William Osgood

1609 - 1700  (91 years)

• Name	William Osgood
  Birth	1609	Wherwell, Hampshire, England   [1, 2]
  Gender	Male
  Arrival	1638	, , Massachusetts, USA   [3]
  Residence	1650	Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts, USA   [4]
  Death	15 Mar 1700	Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts, USA   [1, 2, 5]
  Probate	2 Sep 1700	, Essex, Massachusetts, USA   [5]
  Residence	Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts, USA   [6]
  Person ID	I25508	Master
  Last Modified	21 Jan 2016

  
  

  Family	Elizabeth Clere,   b. Feb 1612, , Hampshire, England d. 1712, Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts, USA (Age 99 years)
  Marriage	1637	, , Massachusetts, USA   [2]
  Children	+ 1. Mary Osgood,   b. 3 Jan 1649, Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts, USA d. 2 Nov 1705, Amesbury, Essex, Massachusetts, USA (Age 56 years)  [Father: Natural]
  Family ID	F6567	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	21 Jan 2016

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 1609 - Wherwell, Hampshire, England Marriage - 1637 - , , Massachusetts, USA Arrival - 1638 - , , Massachusetts, USA Residence - 1650 - Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts, USA Death - 15 Mar 1700 - Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts, USA Probate - 2 Sep 1700 - , Essex, Massachusetts, USA Residence - - Salisbury, Essex, Massachusetts, USA  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  William Osgood of Shipton,England,our third emigrant, sailed for America aboard the Ship Confidence with the Family of John Osgood. This is yet another indication that the Families were related. He would have been twenty-nine years old at the time. He stayed in Newbury until John Osgood moved on to Cochichowiche. William at this time decided to strike out on his own. Three years earlier a group of Newbury residents petitioned The General Court for the establishment of a new settlement in the territoty of Winnacunnet, which later became the present day Salisbury. The new Town was granted in 1639 and William moved to Salisbury from Newbury in 1641. He was granted a “goodly” piece of land on the east side of the Powow River. The Town granted him this land on the proviso that he construct a saw mill within six months “that may be sufficient for the use of the Town”. He completed this mill which became only the second such mill in New England. He later constructed a grist mill along the Powow River. Around the year 1650, William constructed a home on what is now Congress Street in Salisbury. The home stands to this day and has been lived in by ten generations of his descendents. William married Elizabeth Cleer and they raised a Family of seven children; Elizabeth; Joanna; John, born August 8,1647; William, born August 8,1647; Mary, born January 3,1649; Joseph, born January 18,1651; and Sarah, born December 7,1652. William prospered in the mill business and his descendents tended to cluster in the Salisbury/Amesbury area to be around the business of the “Osgood Mills.” SOURCE: THE THREE OSGOOD EMIGRANTS http://www.osgoodancestry.org/emigrants.html William Osgood's ancestry is not entirely certain. === He was a millwright & carpenter, married ELIZABETH CLEER?, born about 1610/15, ?England, died MA. William died bef 15 Mar 1700, Salisbury, MA. William Osgood and the other part-owners of the old mill at Salisbury were brought to task for failing to pay the town its share of lumber agreed upon in return for allowing the mill to be built on Salisbury land. Osgood had to sue the heirs of the other owners, including "Susan Whitrige, administratrix of Anthony Colbye," to recover boards for Salisbury, which he did at court September Term, 1682. Among the depositions establishing the number of boards due were several describing immigration into Essex County, such as that of John Pressy "aged about forty-four years, testified that the first summer he came into this country, in 1651 ... I do well remember that the saw mill at Salisbury was one thing that was accounted a rare thing and I did go to see it and I did see it going and sawing boards that very summer." [EQC 8:250, 373-75]. from The Great Migration Begins: Anthony Colby For a list of Osgoods and Joneses migrating on the 'Confidence' in 1638 see www.angelfire.com/ky2/cnelson/passlist.html William Osgood emigrated to Salisibury, MA in 1638. An article by John Q. Evans in the Amesbury News 10th July, 1896, entitled "Salisbury's Earliest Settlers," puts Osgood in Salisbry in 1640. Be that as it may, his name does not appear in a list found in the Massachusetts Archives, undated, but files under 1639, nor does his name appear on the Salisbury records as having received land in the first division of 1639. But, he islisted as one of the first settlers of Salisbury on a copy of the original entries on the first page of one of the village's old record books, apparently used as an index toland grants since page numbers precede each name. Osgood's name has "32" assigned to it. Although all on the list probably did not receive land in the first division, we are fairly sure that commoners in 1650. His "rate"...tax...for 1650 was 11s. 6d i n l652 he was taxed 17s. 4d. At one time the rascally Indian " Simon" is said to have lived with the Osgoods. This Simon is thought to hae been the leader of the