I recently had a message on the answering machine here at the newspaper office that was really exciting to me - and hopefully to any residents inter ested in Osmond history.
The person who called, who identified herself as Pat, said she had some old pictures from the late 1800s/early 1900s of a founding father of this community.
It took a while, but we finally connected and Pat told me the pictures are of Henry J., or H. J., Billerbeck.
Billerbeck was known as “The Old Reliable.” He opened an implement business in the early days of Osmond, at the location which was last known as Wally’s Shop. His sons, Andrew and Henry, ran this store while he ran his original store in Pierce.
H. J. later sold the Pierce business and moved to Osmond. He was mayor of Osmond for several years and, according to the Osmond Centennial book, “helped guide the struggling town in its early-day pursuits of happiness and prosperity.” He was also one of the founders of St. Mary’s parish, and a builder of both the frame and present brick churches.
It turns out that Pat is a descendant of H. J. and Wilhelmina Billerbeck. They would have been her great-great-grandparents. The pictures were in a relative’s basement for many years, and then in Pat’s basement. Now that she is cleaning out her basement, she thought the pictures should go to someone who would appreciate them. She first called Pierce, who suggested she call here to see if we wanted them.
Naturally, I said yes! As he is a founding father of Osmond, I thought it would nice to have his picture hanging in the Osmond museum, Down Memory Lane.
I’m not sure when Pat will be able to get those pictures up to Osmond from Lincoln, where she lives, but at some point, H. J. Billerbeck’s picture, and that of his wife Wilhelmina, will be “coming home.”
