DOB:  1850 DOD:  April 23, 1923 Comments: Osborne was born in Williamson County and was a slave to Thompson Cunningham.  Osborne’s exact year of birth is uncertain since he does not fill it out on his pension application and no one knew on his death certificate.  Using census records it seems to be 1850 or around that time.  In 1861, his master’s son, William, joined the Williamson Grays, Co. D of the 1st Tennessee.  By 1862, William had been promoted to Quartermaster Sergeant of the 1st Tennessee and his regiment came back to Tennessee from Virginia.  An article in the 1921 volume of the Confederate Veteran states, “Osborne Cunningham, a faithful servant of of Dr. McNeilly’s family at present, ran away as a boy of twelve years old to be with his master, William Cunningham, of Williamson County, and served him loyally during the war and since.”  It is uncertain if Osborne really ran away to join William, but Osborne does state on his application he joined William in 1862.  Anthony Camp, who was also a Quartermaster in the 1st Tennessee, picked up Ephriam Otey in Nov. 1862 from Franklin and at the same time Lieutenant Loving Woldridge was in Franklin recruiting and conscripting men for the regiment.  So, there is a strong indication that Osborne went to William at the end of 1862 at the same time, while the army was camped around Murfreesboro.  During the war it is presumed Osborne went everywhere William did.  William was wounded at the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864, but his wounds were not serious enough for him to be left behind when the Army retreated from Tennessee.  William surrendered at the end of the war in 1865.  The 1st Tennessee went back to Nashville as a unit, reaching the city at the end of May before disbanding and all heading their separate directions.  Osborne obviously would have accompanied William during this trip.  The Confederate Veteran article states that Osborne served William loyally after the war, but nothing has come up to show how much contact the two had.  William moved to Hermitage, TN while at the same time Osborne continued living in Franklin. On November 11, 1866, Osborne married Harriett Cunningham, who probably belonged to the same family and therefore had the same last name.  She died sometime shortly after and Osborne married Julia Brown on May 30, 1875 in Williamson County.  There is no evidence that Osborne had children with either woman, though it looks like Julia had a child from a previous marriage that Osborne helped care for.  In the 1880 census, William is working as a domestic servant, in 1900 he is working as a hostler, and in 1910 he is working as a coachman in Nashville.  By the time he applied for a pension in 1921, he states, “My income is uncertain depending on jobs in Nashville.”  Henry Cook of the 1st Tennessee and later the 44th Tennessee vouched for his service, as well as Wirt Courtney of the 32nd Tennessee Infantry.  Osborne’s death certificate states he died from a blow to the left side of his head by a gun, homicide.  Based on the death certificate, it appears what ever altercation caused Osborne’s death occurred in Franklin and he was brought back to Nashville where an autopsy was performed at Hubbard Hospital, a black hospital near Fisk University.  His death certificate states he was buried in Franklin, presumably at the city’s black cemetery, Toussaint L'Ouverture. I discovered this site by Tina Jones who has done far more research on Osborne Cunningham and has more information about him.  You can view her site at:  http://usctwillcotn.blogspot.com/2016/10/osborne-cunningham-body-servant-to.html. 

Left: Osborne mentioned in the 1921 volume of the Confederate Veteran Right: August 3, 1923 edition of the Tennessean stating Osborne had been dropped from the rolls of the pension office due to his death.  He listed with fellow 1st Tennessee body servant George McEwen.  Both names are listed in the right column.