He Taught Us Well
In his History of Colby College Ernest Marriner '13 notes that of all the names mentioned in The Colby Echo from its founding in 1874 through the end of the century, none appeared more frequently than Samuel Osborne. "Presidents came and went, but Sam stayed on," Marriner wrote. "Professors could dominate the classrooms, but Sam ruled the campus."
A former slave who grew up on a Virginia plantation, Osborne came to Maine in 1865 with Col. Stephen Fletcher, Class of 1859. Colby President James Champlin helped Osborne secure a job with the Maine Central Railroad, and in 1867 Colby hired Osborne as its janitor.
Osborne and his wife, Maria, also a freed slave, raised seven children in Waterville. One, Marion, was the first African-American woman to earn a Colby degree. She was a member of the Class of 1900 and had a notable career as a teacher in Brooklyn, N.Y. Osborne's only son, Edward--another son died in infancy--attended Colby for a year before going on to a long career at the Maine Central Railroad.
According to Marriner, Osborne was paid barely enough to support his family (after nearly 30 years of service he earned $480 per year), but he was renowned at Colby for his generosity. He and Maria invited students to their home for Thanksgiving dinner each year and, more casually, students knew they were free to drop in for meals and snacks provided by Maria. Osborne was a confidant to students and was known for interceding for them with the faculty and administrators.
Osborne also was active in the community and in a local Baptist congregation and was a distinguished member of the local Lodge of Good Templars. In 1902 he was a delegate to the Templars' international convention in Stockholm, Sweden, and was standard bearer for the American contingent.
Many of the stories surrounding Osborne indicate that students often took advantage of his inability to read and write well in order to play tricks on him. But Osborne was clearly a man of tremendous personal warmth and dignity, and no student prank overcame his affection for the College. He knew he was dealing with a kind of adolescent cleverness that is easily shrugged aside. He also seemed to know who was playing whom for a fool. Asked, once, what he'd do when he got to heaven, Osborne said, "I'll take care of my Colby boys." And what if he went to hell? "I'll take care of more Colby boys," he said.
Osborne retired in 1903 and died the following year. His funeral was held in the Colby chapel, and he was eulogized by leading newspapers across New England.