"She was a Published Poet and Songwriter.
She never trusted banks after the Depression and kept all of her and David's cash "stashed" in different areas of their Rooming House. That Rooming House was located at: 1501 Adams Avenue in LaGrande, Oregon. She kept a "spotless" house and loved to shine the stair banister by sitting on a rag and sliding down...Much to the amusement and delight of all of her Grandchildren.
Bertha, like her mother, Nancy, was definitely the "controlling" fact or in all decisions made by and for the family . Almost all of the financial decisions were made by Bertha.
Bertha grew hard of hearing and used a hearing aid only when it was absolutely necessary. She complained of earaches up until her death.
She died of colon cancer, in January of 1957. ."
"Aunt Kate lived in a huge home in Walla Walla, Washington that she had turned into a rooming house.
The family story goes; Her brief marriage to Mr. Murcheson ended when he stole the "egg money" and ran off with another woman. The full details will forever remain a mystery . "
From the WorldConnect Database: "Findleys, Osborns, Garns a nd Holmquists", by RoseLee:.1
"Uncle "Roe" lived in a little cabin across the road from t he old Garn place. When I was a small child, we lived on t he Garn place for about a year. I used to sneak across th e road to visit Uncle Roe and he would stuff my pockets ful l of cookies and send me home. "
--from the WorldConnect Database: "Findleys, Osborns, Garns a nd Holmquists", by RoseLee:.1
"Bio. of D.A. Osborn
The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912, Gaston, Chicag o, The S.J. Clark Publishing Co., 1912. Vol. ?, page 868.
(transcript)
D.A. OSBORN, who is a representative agriculturist of Umatilla county, was born in that county, January 17, 1872, a son of A.R. and Satirah A. (McDowell) Osborn. The mother wa s born in Ohio but the father was born while his parents were crossing the plains in 1842. They are still living in this state. To them were born ten children, seven of whom yet survive.
D.A. Osborn received a common-school education and remained at home until he was twenty-seven years of age, when he began farming for himself, and has since continued in that o ccupation. He now operates a tract of eight hundred acre s of land and is engaged in general farming.
In 1898 Mr. Osborn married Miss Bertha Garn, who was born in Union county and is a daughter of E. D. and N. M. (Eldredge) Garn. Her father is a native of Ohio and her mother o f Wyoming. The parents came to Oregon in 1879 and located in Union county, where they are still residing. In their family were five children, four of whom are yet living . Mr. and Mrs. Osborn are the parents of three children: Irene L., born January 10, 1900; David C., born January 19 , 1906; and Bonnie B., born September 29, 1910.
In politics Mr. Osborn is a republican and gives much attention to the interests of education, having served as a member of the school board. Mrs. Osborn was reared in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Osborn is one o f the representative citizens of his county, and all with w hom he comes in contact accord him the highest respect and esteem.
Grandfather was a short, stout man with the bluest eyes I e ver saw. I loved spending time with him, even though we said very little to one another. I was always curious about the little round can he carried in the bib pocket of his overalls. He would take out his very small pocket knife , cut a little piece off the wedge he took from the can, place it in his mouth and chew. He had a look of pure extasy when he started to chew. I finally asked him if I migh t have a piece. He hesitated, grinned and gave me a very small bite. I was sick for hours and gramps was in trouble with grandmother.
The night that he died, instead of telling his son Iren (whom he lived with) "goodnight", he told him "goodbye". Uncle Iren thought nothing of it until a few hours later, when he found his father had passed away.
From the WorldConnect Database: "Findleys, Osborns, Garns a nd Holmquists", by RoseLee:.
"Times were difficult and Iren and his younger brother David knew they had to find work. They heard of an opportunity to join a crew of lumberjacks and although their knowledge of that profession was meager, they jumped at the chance to earn an honest dollar. Almost the entire crew, with the exception of Iren and David were very large Swedes...and as David said.."with strange senses of humor". Iren and David had worked very hard all day on their first day and were both constantly harassed by the rest of the crew because of their short stature and Scotch/Irish backgroud. David pretty much ignored them, but Iren (David referred to him as a "Hot-blooded Irishman".) was not "enjoying the hi-j inx in the least....David KNEW something ominous was going to happen. After supper, served in a large mess hall, Iren and David fell into bed and slept like logs.
The next morning at breakfast, one of the Swedes said something particularly derogatory, about the Osborn brothers, to the rest of the crew, got up from his chair, and walked over to Iren and dumped his breakfast in Iren's lap. At this point, David was shaking in his boots, because he KNEW that Iren was not going to take that sitting down. Then, Iren grinned, stood up, brushed the food from his clothing and picked up the plate. David stood up also..ready to run f r the door. Iren then, with the plate in his hand, strolled over to the offending Swede and unceremoniouslys mashed it on the back of his head, nearly knocking the Swede unconscious. Every Swede in the room rose to their feet. David had taken a small revolver with him when they went to the woods and had it on his person that morning. David immediately grabbed Iren by the shirt, brandished the revolver and drug him out the mess hall door. They literally ran for the hills, leaving all their other belongings in the bunkhouse...never to return... with Iren "sputtering" (as David "put it "), every step of the way.