A house now sits atop the hill where the Jeremiah Osborne cemetery was located off Banner Farm Road in Horse Shoe.
The three known marked headstones of Jeremiah Osborne (1772-1857), his first wife, Ann Blythe Osborne, and his second wife, Mary “Polly” Ray Osborne, can be found inside a small, wooded garden spot in the center of a circular driveway in front of the house.
The majority of this cemetery was destroyed. It is not known if the place where the headstones are located today is the actual burial site, or if the headstones were moved to this location.
There were other graves with field stones, according to persons who remember visiting and seeing the cemetery, and also noted within other early documents.
One of the destroyed graves was that of Rebecca Osborne (1805-1838), a daughter of Jeremiah Osborne who married Alexander McCall. Her grave site was located in the “Osborne Family Cemetery” in Henderson County. Her grave stone was seen and noted before the destruction, with the date of death inscribed.
Early documents and records indicate there was also possibly a nearby slave cemetery.
Jeremiah Osborne was born Dec. 24, 1772, in Augusta County, Virginia. Today, this was most likely in West Virginia. It may have been in what is today Kentucky. Originally, Augusta County was a vast territory with an indefinite western boundary. Most of what are now West Virginia and Kentucky were formed from it. He was the son of Jeremiah Osborne and Mary Newman.
He arrived in the area of what is now Henderson County, prior to 1790. He is listed on the 1790 census for Rutherford County. This is the section that later became Henderson County.
On July 26, 1791, his first of many land deeds appears when he enters the first of hundreds of acres. This entry is for land on the French Broad River, at “the Nob.” This is today’s Horse Shoe area of the county.
His first wife, Ann Blythe Osborne, died in 1837. The couple had 11 children. He then married Mary “Polly” Ray in 1840. They had no children. There is a marked grave stone for Mary “Polly” Ray Osborne at this cemetery, but the death date is not discernible.
Documentation has been found of a store prior to the formation of Hendersonville owned by the Osborne family near the Old Buncombe Turnpike, near today’s Stoney Mountain Road.
Jeremiah Osborne was one of the early political leaders of Henderson County.
He was appointed the ranger for Henderson County when the county was formed. A ranger was in charge of collecting and taking care of stray horses, cattle, hogs, sheep and other things. There were provisions in the law that described efforts that should be taken to find the rightful owner of the livestock, through public notices, etc. If no owner was located in a year, then the livestock was sold and the county received the money. The ranger received a payment for this job.
In 1839, a year after the state created its first public school system; the counties were divided into school districts. In the list for the districts within Henderson County, there were 31 school districts. District 18 reads as follows:
“Begins at the French Broad River below David Haddon’s thence along the dividing ridge between the waters of Crab Creek and Willow Creek to the head of Mud Creek thence with the dividing ridge between Willow Creek and Mud Creek to the head of Shaw’s Creek leaving Samuel Evans in 17 district thence along the dividing ridge between Willow Creek and Shaw’s Creek west of the French Broad River below Jeremy Osborne thence up the same to the beginning. The following gentlemen are appointed School Committeemen for number 18, namely: James Blythe, Richard Sentell and John Davis Jr.
In 1850, Jeremiah Osborne is listed as owning eight slaves and seven slaves in 1860.
Children of Jeremiah Osborne and Ann Blythe Osborne:
1. Nancy Osborne (1794-1879) married William Wood(s). This couple moved to Hiawassee, Towns County, Ga. There are at least 10 children documented. She died between 1870 and 1880. Her grave site was not located.
2. Ruth Osborne (1795-1887) married Lambert Clayton Orr. This couple lived in the Etowah community of Henderson County. They had at least three documented children. Her grave site is at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Cemetery in Etowah.
3. Mary Osborne (1797-1869) married Leonard Cagle. This couple lived in Transylvania County. They had 10 children. Her grave site is at the Davidson River Cemetery in Transylvania County.
4. Jesse Osborne (1799-1894) married Synthia J. Murray. The family moved to Towns County, Ga. The couple had 11 documented children. His grave site is at Osborn Cemetery in Hiawassee, Towns County, Ga.
5. James Osborne (1801-1852) married Ann Johnson. The family lived in Towns County, Ga. The couple had 12 children according to the estate settlement of his father. His grave site is at Lower Hightower Baptist Church Cemetery in Hiawassee, Towns County, Ga.
6. John Osborne (1803-1892) married Rebecca Murray. The family lived in the Mills River community of Henderson County and had 10 children. His grave site is at Mills River Presbyterian Church Cemetery.
7. Rebecca Osborne (1805-1838) married Alexander McCall. The couple had four children. She died Nov. 3, 1838, in Henderson County. Her grave site was located in the “Osborne Family Cemetery” in Henderson County. Her grave stone was seen and noted before the destruction, with the date of death inscribed
8. Franklin Champion Osborne (1807-1864) married Laureat (maiden name not known). The couple moved to Gap Creek, Greenville County, S.C. He was a member of the Senior Reserves during the Civil War, assigned to 10th S.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. He was injured in the thigh in Tennessee and in the Invalid Corps in November 1864. There is also a record for a C. Osborne as a prisoner of war. He may have been captured while serving in a Confederate hospital at the end of the war. Persons assigned to the Invalid Corps served in Confederate hospitals. He apparently never returned home from the war. No death record was located.
9. Jane Osborne (1809-1851) married John Rickman. The couple moved to Gilmer County, Ga., after the birth of their first two children. They had five children. She died a couple of weeks after the birth of her last child in Gilmer County, Ga. Her grave site was not located.
10. Margaret Elizabeth Osborne (1811-1895) married Robert Franklin Orr. The couple had eight children. They lived in the section of Henderson County that later became Transylvania County. After the death of her husband, she lived for a time with a daughter in Haywood County. Her grave site was not located.
11. Charlotte Osborne (1815-after 1880) married William Coffee Berry. The couple lived in Cullowhee, Jackson County. A grave site was not located.