Marriages between Osburn & Christian Families

Location: Wayne, (West) Virginia, United States
Surnames/tags: Osburn Christian Osborne

This free space page is designed to parse out the multiple marriages between the Osburn family and Christian family in Wayne County, (West) Virginia, between 1850-1870.

The need for clarity became evident while reading the secondary source, "Descendants of Allen Christian" (based on "Christian Family Chronicles") which records multiple Osburn women marrying four different Christian brothers:^[1]

• Rebecca Osburn (dates/parents unknown) married Henry Christian (b. 1836) in Wayne County, (West) Virginia, in 1857.^[1]

• Mary "Polly" Osburn (1835-1897, daughter of Thomas Osburn & Millie Dean) married Silas/Sylas Christian (1837-1924) on 09 February 1857 in Wayne County, (West) Virginia.^[1]

• Mary J. Osburn (1851-1930, daughter of Leander Osborne and Elizabeth Yates) married Andrewville/Andrewsville/Anderville/ Christian (1840-1921) on 4 Apr 1867 in Wayne County, West Virginia.^[1]

• Mary Osburn (dates/parents unknown) married Anderson Christian (b. 1844) on 13 October 1864 in Lawrence County, Kentucky.^[1]

Without primary sources, it seemed suspicious to the me (Diane Kenaston) that three brothers all married a "Mary Osburn" and a fourth brother married a "Rebecca Osburn."

So I began researching the Osburns and Christians in the 1870 census and discovered that the two families lived very close to each other in Wayne County, West Virginia. The households that included Osburns or Christians in Wayne County are copied below from the 1860 and 1870 Census. (I occasionally included other surnames when I thought I recognized them from other research.)

The rest of this free space mysteries page will hopefully help to clarify when and how they intermarried. My hope is that as I link each person to their appropriate WikiTree identity, patterns may emerge and gaps in the research be identified.

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CENSUS SEARCH FOR OSBURN & CHRISTIAN IN 1870^[2]

LOCATION: BUTLER, WAYNE, WEST VIRGINIA

COLOR: WHITE (unless otherwise noted)

BIRTHPLACE: VIRGINIA or WEST VIRGINIA (unless otherwise noted)

Census page 3

Household #19

James W Merricks Male 48

Eliza Merricks Female 48

William F Merricks Male 21

James M Merricks Male 18

Polencia H Merricks Female 15

Theadore Merricks, male 12

Virginia Merricks female 9

Edward Christian male 23

Household #20

Spencer Christian Male 69

Elizibeth Christian Female 58 (b. North Carolina)

Anthony Christian Male 18

Census page 17 Household #108

James A Christian Male 28

Hester A Christian Female 25

Mary E Christian Female 5

Joseph A Christian Male 3

Rick [Ruth?] A Christian Female 6months

Census page 20

Household #129

John T Osburn , Male age 36, farming

Louisa Osburn, Female age 21, keeping house

Florence Osburn, Female age 8

Rubie Osburn, Female age 1

Mary J. Crabtree, female age 17, domestic servant

Susan Crabtree, female age 15

Nancy K. Crabtree, female age 11

Census page 21

Household #132

Silas Christian, male age 30, farmer

Polly Christian, female age 35, keeping house

Albert Christian, male age 11, farm hand

James L. Christian, male age 10

Louisa F Christian, female age 7

Joanah Christian, female age 1

Household #133

Alexander Christian Male 62

Elizabeth Christian Female 54

Household #137

Andrvill Christian Male 32, farmer

Mary J Christian Female 21, keeping house

Freelin Christian Male 2

Not named Christian Female 1month

Household #138

Leander Osborn male 45, farmhand

(household continues on next page)

Census page 22

Household #138 (Continued)

Elizabeth Osburn Female 45, keeping house

Payton Osburn Male 23, farmhand

Gates Osburn Male 16, farmhand

Elizabeth Osburn Female 13

Household #139

Walter Osburn Male 29, farming

Martha Osburn Female 23, keeping house

Farro Osburn Male 3

Drusilla Osburn Female 1

Household #140

Millie Osburn Female 60

Sarah Osburn Female 23

Drucilla Osburn female 20

Joannah Osburn Female 18

Elizabeth Osburn Female 16

John Dean Male 11

Household #142

Henry Christian Male 35

Rebecca Christian Female 32

John Christian Male 11

Andervill Christian Male 10

Alexander Christian Male 1

Household #143

Anderson Christian Male 25

Mary Christian Female 25,

Labon Christian Male 4

Laura Workman, female 16, house keeper, born in England

Household #144

Johnathan Dean Male 62

Catheran Dean Female 51

Thomas Dean Male 9

Household #146

Leander Osburn Male 28

Caroline Osburn Female 25

Charles Osburn Male 7

Chilton Osburn Male 5

Abigail Osborn Female 2

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CENSUS SEARCH FOR OSBURN & CHRISTIAN IN 1860^[3]

