Early American Ancestors
I have tried to list here the earliest known ancestor of various Osborn
family lines to have lived in America. Ideally, these would all be the
immigrant ancestors, but, unfortunately, many Osborn lines have not been
successfully traced back to their immigrant ancestor, so the family listed
is just the earliest known ancestor in America.
While not all of the families listed below are the immigrants to America,
many are. Interestingly, many of these immigrants came not from England,
but from Ireland. And while many of these families are known to be
immigrants, their exact origin is unknown, except in the case of Thomas
and Mary (Goatly) Osborn whose line is the only line traced back into
England.
From the length of this list, one can see that there are many unrelated
Osborn families, at least within America. I hope that we find more male
line descendants of these families to participate in the Ausburn-Osborn
DNA project -- DNA information might very well show which of these Osborn
families are connected back in the Old World.
Note: Where DNA test results are available for a known descendant, I have
provided a link into the appropriate page of the Ausburn-Osborn Surname DNA
Project. When there are no DNA results available, I have indicated that.
If you are an Osborn male line descendant and are interested in participating
in the Ausburn-Osborn Surname DNA Project, please visit the
Ausburn-Osborn DNA Surname Project
page for additional information.
Ancestor List
| Year | Early American Ancestor |
| Alexander Osborn of Rowan Co., NC |
| Alexander Osborn of Salem, Essex Co., MA |
| by 1777* | Asa Osborn of Wells, Rutland Co., VT |
| by 1705* | Elkanah Osborn of Charlestown, Middlesex Co., MA |
| by 1730* | George Osborn of Plymouth Co., MA |
| by 1790* | George Jerry Osborn of Portsmouth, NH |
| by 1661* | Henry Osborn of Ipswich, Essex Co., MA |
| by 1684* | Jeremiah Osborn of Bristol, MA(now RI) |
| by 1645* | John Osborn of Windsor, Hartford Co., CT |
| by 1720* | John Osborn of Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., MA |
| by 1715* | John Osborn(marr. Ruth Stowell) |
| by 1639* | John Osborn of Weymouth, MA |
| Peter and Judith (Deuce) Osborne of Chester Co., PA |
| by 1646* | William Osborn(marr. Friswith) of MA and CT |
| 1634 | Richard Osborn of MA, CT, and East Chester, NY |
| Richard Osburn of Nottingham, PA |
| 1707 | Samuel Osborn(marr. Jedidah Smith) of Edgarton, MA |
| by 1732* | Samuel Osborn of Sudbury, Middlesex Co., MA |
| 1765-1785 | Samuel Osborn of Westmoreland Co., PA |
| abt 1637 | Capt. Thomas Osborn of MA, CT, and East Hampton, NY |
| by 1647* | Thomas Osborn of Charlestown, Middlesex Co., MA |
| 1619 | Capt. Thomas Osborne of Henrico Co., VA |
| by 1646* | William Osborn(marr. Friswith) of MA and CT |
| by 1672* | William Osborn(marr. Hannah Burton) of Salem, Essex Co., MA |
| by 1728* | William Osborn of Charleston, SC |
| by 1752* | William Osband of Tiverton, Newport Co., RI |
| by 1660* | William Osborn of Baltimore Co., MD |
| by 1670* | William Osborn of Gravesend, Kings Co., NY |
* Date is earliest date I have of this person in America
Alexander was in the Rowan Co., NC area by the 1740's, at a time
when Rowan Co. was not yet created, but was still a part of Anson
Co. Alexander is said to have come from NJ. I am not aware of
anyone successfully finding Alexander's home town in NJ, though.
Alexander is ancestor of Vice President Adlai Stevenson (under Grover
Cleveland) and also Presidential candidate (1952 and 1956) and Ambassador
to the U.N. Adlai Stevenson.
No DNA information
Family Group Record
Alexander Osborn was a young immigrant from Ireland whose
indentureship was purchased by Sarah (Warren) Prince, widow of Robert
Prince. Sarah Osborn was one of the first three persons accused of
witchcraft during the Salem witch hysteria and died in the Boston
jail of natural causes before she could be tried.
Alexander and Sarah had a son John and a daughter Sarah. Son John
died about 1724 with his sister Sarah Roberds and brother-in-law
William Roberds being appointed administrators. I think it likely
that John died unmarried and without children. So Alexander Osborn's
male line might have died out.
