Osborne
Osborne can lay claim to being the
only city in the Solomon River valley to be founded by a colony.
On April 10, 1871, under the leadership of Colonel William Bear
and Major Henry Markley, a scouting party of 44 men, women, and
children rom Berks and Lancaster Counties in Pennsylvania left
Lancaster on a train bound for Kansas, where they sought a place
to found a new city. "The Pennsylvania Colony," as they
were called by the newspapermen of the towns they traveled through,
built a strong stockade in the South Fork Solomon River valley
in Osborne County and laid out a new town site on May 1, 1871.
Colonel Bear suggested that the name of the new town be called
Osborne City after Civil War veteran Vincent B. Osborne,
and the later surrounding township to be called Penn
after Pennsylvania founder William Penn. That September the remaining
250 members of the colony arrived from Pennsylvania and the full
colony went about establishing a permanent town.
The Pennsylvania Colony members were
of Moravian, Brethren, and German Church of Christ religious denominations.
They spoke both German and English and often together in a unique
mixture of sound and meaning. German continued to be spoken in
the community until World War I when its use was largely discouraged.
Sources
Information from Von Rothenberger
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