BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
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Of Herman Melville's four children, only his daughter Frances was married. Frances and her husband Henry B. Thomas had four daughters, of whom one, Frances Cuthbert Thomas, married Abeel Osborne. Frances Osborne had a strong interest in her grandfather, and drew up early recollections of him which are contained in the Osborne Collection. Frances' sister, Eleanor Melville Metcalf, received the bulk of Melville's literary remains, including the manuscript of Billy Budd, which Melville left unfinished at the time of his death.
Frances Osborne, however, bequeathed family memorabilia to her son Walter, items that were inherited in turn by his children and assembled by his son, Duncan Elliott Osborne. These items include materials relating to Herman Melville, and also to the family of his illustrious father-in-law, Judge Lemuel Shaw.
It is noteworthy that mementos of Herman Melville's grandfathers are preserved here. Major Thomas Melvill and General Peter Gansevoort were heroes of the American Revolution, and their reputations continued into the early 19th century.
In all, the Osborne Collection embraces mementos reaching across seven generations of an American family.
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