LOCATION: WAYNE, WEST VIRGINIA

COLOR: WHITE (unless otherwise noted)

BIRTHPLACE: VIRGINIA (unless otherwise noted)

1860 Census page 22

Household #164

Wm J Christian Male 30, farm laborer

Mary Christian Female 24

Belvina Christian Female 4

Benjamin F Christian Male 2

Household #165

Thomas Christian Male 20, farm laborer

Elizabeth Christian Female 20

Mary C Christian Female 3months

1860 Census Page 34

Household #239

Newton Christian Male 27, Farmer

Martha Christian Female 37

Household #240

Elizabeth J Christian Female 15, Domestic

Sarah F Christian Female 8

Mary A Christian Female 7

Missouria Christian Female 5

Viola Christian Female 3

James T Christian Male 9months

Household #241

Mary Christian Female 53, farmer

Perry Christian Male 23, farm laborer

Nancy A Christian Female 20, domestic

Allen Christian Male 17, farm laborer

Isaac Christian Male 14

George W Christian Male 12

1860 Census Page 40

Household #281

Andrew Christian Male 44, farmer

Nancy Christian Female 72

Clabourn Christian Male 17

Lucy Newton Female 19, domestic

1860 Census page 47

Household #331

Spencer Christian Male 58 (born North Carolina), farmer

Elizabeth Christian Female 47

James A Christian Male 18

Edward Christian Male 13

Harrison Christian Male 11

Anthony Christian Male 8

John H Christian Male 5

1860 Census page 131

Household #866, Dwelling #869

John Osburn Male 39, farmer

Nelly Osburn Female 34

Ella Osburn Female 14

John S Osburn Male 11

Cynthia Osburn Female 9

Prudence Osburn Female 6

Mary J Osburn Female 3

Margarett Osburn Female 10months

1860 Census page 139

Household #925 (Dwelling #932)

Abigil Workman Female 38, farmer

Leamder Osburn Male 18, farmer

Mary Osburn Female 16

Stephen Workman Male 10

John Workman Male 8

Laura Workman Female 5

Amos Workman Male 1

1860 Census page 140

Household #928

Thomas Osburn Male 53, farmer

Milly Osburn Female 50

Walter Osburn Male 19

Sarah Osburn Female 13

Druzilla Osburn Female 10

Susannah Osburn Female 8

Elizabeth Osburn Female 6

Household #929

John Osburn Male 27, farmer

Henry Christian Male 23, farmer

Rebeca Christian Female 22

John Christian Male 2

Anderville Christian Male 4months

Household #930

Alexander Christian Male 52, farmer

Elizabeth Christian Female 44

Anderville Christian Male 20

Margarett Christian Female 17

Anderson Christian Male 15

Household #931

Silas Christian Male 22, farmer

Mary Christian Female 20

Albert Christian Male 10months

Household #932

Leander Osburn Male 34, farmer

Elizabeth Osburn Female 30

Payton Osburn Male 12

Mary J Osburn Female 9

Yates Osburn Male 7

Elizabeth Osburn Female 3

Household #934 (Dwelling #941)

Adam Allen, male 24, farmer

Missouria Allen, male 24, Other Race (indecipherable?)

1860 Census page 141

Household #940 (Dwelling #947)

Samuel Osburn Male 30, farmer

Sarah J Osburn Male 24 Other Race

Mariah J Osburn Female 5

Albert Osburn Male 1

1860 Census page 142

Household #947 (Dwelling #954)

Susannah Osburn Female 45, farmer

Joseph Osburn Male 16, farmer

Henry Osburn Male 15

Robert Osburn Male 12

Laffayette Osburn Male 7

Susannah Osburn Female 4

Mack Osburn Male 2

1860 Census page 145

Household #963 (Dwelling #970)

Edmund Osburn Male 41

Isabelle J Osburn Female 31

Walter Osburn Male 20

Cynthia A Osburn Female 17

Martha A Osburn Female 15

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} “Descendants of Allen Christian,” email to Diane Kenaston from Jim Christian, 6 January 2002, with the note “There are numerous sources for this information in the notes of this file, but it seems that Christian Family Chronicles and a genealogy file (GEDCOM maybe) on www.sixranch.com are the two most extensive.” [note 2017: that web address is no longer in existence]. See Christian Family Chronicles, vol. viii, July 1982, p.611
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DTK7-QR6?cc=1438024&wc=92KM-FM6%3A518656501%2C519035301%2C518799501 : 22 May 2014), West Virginia > Wayne > Butler > image 21 of 50; citing NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1860," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GBS6-XNK?cc=1473181&wc=7QK5-T8F%3A1589436503%2C1589424766%2C1589422206 : 24 March 2017), Virginia > Wayne > Not Stated > image 34 of 168; from "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Population," database, Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com : n.d.); citing NARA microfilm publication M653 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).