On his draft registration (1918), it says that Vernie Pemberton Osborn was born February 25, 1881. He was the tail end of four Osborne boys. His brother William was between 12 and 14; Charles was 10, and Myron was 5 or 6. Henry was 65. And may not have been his father.
* * *
Did the new baby in the house look so much like their neighbor, Vernon Pemberton, that Henry decided to honor the man by naming the baby after him? Was Henry not sure if the child was his or his neighbor's, so decided to use both their names? Or was Vernie's name a humiliation that Henry insisted on. Catharine's scarlet letter. What's in a name? Shame, if you are Vernon Pemberton Osborne.
Vernie never married. He had a variety of jobs up in the city, as they called Rochester. In 1918, he worked at Kodak, a camera assembler. In other city and census records he was a machinist, a brass worker, a teacher, a salesman, a school janitor. He kept a cottage on Conesus Lake and made his way back to Livonia regularly. In the city, he resided sometimes at boarding houses, but for many years, with his brother Myron and family.
In March of 1940, Vernie fell on the ice. He died of pneumonia in May.