Oldroyd, Osborn H. (Osborn Hamiline), 1842-1930

Infantryman in the Twentieth Ohio Infantry during the American Civil War, later the custodian of Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois, and renow Lincoln collector.

From the description of Collection, f 1880-1882. (Fisk University). WorldCat record id: 40121882

Oldroyd was an author and publisher of Abraham Lincoln books and a collector of Lincoln artifacts.

From the description of Papers, 1919. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library). WorldCat record id: 268661679

O. H. Oldroyd was a publisher in Washington, D.C. He collected Lincoln memorabilia.

From the description of Letter to Horace Howard Furness, Jr., 1922. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 155884519

Osborn H. I. Oldroyd (1842-1930) was a Civil War seargent, writer, and collector of Lincoln memorabilia. He enlisted in the 20th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1861, at the age of 19 and joined the Union Army at Camp Chase, Ohio in October of that year. During his time in the Grand Army of the Republic, Oldroyd kept a journal of military events and personal recollections. In 1885 he published portions of this under the title A Soldier’s Story of the Siege of Vicksburg. The text describes the 65 day Vicksburg Campaign, often considered the turning point in the Civil War, beginning with Grant’s arrival on the East bank of the Mississippi River on May 1, 1863 and concludes with the Confederate surrender of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863. After leaving the G.A.R. in 1865 due to asthma-related illness, Oldroyd served as Steward of the National Soldiers’ Home in Dayton, Ohio.

Oldroyd married Lida A. Stoneberger in 1873 and the two had one daughter, Daisy Oldroyd. The family moved to Springfield, Illinois and rented the former home of Abraham Lincoln, which Oldroyd converted into The Lincoln Museum in 1884. On view was Oldroyd’s expanding collection of Lincoln memorabilia. After the Lincoln home was donated to the State of Illinois in 1893, Oldroyd moved his family and Lincoln collection to the Peterson House in Washington, D.C., where Lincoln died. He sold the 3,000 piece collection to the U.S. government for $50,000 in 1925. The government moved the collection to the Ford Theatre, where Lincoln had been assassinated.

Oldroyd published The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1917. The narrative account of Lincoln’s death became a quick popular success.

Oldroyd died in 1930 at the age of 88.

From the guide to the Lincoln Collection. Osborn H. Oldroyd. Collection, 1830-1929, (Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.)