Hugh Osgood (along with a twin sister, Jane E. Osgood) was born in October 1821 in Southbridge, Massachusetts. He came to Norwich at age ten to live with an uncle. He was soon joined by his parents and lived in an apartment in Young’s Block. Hugh found employment with a drug store, Samuel Tyler & Son, on Water Street. It was here that he learned the drug business. In March 1842, along with his uncle, Dr. Charles Lee, he opened a drugstore under the name of Lee & Osgood. Dr. Lee remained a part of the business until he died in 1865. Hugh Osgood continued in the industry, which prospered far beyond all expectations, until he died in 1899.
Mr. Osgood’s interests branched out to other businesses. He was president of the Uncas Paper Co., the Goodwin Cork Co., the Dime Savings Bank, and the Sterling Dyeing & Finishing Co. of Sterling Ct. He was also president of the Worchester Thread Co. and the Glasgow Yarn Co. until American Thread Co. absorbed them. For a time, Mr. Osgood was president of the Norwich Bleaching, Dyeing & Printing Co. and in 1887 was quoted as saying, “The yards of cloth turned out by the Norwich Bleaching Dyeing and Printing Company equal 28,408 miles and would extend around the world with about 4,000 miles to spare”.
In 1900, the company merged with the United States Finishing Co. of New York and continued to operate in Norwich until 1958, when it relocated to the southern United States. Hugh Osgood was a director of the Thames National Bank, the First National Bank, the Ashland Cotton Co., the Norwich Gas & Electric Co., the Yantic Woolen Co. and the Richmond Stove Co. Hugh promoted the Norwich Bulletin and was president of the Bulletin Association and Bulletin Co. He was an organizer and first president of the Norwich Board of Trade.
In public life, he was a strong promoter of the city and served as mayor from 1875 to 1886. Several building projects were completed under his administration, including the Norwich city sewer system and the fire alarm telegraph system. His interest in education was reflected in his forty-year tenure as treasurer of the Central School District and his status as a Fellow of the Corporation of Norwich Free Academy. During the Civil War, Hugh was active in raising troops for the Grand Army of the Republic and served as Colonel on Governor Buckingham’s staff throughout his term.
Socially, Hugh Osgood was an organizer of the Kitemaug Association, the Norwich Club, and a member of the Arcanum Club. He was an active member of the Somerset Lodge, No. 34, Free and Accepted Masons; St. James Lodge, No. 23, Free and Accepted Masons; Royal Arch Masons of Franklin; Franklin Council No. 3, Royal and Select Masters; Columbian Commandery No. 4, Knights Templar; and all the Scottish Rite bodies. He was a trustee of the Masonic Temple corporation bonds.
Hugh Osgood was an active member of Park Congregational Church. Following his death, the parish house was dedicated in his memory by his wife, Mary Ruth Lee, in November 1902.
In October 1899, Mr. Osgood and his wife left Norwich to travel to Niagara Falls to attend a national wholesale druggist’s convention. Upon their return trip, Hugh developed a cold, and the couple stopped at Manlius, near Syracuse, New York, where his wife’s family lived. His illness progressed into pneumonia, and Hugh Osgood died on October 22.
The news of his death caused a flood of universal grief in Norwich. Many townspeople turned out to meet his remains upon arrival at the train depot. During the funeral on October 26, businesses in town remained closed. The Norwich courthouse bell was tolled for half an hour at noon. The first time such an honor was ever paid to a private citizen. Numerous resolutions of sympathy were passed by the organizations with which he had been connected and were subsequently published in Cooley’s Weekly on Friday, October 27, 1899.
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