Amesbury massacre of July 1697, when the Indians attacked the home of Elizabeth (Osgood) Quinby, wife of Robert Quinby. Simon fled, believing he had killed the first born daughter of his white benefactor. Hoyt believes that Robert Quinby was killed in this raid. Today there are many descendants of the first William Osgood living in Amesbury as well as in the States throughout the Union. Nancy Currier Merrill, widow of the late Fred Merrill, is the last of the tenth generation of descendants to be born in the original house (Osgood) on Congress Street and is the last surviving member of that generation. Among other living descendatns, to mention but a few who are in Amesbury or vicinity, are Timothy Osgood Lamprey, Raymond Osgood Davis, town treasurer for many years and Mrs. Ruth Thompson True, who is now a resident of Hampton, N.H. Taken from, pages 8, 9 and 10 of:- History of Amesbury Massachusetts, Sarah Locke Redford, Whttier Press, Amesbury, Mass., 1968. 974.41/A51.8/c.2 http://www.osgood.org/Osgood/index.htm "William Osgood, the youngest of the three emigrant Osgoods: Christopher, John and William, was born 1609 and came to this country in company with the family of the emigrant John in the ship 'Confidence' which sailed from Southampton, England, April 11, 1638. The family of John consisted of wife Sarah and four children born in England. Osgood, (Mrs.2) Sarah . . . -- spinster(?), of Wherwell, county Hampshire & 4 children1, not named (Osgood, Sarah2 . . . . . . 92) (Osgood, John2 . . . . . . 72) (Osgood, Mary2 . . . . . . 52) (Osgood, Elizabeth2 . . . . 32) Osgood, William . . . . . . under 11 (listed with Osgood, but not as one of the 4 children) Parke, Margery . . . . . . . -- (Osgood servant) "William may have served as protector of John's family as the father was already in New England, judging of the country. The first mention of William in this country is that of his building a barn for John Spencer of Newbury in 1640. "John settled first in Newbury and William no doubt had his home with John's family, as we have no account that he was married at that time. He was a millwright and carpenter. He and his associates, in prospecting the valley of the Merrimac for a place to locate, hearing the sound and came to the falls of the Powow River, not far from its junction with the Merrimac. The place being favorable for mill sites he located there and built and owned the first mills in Salisbury, which long retained the name of Osgood's Mills . "These mills were built where now stand the Salisbury factories. He was one of the proprietors of Salisbury in 1640 and had a grant of land on each side of the Powow extending from its junction with the Merrimac back half a mile, embracing a large portion of the land on which stands the settle-ment of Salisbury and Amesbury Mills. This homestead farm contained a six acre lot on Round Hill in Salisbury, besides which he owned other tracts of land. "His wife's name was ELIZABETH, which is all the account we have of her except what comes by the way of tradition. The story runs thus: After the decease of Elizabeth when the emigrant had become aged, there was a husking in the log house where William lived. In the course of the evening, as the young people became merry, cracking their jokes over the red ears of corn, their merriment awakened in the aged emigrant's mind recollections of his earlier years. The old man who was in a part of the room by himself, in response to their hilarity , broke out in a sort of musical speech, 'My wife was BETTY CLEER and I loved her before I see her.' NOTE; Cleer/Clear is not a common name in early New England. Possible relatives/ancestors of Elizabeth Cleer may be listed in Savage, p.406: "GEORGE CLEAR, Newport, 1639; JOHN CLEAR, Boston, 1674; JOHN CLEAR, Jun, shoemaker, perhaps was son of the preceeding." At least we can see that George Clear was a comtemporary in time and place with William Osgood. But it would have been more convincing if William and Elizabeth had named a son, George. "The emigrant William died in 1700 at the advanced age of 91. At the time of this writing there is no trace nor knowledge of the place of his burial." About his English origins the NEHGR, Vol xxii, p.81, (author, Osgood Field has this to say about William Osgood: "I regret that my investigations have not enabled me to trace his parentage to my satisfaction. He could have been the William Osgood, described as a 'child under 11 years of age', who accompanied Sarah Osgood in the ship Confidence, in April 1638, unless his age was accidentally or purposely misstated. "He may possibly have been one of the persons of that name referred to in the following wills: ANN OSGOOD of West Woodhay, Berks Co, widow of RICHARD OSGOOD of same place, in her will dated May 16, 17 James, (1620), appoints WILLIAM OSGOOD one of the overseers of it. Richard Osgood of Shipton, in his will, dated May 23, 1625, appoints his son WILLIAM executor. West Woodhay is about six miles W-S-W of Newbury, and about ten miles north of Andover. Shipton, Hants., is about eight miles west of Andover, and ten or twelve miles NE of Salisbury." His will lists his children and some of his grandchildren with a specific bequest to "grandson Thomas Quimby, son of my daughter Elizabeth Quimby, deceased." The will also gives names of the husbands of married