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Left is a sample of the types of "Hex Signs" you
are likely to see painted on barns as you travel the backroads of S. Central
PA. Right is a double "Distelfink Bird" thought to bring good luck. Contrary to
popular belief, these symbols where used mainly as artistic expression "chust fur nice",
rather than for obscure religious or supernatural reasons.
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Left is John Landis Osman, my g-Grandfather. On Easter Sunday 1875 John went swimming in a dam
built in a stream near his home. He caught a cold that developled into pneumonia and died the following
July. He was 30 years old. On the right, John Marlin Osman, my father at age four.
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Left is William Osman, my gg-Granduncle. William learned the printing trade in Harrisburg under Jacob Baab.
He moved to Ottawa, IL in 1840, and become one of the country's formost newspaper editors (Ottawa Free Trader).
Right is my g-Granduncle Benewill Osman, a lifelong Lykens Twp. resident, fathering 13 children...no wonder he's sitting down.
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The Osman Burial Grounds, known as "Victor's Patch" is plainly marked on the 1875 Dauphin County Atlas. Right, the site as it
exsists today. The cemetery was completely destroyed in the 1940's, along with it, the names of those buried there. Longtime
Lykens Twp. residents remember seeing 13 tombstones, only a few pieces of which have survived. Your host believes this to be the
site were Robert and Magdalena Osman are buried, as this site was part of Robert's original land grant. It is the Osman Family's
hope that a transcription of the stones can someday be found. The homes of John and Benewill Osman can also be seen.
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