William H. Osborn

William Henry Osborn (December 21, 1820 – March 2, 1894) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was a railroad tycoon who, as head of the Illinois Central Railroad and later the Chicago, St. Louis and New Orleans Railroad, became one of the most prominent railroad leaders in the United States. A friend and patron of the painter Frederic Edwin Church, he was an avid art collector. His two sons went on to become presidents of prominent museums in New York City. Early life Osborn was born to a farming family on December 21, 1820, in Salem, Massachusetts, where he was educated. He was the son of William Osborn and Lucy (née Bowditch) Osborn. His first paternal American ancestor in the United States was William Osborn, who moved from England in 1684 and settled in Salem. From his mother's family, he was probably descended from the Salem navigator, Nathaniel Bowditch. Career Osborn began his career with the Boston East India shipping company. In 1841, he went to Manila as a junior partner in the firm of Peel, Hubbell & Co. After ten years working in business in the Philippines, he took a financial interest in the Illinois Central Railroad in 1854. The Illinois Central, the first land grant railroad in the United States, was on the verge of bankruptcy in the wake of a stock scandal known as the Schuyler frauds that was connected with the New York and New Haven Railroad. One year after joining the railroad's board of directors, he was elected president, a position he held from December 1, 1855, until July 11, 1865.