After Alexander's wife Sarah died, Alexander remarried to Ruth
Sibley, widow of William Sibley. There is no record of any children
by this marriage.
No DNA information
Family Group Record
Asa Osborn first appears in Wells, Rutland Co., VT where the births
of four of his children are recorded. I have not been able to
connect Asa Osborn to any of the early Osborn families of New
England. The biography of Asa's grandson Walter O. Hopkinson states
that the family was of Welsh descent. Sometime after 1790 Asa and
his family moved to western New York State where they are found in
Niagara and Erie Cos. In the 1830s, much of his family moved to
Erie and Huron Cos. in OH.
No DNA information
Family Group Record
I do not have much record regarding Elkanah Osborn, except for the
vital records of Elkanah and Elizabeth's children. Elkanah and his
wife were in Charlestown, MA (now a part of Boston) by 1705 when the
birth of their daughter Mercy was recorded. Known locations where
descendants later lived include Kennebunk, ME; Ware, MA; and Boston.
No DNA information
Family Group Record
George Osborn was a resident of Plymouth Co., MA by the early 1730s.
Family tradition is that George was an immigrant from Ireland. Sharon
Moore has done excellent research on the descendants of George Osborn.
DNA Project Page
Family Group Record(Osborne Origins)
Family Group Rrecord(Sharon Moore at Rootsweb WorldConnect)
George Jerry Osborn was a resident of Portsmouth, ME by the time of
the 1790 federal census. The biography of his grandson Jerry Jackson
Osborne appearing in the Biographical Review for Cumberland Co., ME
states that George Jerry Osborn came from England directly to
Portsmouth.
No DNA information
Family Group Record
Henry Osborn was a resident of Ipswich in Essex Co., MA by 1661 when
he married there to Mary Marchent. I have no earlier record of
Henry and believe he is probably an immigrant from the Old World.
He probably died about 1700, but there is no record of his death
and no probate records. Henry was married a second time to Mary
(Knight) Gamage. There was a son John by Henry's first marriage to
Mary Marchent and a son Henry by the second marriage to Mary Knight.
John Osborn seems to have left Ipswich about 1697, but the records
don't mention where he moved to. When John left Ipswich, he gave
POA to his (wife's) cousin George Hart to dispose of his property
in Ipswich. Thirty years later, John's son Samuel, as administrator
of John's estate, settled with George Hart. Unfortunately, none of
the records of these matters say where John or Samuel was resident
of.
John Gamage, Henry Osborn's step son, in his will leaves a small
legacy to his brother Henry Osborn "of Newport, Rhode Island", so we
know that Henry Osborn (Jr.) went to RI. Possibly John Osborn also
went to RI.
No DNA information
Family Group Record
Jeremiah Osborn was a resident of Bristol, MA by 1684 when his son
Robert's birth is recorded in the Bristol vital records. As the
Town of Bristol was a part of Bristol Co., MA until 1747, probate
and land records relating to this family are to be found in the
records of Bristol Co., MA.
It seems likely that Jeremiah's male line has disappeared so that
there are no male-line descendants to be Y-DNA tested. While
Jeremiah had more than one son, only son John of Boston is listed in
the deed where Jeremiah's heirs are selling land to John Throope.
John Osborn of Boston himself had several sons, but the distribution
of his estate shows that all those sons were deceased by the time of
the distribution and of those sons, only John's son Samuel had
children. The only children of record for Samuel was a son Samuel
who is probably the Samuel Osborn whose death is later reported and
apparently without children.
No DNA information
Family Group Record
No DNA information
Family Group Record
The earliest record of John Osborn is about 1720 in Boxford, Essex
Co., MA. He has no apparent connection to the other Osborn families
of Essex Co., MA though. Possibly he was part of an Irish immigration
to MA that occurred about 1719.
No DNA information
Family Group Record
No DNA information
Family Group Record
No DNA information
Family Group Record
Mathew Ozbun's son Mathew married Isabell Dobson and moved to North
Carolina. Mathew (Jr.) and Isabel were progenitors of the many
Quaker Osborns of NC. Many of their descendants moved to eastern
IN and western OH. Charles Osborn was a famous Quaker preacher and
early abolutionist.
No DNA information
Family Group Record
Peter Osborne and his wife Judith were Quakers, arriving in Philadelpia
in 1712. Peter died just a few days after his arrival. His family
settled in Chester Co., PA. They were originally from Bilston in
Staffordshire in England.
