Verda was my great grandmother on my father's maternal side. I have numerous pictures of her from the time she was 11-12 years old until she was an old woman. She was born on 09 February 1892 in
Lewis County Washington and her family moved to
Fort Worth Texas when she was quite young. She lived the rest of her life in the
Fort Worth area.
Her parents were
Wilber J. Osborne and Mary Elizabeth
McMahan. They were both from
Roane County,
Tennessee, but her father was born in Ohio. Mary's family moved from
Tennessee to Wagner's
Creek,
Oregon in about 1880-1881. Her mother's sister lived close by in
Talent,
Oregon. Wilber followed shortly after and likely by rail. I have a short autobiography from his brother, who also moved west, who said that he had traveled by train to
California I believe,and then by boat up the coast. I presume that
Wilber did the same. Wilber and Mary were married in
Oregon in March of 1882.
Mary's father, Joseph F. McMahan, died scandalously in April of 1883 at his home on Wagner's
Creek. There are newspaper accounts of the event and I'd be happy to share this information with other relatives. His widow, Josephine
Edwards McMahan, and family moved north to an area near present day Mossyrock, WA. They settled the area and
Wilber Osborne ran a general store there.
Her "real" name was
Vida Verda
Osborne, but she mixed those names up however she pleased from the records I've seen. She often referred to herself as Verdie in census records. She married David Iranius
Drake of
Keller,
Texas around 1909. They had five children together and then divorced. I have many letters that she wrote to her husband when they were estranged during their relationship. I also have some that she wrote to his sister, Claudia
Walker Drake, who married Verda's brother, John T. Osborne. Verda never remarried.
Verda was a missionary in New Mexico for many years after she had raised her family of two girls and three boys. She was fondly known to the many that loved and adored her as "
Granny."
Please contact me for photos and any other information on this family.
