections and University Archives; and in the Henry Zenas Osborne Papers, 1870-1922 (BANC MSS 73/191c)
at UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
American Society of Civil Engineers. -- Archives
California Congress of Parents, Teachers, and Students, Inc.. -- Archives
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. -- Archives
Collin, Helene Montague -- Archives
Los Angeles (Calif.). Board of Public Utilities. -- Archives
Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. -- Archives
Montague, Hortense Caleff -- Archives
Montague, Rodney -- Archives
Osborne, Clarence B., (Clarence Bristol) -- Archives
Osborne, Helen Annas -- Archives
Osborne, Henry Zenas, 1848-1923 -- Archives
Osborne, Henry Zenas, Jr. -- Archives
Osborne, Lilian Montague -- Archives
Osborne, Raymond G., (Raymond Gaylord) -- Archives
Osborne, Sherrill B., (Sherill Blaisdell) -- Archives
Osborne, William Montague -- Archives
Schneider, Stella Montague -- Archives
Stanford University. School of Engineering. -- Archives
Stanford University. School of Law. -- Archives
Tingstad, Hortense Marie Osborne -- Archives
Women's University Club, Los Angeles. -- Archives
Balboa Island (Newport Beach, Calif.)
Civil engineering--California--Archival resources
Clippings
Clothing
Coronado (Calif.)
Correspondence
Legal instruments
Legislators--United States--Correspondence
Los Angeles (Calif.)--Genealogy
Los Angeles (Calif.)--History--Archival resources
Los Angeles (Calif.)--Politics and government--Archival resources
Maps
Negatives (photographic)
Pamphlets
Photograph albums
Photographs
Political candidates--California--Archival resources
Printed ephemera
Receipts (financial records)
Scrapbooks