Wilbur Fiske Osborne


MAJOR WILBUR
FISKE OSBORNE
CIVIL WAR OFFICER
BUSINESSMAN

FATHER
OF
DERBY NECK LIBRARY

Major Wilbur Fiske Osborne (pictured above) was one of the great business leaders of the community prior to his death on March 30, 1907. However, his greatest legacy is the Derby Neck Library which he pioneered through his original work as a teacher in a small mission school in the Derby Neck section of town. When that school closed, he and others decided to form a "Circulating Library" for area residents with the books that had been used in the mission school. That was accomplished in June, 1897 and eventually resulted in the building of the Derby Neck Library. The sad part of the story is that he died before the new library building was completed. His name adorns the front of the building along with Andrew Carnegie.

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