No DNA information
Family Group Record
Richard Osborn arrived in America on the ship Hopewell on 17 Feb
1634. In 1635 he was one of the settlers of Hingham, MA. In 1637
he was a volunteer in the Pequot War from Windsor, CT. He resided
in Fairfield, CT from 1650 to 1653 and moved from there to East
Chester, Westchester Co., NY where he died in 1686. Many of the
Osborns of western CT and Westchester Co., NY are his descendants.
A few sources state that Richard Osborn is brother of Thomas Osborn
(marr. Mary Goatly) (see below), but the facts preclude this.
DNA results from the Osborn-Ausburn DNA project show that Richard
Osborn and Thomas Osborn are not biologically related on the Osborn
lines.
Another possible relationship is to John Osborn (marr. Ann Oldage)
(see above) who appeared in Windsor, CT shortly after Richard Osborn
left that place.
DNA Project Page
Family Group Record
The first record I have of Richard Osburn is his death in Nottingham,
Chester Co., PA in 1729. In his will, Richard mentions property
owned in NJ. Whether Richard was an immigrant is unknown, but he
clearly had been in NJ before he lived in PA. Richard is ancestor
of the early Osborns of Loudoun Co., VA and many of the Osborns of
Mahoning and Trumbull Cos., OH.
DNA Project Page
Family Group Record
Samuel Osborn came to America in 1707 from Ireland. On 1 Jan 1710
he married Jedidah Smith in Edgartown, MA (Martha's Vineyard) where
he was employed as a school teacher. In 1712 he was employed as
as schoolteacher at Sandwich, Barnstable Co., MA. In 1717 he was
invited to preach at Eastham, Barnstable Co., MA. Samuel Osborn's
ordination and subsequent ministry at Eastham was one of constant
controversy. A full account of Samuel Osborn can be found in
A History of Chatham, Massachusetts by William C. Smith.
Additional details regarding Samuel Osborn can be found in an
appendix of The Doane Family by Alfred Alder Doane.
No DNA information
Family Group Record
The first record I have of this Samuel Osborn is his marriage
to Lydia Griffin on 1 Nov 1732 in Sudbury, MA. His origin is
unknown.
No DNA information
Family Group Record
Samuel Osburn married Susanna Garven in Co. Derry, Ireland before
1770. They came to America by 1785 and settled in Westmoreland Co.,
PA. Their son Alexander moved to Harrison Co., OH.
No DNA information
Family Group Record
DNA Project Page
Family Group Record
No DNA information
Family Group Record
The first reference to Lt. Thomas Osborne is his arrival in Virginia
in November 1619 on the ship Bona Nova. He was 35, making his birth
year about 1584 in England. He is probably the first Osborne to
arrive in America and is probably of the Sir Edward Osborne family of
London, but no proof yet exists. He came to Virginia as part of a
group sent by the London Company to set up a College at Henrico for
the purpose of educating the Indians and others. After leading a
counterattack on the Indians after the 1622 raid, he was promoted to
Captain and is mostly known as Captain Thomas Osborne of Henrico, VA.
He patented land on the James River just north of Henricus, VA, which
became known as Coxendale, where his family lived for five
generations before beginning their migration south into NC and SC.
There is still a Coxendale Road in Chester, VA which leads to the
general vicinity of the old Coxendale plantation. There are many
known living descendants of Captain Thomas Osborne, identified by
both documented records and dna tests. (By Tom Osborne)
DNA Project Page
Capt. Thomas Osborne of Henrico Co., VA's Family Group Record
No DNA information
Family Group Record
No DNA information
Family Group Record
No DNA information
Family Group Record
The first record I have of William Osband is his marriage to
Elizabeth Shrieve. So far I have no record connecting him to any
of the other Osborn families of New England.
No DNA information
Family Group Record
The original immigrant of this family is William Osborn who arrived
in Baltimore Co., MD about 1660. He is not currently entered into
the "Linked Family Records". My genealogy of this family begins with
his son, also named William.
DNA Project Page
Family Group Record
William Osborn was a resident of Gravesend, Kings Co.(Long Island),
NY. He is reputed by some to have come from the vicinity of New
Castle, DE. Some people believe that this William Osborn is a son
of William and Friswith Osborn (see above), but this is not possible
-- William Osborn (marr. Friswith) had *no* son William as proved by
some of his probate records.
No DNA information
Family Group Record