M. H. OSBURN, M. D. There are always in the medical profession some individuals who become eminent and command a large patronage, and among those who deserve special recognition is Dr. M. H. Osburn, whose face is a familiar one in the home of the sick and afflicted. He has practiced his profession in his section of Missouri for twenty years and his name has become almost a household word.
He is a Georgian by birth, born March 27, 1838 a son of Ectyl and Cynthia (Nelson) Osburn, who were born in the Palmetto State and Georgia, respectively. The paternal grandfather, William Osburn, was born in South Carolina also, was of English-Irish descent, and throughout life followed the occupation of farming, to which occupation he reared his son, Ectyl. The latter, with his wife, emigrated to Missouri in 1867 and settled on a farm three miles from Rome, but eventually died in Ozark County, Missouri, in 1886. He was a minister of the Missionary Baptist Church for a number of years, and during the great Civil War was a member of a Tennessee regiment. His wife, who was a daughter of Wiley Nelson, died in 1883, after having borne him ten children, the following of whom are living: Dr. M. H.,G. W.,J.H.E., Howell C., Mariah, Frances and Mary A. Those deceased are William N., Sarah J. and Cynthia C.
The boyhood days of Dr. Osburn were passed in the State of his birth, and there he received such education as could be obtained in the common schools of that section and period. At the age of twenty-two years he went to Ohio, thence to Illinois; in 1867 located in Berry County, Missouri, and at the end of five years came to Douglas County and has made his home at Roy ever since. His professional education was acquired in the St. Louis Medical College, and in the year 1870 he did his first work as a physician, and has since practiced all branches of his profession. His experience as a medical practitioner has extended over a period of twenty-two years and during this time he has had many difficult cases under his care, in the conduct of which he has always acquitted himself with credit. He is always quick to see and prompt to act, is accurate in the diagnosis of his cases and in his treatment is bold and prompt, yet always sure. In 1864 he served four months in the One Hundred and Forty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and since the war has been a stanch Republican in politics, and for some time has been a member of Roy Post No. 307 of the G. A. R., and holds the position of post surgeon.
He was married in Georgia to Miss Eliza J. Dodd, a daughter of William and Eliza Dodd, both of whom died in that State, and in which State Mrs. Osburn was born. She and her husband have six children: Almer 0., Cynthia E., William H., Emily, Alice and Sarah. The Doctor and his wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and are prominent in the social circles in which they live. The Doctor owns a good farm of eighty acres and also has other valuable property.