George Draper Osgood is a bit of a mystery. He was a Harvard honor student and graduate, but it appears that he never worked. In the street listing books, he was always given as "at home." When his mother and sister were living at The Larches, he was there. Later he was at Dana's home, Lawlah, which by the mid-twentieth century was well known in town as The Harel House. It seems that he was living there alone for many years in what has often been described as a big, spooky old place. He's in the books through 1952, and then disappears. I couldn't find any more about Osgood until the obituary below turned up. Also, the picture, in an album done by Dorothy Draper Gannett, mother of Bill Gannett. You'll see that it says "deaf and dumb from birth." Consider that, along with the clipping above, and there must be quite a story about his life, but all I've ever seen is what you see here. In the 1934 street listing book, George is given as 46 and at home. Austin Osgood was 22, a student. By 1945 George was the only Osgood still named in the books. |
The former Osgood house/Harel House on Jackson Way (original address was Greene Street) c. 2000. |