CHAPTER THREE Eliza (Redmond) Osborn Founder, Greenwood Methodist Church Greenwood, South Carolina 7 May 2022
I. Who Eliza Was and What She Did
Eliza (Redmond) Osborn was born Christmas Day 1811 and died 15 June 1887. Her husband Milton was born 28 April 1811 and died 23 June 1891. They were buried in Bethlehem Cemetery, a Methodist cemetery about seven miles northeast of Greenwood. The cemetery sits back from the road. Eliza’s grave is in Section D at the rear. Her husband was buried in an adjoining grave. Their son, daughter-in- law and infant grandson were buried nearby. Their grave markers spelled the family name Osborne. 1 Photos, Eliza (Redmond) Osborn’s son, Leonard Augustus “Gus” or “L.A.” Osborn, and son, daughter-in-law Mary Elizabeth (Pinson) Osborn and Pinson family Courtesy: L. Brabham Dukes, Jr. All Greenwood authors who wrote about the founding of Greenwood Methodist Church named Eliza a founder. To James F. Davis and George C. Hodges, she was Eliza Osborn. To C.M. Calhoun, she was Mrs. Milton Osborn. To W.K. Charles, Sr., S.H. McGhee, Rev. Harry R. Mays and H.L. Watson, she was Mrs. Milton Osborne. This consistent identification is remarkable, especially because their accounts of the founding of the church were written over a period of nearly 100 years. Eliza was one of only two all authors agreed was a founder. Caroline Rebecca (Redmond) Mounce, her half-sister, was the other. These Redmond 1 “Sketch of Bethlehem M.E. Church and Its School and Cemetery Located Near Town of Coronaca,” The (Greenwood, South Carolina) Index Journal , 9 July 1933, online archives (https://www.newspapers.com) : 12 May 2019), p. 3, cols. 2-4. Also, Greenwood County, South Carolina, Cemetery Records , 3 vols. (Greenwood: Old Ninety Six District Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society, 1996, 2008, 2010), 3:1, 20. Also, Ancestry, Find A Grave , database with images (http://www.findagrave.com : 10 April 2019), memorial 79600160, Eliza Osborne [Osborn], Bethlehem Cemetery, Coronaca, Greenwood County, South Carolina; gravestone photograph by Jim Ravencraft.
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