Memorial to May Peabody Osborne, All Saints Church, Bisham, Berkshire.
"In
Memory
of
May Peabody Osborne
beloved wife of
Charles Glidden Osborne.
April 14th 1936.
Under the wide and starry sky,
dig the grave and let me lie,
glad did I live and gladly die.
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me,
here he lies where he longed to be.
Home is the sailor from sea
and the hunter home from the hill."
May Peabody Osborne was born May Henderson Peabody on 28th April 1891 at Evanston, Cook County, Illinois, USA to Francis Stuyvesant Peabody and May Henderson. May first married Addison H Stillwell on 2nd January 1914 at St James Episcopal Church, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, USA.
They were to divorce 1922, The Pittsburg Sun reported on 22nd December 1922:
"Chicago- Mrs. May Henderson Peabody Stilwell [sic], daughter of the late Francis S. Peabody, wealthy coal operator, was granted a divorce today from Addison Stilewll, wealthy lumberman on her charges of desertion."
On 1st September 1923 May married her second husband Charles Glidden Osborne and sailed with him and her children from her first marriage, May Henderson Stillwell, Eleanor Allison Stillwell and Frances Peabody Stillwell, on the Leviathan to England in the October of 1923. Charles's father William McKinley Osborne was the American Consul General in England at the time. Charles had two children from his previous marriage to Martha Gardner, William Mckinley Osborne, and Harry Widener Osborne. In 1928 May and Charle's only child, daughter Mahmea Enid Lolita Osborne was born.
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| May and her brother c1910 |
On 1st September 1923 May married her second husband Charles Glidden Osborne and sailed with him and her children from her first marriage, May Henderson Stillwell, Eleanor Allison Stillwell and Frances Peabody Stillwell, on the Leviathan to England in the October of 1923. Charles's father William McKinley Osborne was the American Consul General in England at the time. Charles had two children from his previous marriage to Martha Gardner, William Mckinley Osborne, and Harry Widener Osborne. In 1928 May and Charle's only child, daughter Mahmea Enid Lolita Osborne was born.
May Peabody Osborne died on 14th April 1936 at her home "Highfields" in Marlow, Buckinghamshire aged just 44 years old. At the time of her death her estate was valued at $500,000, around $11,354,820.14, or £8,997,128 today (2024) On the 24th October 1936 the Chicago Tribune reported:
"May Peabody Will Excludes One Daughter
Three Girls in England get bulk of $500,000
Three Girls in England get bulk of $500,000
Mrs. May Peabody Osborne, sister of Stuyvesant Peabody, Chicago coal operator, left only some jewelery and keepsakes to her eldest daughter, Miss. May Henderson Stillwell, and the bulk of her $500,000 to three other daughters. This was learned yesterday when the will was admitted ancillary probate by Oscar S. Caplan, assistant to the probate judge.
Mrs. Osborne died on April 14 at her estate. Highfields, in Marlow, England. She was 44 years old. She was the wife of Charles Glidden Osborne, to whom she married in 1923, the year after she divorced Addison Stillwell, former Chicago insurance man.
Three Girls in England.
May, the eldest daughter lived with her father in California. The other daughters are living with Mr. Osborne in England. They are Eleanor Allison Osborne, 19 years old; Frances Peabody Osborne, 16 years old, and Mahmea Enid Lolita Osborne, 7. The three eldest girls are daughters of Mr. Stillwell, and the youngest is the daughter of Mr. Osborne.
Mrs. Osborne's estate consists of $250,00 in Cook county and a like amount in New York. Her will directs that after specific bequests the remainder of the estate be placed in a trust for the daughters, and that each receive a third of her share of the principal on her 27th, 31st and 35th birthday anniversary.
Excluded by Codicil
The body of the will was dated March 6, 1935. The eldest daughter was excluded from the trust provision in a codicil dated Jan. 24, 1936. Of the other bequests, the largest, $100,00, was made to Mr. Osborne. The will explained that by antenuptial agreement Mr. Osborne or members of his family were not to share in the fortune of his wife, but the will made the $100,00 gift 'as a slight indication of my love and esteem.'"
It was the verse on May's gravestone, the poem Requiem by Robert Louis Steverson, that caught my eye first. The line, 'under the wide and starry sky, dig the grave and let me lie', struck a chord with me.
