Jinny Osborn

Birth Name: Virginia Ann Cole

Date of Birth: April 25, 1927

Place of Birth: Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Date of Death: May 19, 2003

Place of Death: Palm Springs, California, U.S.

Ethnicity: German [including some Alsatian and possibly Swiss-German], less than one quarter English, remote Welsh, Jersey Channel Islander, and Irish

Jinny Osborn was an American popular music singer. She was a member of The Chordettes, a female pop music quartet founded in 1946 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Other members of the group were, at various points, Carol Buschmann, Janet Ertel, Lynn Evans, Margie Needham, Nancy Overton, Dorothy Schwartz, and Alice Mae Spielvogel. She was also known as Jinny Lockard.

Jinny was the daughter of Katherine and Orlan Hauck “King” Cole. Her father was president of the Barbershop Harmony Society and the Kingsbury Breweries Company. He founded the Clipper City Chordsmen of Manitowoc. Jinny was of nearly three quarters German descent.

Jinny’s paternal grandfather was Clifford Clark Cole (the son of Burr Theodore Cole and Julia A. Beebe). Clifford was born in Vermont, and had deep roots in the U.S. Burr was the son of David Galusha Cole and Caroline G. Stickle. Julia was the daughter of Elias Beebe and Elizabeth T. Millington.

Jinny’s paternal grandmother was Mary Ellen “Ella” Hauck (the daughter of John A. Hauck and Jane Anna Heagy). Mary Ellen was born in New Kingstown, Pennsylvania. John was of German, or mostly German, descent, and was the son of John Hauck and Mary Staub. Jane was the daughter of Robert Heagy and Elizabeth Armstrong. The surname Haegy likely comes from the Swiss-German Haegi/Hägi/Hägy.

Jinny’s maternal grandfather was Ernest Flack (the son of Charles “Carl” Flach/Flack and Wilhelmina Fenner). Ernest was born in Wisconsin, to German parents, from Prussia. Wilhelmina was the daughter of Christian Frederick Fenner, from Brandenburgh, and of Caroline Wilhelmine Zug.

Jinny’s maternal grandmother was Adelia/Adele Kuhli (the daughter of Gustav Kuhli and Catherine Henkel). Adelia was born in Greenbush, Wisconsin, to German parents. Gustav was the son of Frederick William Kuhli and Wilhelmine Stolzenberg. Catherine was the daughter of Henry Conrad Henkel and Marie Catherine Battenfeld.

Source: Genealogy of Jinny Osborn – https://www.familysearch.org