Osborne, John G.

The following data is extracted from Racine, Belle City of the lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement.

John G. Osborne, president and treasurer of the Lakeside Malleable Castings Company, of Racine, was born Ill Milwaukee, October 2, 1878, a son of W. H. and Ada (Goodrich) Osborne, of Milwaukee, where the father is president of the Wisconsin Malleable Iron Company. He was a son of W. H. Osborne, who removed to southern Michigan about the year 1840. The maternal grandfather of our subject was John R. Goodrich, who established his home in Milwaukee in 1850.

John G. Osborne attended the Milwaukee Academy and afterward entered the University of Wisconsin from which he was graduated in 1900 with the Bachelor of Letters degree. During his university course he specialized in chemistry and his training in that direction was a step toward his present success. His practical business experience came to him through three years connection with the 'Wisconsin Malleable Iron Company, of Milwaukee. and in 1903 he came to Racine aiding in the organization of the Lakeside Malleable Castings Company, of which William Horlick became the president; W. H. Osborne, vice president; and John G. Osborne, secretary and treasurer. The plant is located at Lakeside, Mount Pleasant, on the Chicago & Northwestern railway. It covers five acres and the buildings are all modern in construction and equipment. They make malleable castings of all kinds and seventy-five per cent of the product is sold out of Racine, being shipped to manufacturers exclusively. Something of the extent and volume of their trade is indicated by the fact that they now employ three hundred people, fifty per cent of whom are skilled workmen. The present officers of the company are John G. Osborne, president and treasurer; Robert P. Freeman, of Milwaukee, vice president; and William P. Marr, secretary. In the thirteen years of its existence the business has steadily developed and it is today one of the concerns which add to Racine's reputation as a great manufacturing center.

In 1911 John G. Osborne was united in marriage to Winifred Smith, a daughter of Thomas H. and Anna D. Smith, of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. The children of this marriage are Jane, John O., Jr., Ann, Margaret and Marietta. The family are members of St. John's Cathedral, of Milwaukee, the family home being maintained in that city. Mr. Osborne is a republican in his political views and he belongs to the University Club of Milwaukee. His early business training well qualified him for the life of activity in which he is now engaged. He is familiar with every phase of the business and readily discriminates between the essential and non-essential so that in the control of his interests he has so managed affairs that substantial results have accrued.

Source: Racine, Belle City of the lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement

  Go Back