It seems a strange verse for someone comparatively young to have on their stone. Odd too to hear of someone moving from the states to England.
ReplyDeleteUsually emigration went the other way around. Seems starnge see swapped the USA for a sleepy Berkshire village.
DeleteTrue; but there a back story for why grandparents moved from the States to the UK.
DeleteNice verse, she died a long way from home.
ReplyDeleteShe did. It is a beautiful verse, especially the first two lines.
DeleteI am not sure I like this verse, but I suppose it reflects this family's belief of a better life in heaven than on earth.
ReplyDeleteWhat is is about the verse you don't like? I'm not sure if I really believe in heaven, which is an odd statement. I am in no way religious, but I would like to think there is something after this.
DeleteI hope the sky is still wide and starry where she lies.
ReplyDeleteIt is. She rests in a beautiful small village churchyard on the banks of the river Thames.
DeleteNah, there's nowt after this. This is all there is, all there ever was, and all there ever will be. Well ... in my opinion, at any rate.
ReplyDeleteMy don't some of the names of her offspring roll off the tongue. It is a smidge confusing with all the maiden names being buffetted around and strung along from one generation to the next. But that name 'Maiimea Enid Lotita' - what a little ripper!
Not one for understated names, where they. I have to admit the tradition of using maiden and surnames as middle names does make research a little easier.
DeleteInteresting verse, I agree. I'm impressed with how much you were able to find out about this woman --- very interesting!
ReplyDeleteThank you, both for visiting my blog and your lovely comment.
DeleteThe vese is from "Requiem" by Robert Louis Stevenson, a significant choice as May was the daughter of F.S. Peabody, US coal millionaire and collector of Stevenson MS. When he dies in 1922, May must have inherited the Stevenson collection, whoch passed on to her husband and was sold at Sotheby's in 1949.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment and the wonderful information.
DeleteThank you for this surprise ; I haven't seen this Marker for easily 45 years.
ReplyDeleteMay Peabody Osborne is my grandmother and died when my mother was only 6 years old.
Wow; this brings back memories
Hi, I’m trying to trace the family of Charles Glidden Osborne as he was the Director of Operations for the American Ambulance Great Britain (AAGB) during the Second World War. They were a humanitarian organisation that used ambulances that had been donated by Americans, to aid the British War effort on the Home Front. The AAGB has been almost totally forgotten, and I am working to try and get it back into the public knowledge. I have recently published a book on the AAGB, written in memory of my great grandmother who was an ambulance driver with the organisation. In a constant effort to find out more about the AAGB I am keen to find out more about Mr Osborne, who was the second most senior person in the AAGB and I hope possibly that if you see this comment you can get in touch as you may be able to help me more as a relative of Mr Osborne. If you are happy to contact me either reply here or email me at: americanambulancegreatbritain@gmail.com Thank you.
DeleteI’m just now reading this thread and realize one of my siblings/cousins wrote a response. May Peabody Osborne was my grandmother and my mother, the most wonderful woman, was Mahmea Enid Lolita Osborne (Alton), 1928-2000.
DeleteI'm researching a gentleman who was possibly engaged to the daughter of Mrs. S. F. Peabody of Chicago. The engagement announcement was at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago in 1920. They never married. She was a Vassar Graduate. Thank you much. carolynjstephens@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteHi, it’s interesting to see your comment. Charles Glidden Osborne was the director of operations for the American Ambulance Great Britain (AAGB) during the Second World War. They were a humanitarian organisation that used ambulances that had been donated by Americans, to aid the British War effort on the Home Front. The AAGB has been almost totally forgotten, and I am working to try and get it back into the public knowledge. I have recently published a book on the AAGB, written in memory of my great grandmother who was an ambulance driver with the organisation. In a constant effort to find out more about the AAGB I am keen to find out more about Mr Osborne, who was the second most senior person in the AAGB and I hope possibly that if you see this comment you can get in touch as you may be able to help me more as a relative of Mr Osborne. If you are happy to contact me either reply here or email me at: americanambulancegreatbritain@gmail.com Thank you.
ReplyDeleteInteresting information about Charles Glidden Osborne, my maternal grandfather. My mother, Mahmea Enid Lolita Osborne (Alton) was a practical nurse during the war. I now wonder if her role was because of father’s family involvement with the ambulance service.
Delete