daughters. SOURCE: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=pjmpjm&id=I17895 E state of William Osgood, Sr. of Salisbury Essex Probate Docket # 20288 In the name of God, Amen. I, William Osgood senr of the town of Salisbury in the county of Essex, in his majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, being weak of body, but through the goodness of God of sound, & disposing memory & understanding, Do make this my last Will & testament, in manner & form following,First and principally I commend my soul to God who gave it, & my body to the dust from whence it was taken, decently to be buried, with Christian burial, at the discretion of my Executors hereinafter named, in hopes of a joyful Resurrection to life eternal at the last day, through the perfect merits of Christ my Redeemer. Nextly, as for my worldly goods & Estate, after payment of all my just debts & funeral expenses, I dispose of as followeth vizt. Imprimis - I give & bequeath unto my son William Osgood one hundred acres of my six score acre lot lying in the township of Salisbury above said, at a place commonly called "Round Hill", as also my dwelling house & land adjoining, or homestead, & my tide meadow lot & my lot of salt meadow lying near a place commonly called Munday's Pond, as also a full & complete half of all my other meadows, except that which is in a place in Salisbury commonly called the "higly piglys", during the term of his natural life, & unto the sons of the said Wm. Osgood my son in equal portion, To have & to hold to themselves their heirs or assigns forever. Also I give unto my said son William Osgood the one half of my grist mill with the privileges thereunto belonging during the term of his natural life. Item - I give & bequeath unto my grandson John Osgood son of my said son John Osgood deceased, twenty acres of upland lying in the upper end of my six score acre lot, called "Round Hill" lot, on the condition that he leave a convenient high way, next unto land of Ensign William Allen for the use of those, who shall hereafter possess that other part of said six score acre lot by lawful derived title from me, or my heirs, as also that he pay or cause to be paid & delivered unto his sister Hannah Osgood or her order within the town of Salisbury in some good & merchantable pay at price current & merchantable the full & just sum of four pounds within one year next after my decease, which together with the above mentioned four pounds to be paid by his brother William, I give unto her for a Legacy. Item - I give & bequeath unto grandson Thomas Quimby son of my daughter Elizabeth Quimby deceased (as a Legacy), forty shillings in good pay, to be disposed of for his use out of my part of the rent which shall be due to me from or out of the income of the fulling mill which Benjamin Eastman senr is about to build at the discretion of said Benj. Eastman. Item - I give & bequeath unto my daughter Joanna wife of Robert Jones of Amesbury the one half of my fresh meadow lying in Salisbury at a place commonly called "bugs-mow", as also a lot of upland which I had by execution upon judgment in Court obtained against widow Mary Challis administratrix to the Estate of her once husband Philip Watson Challis deceased, lying in Amesbury, at a place commonly called "Thorn Hill". Item - I give & bequeath unto my daughter in law Abigail now wife of my son William Osgood all my household goods of what sort kind soever they be. Item - All the rest of my lands, meadows, goods & estate whatsoever, not herein before bequeathed, after my debts & funeral discharged as abovesaid, I do give & bequeath unto my loving son-in-law, Thomas Currier senr of Amesbury, whom I make & appoint sole executor of this my last Will & testament to take care that it will be in all respects & particulars punctually observed and fulfilled. And hereby revoking all other wills by me heretofore made I William Osgood senr do subscribe, seal & acknowledge the contents of this instrument to be my last Will & testament this 15th day of March in the twelvth year of the reign of our sovereign Lord William the third, by the grace of God of England, Scotland &c., King, Anno Domini one thousand seven hundred. William W O Osgood (L. S.) his mark & seal. Signed & Published in the presence of Thomas Morrill Nathaniel Eastman X Benjamin Eastman Source: Probate Records of Essex County Dockett # 20288

  
  

• Sources

  [S751] Ancestry.com, U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). [S815] Ancestry.com, U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700, (Ancestry.com Operations Inc). [S747] Ancestry.com, U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc), Place: Massachusetts; Year: 1638; Page Number: 198. [S807] Ancestry.com, Massachusetts, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890, (Ancestry.com Operations Inc). [S812] Ancestry.com, Massachusetts, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Massachusetts, Essex County, Probate Records; Author: Massachusetts. Supreme Judicial Court (Essex County); Probate Place: Essex, Massachusetts. [S287] Ancestry.com, Massachusetts, U.S., Applications of Freemen, 1630-1691, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000.Original data - Paige, Lucius R.. List of Freemen of Massachusetts. Boston, MA, USA: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1849.Original data: Paige, Lucius R.. List of Fre).