The Pye Plate

Jedidah Smith and Rev. Samuel Osborn

Over the last 30 years or so, I have taken time to search for more information on Rev. Samuel Osborn. As yet, I can find nothing new that has come to light. What I found all those years ago is still all I have today. He was born in Northern Ireland of Scottish parents. He was educated at Dublin University for the ministry. By 1712 he was teaching in Sandwich, MA and from 1718-1737 he was the minister at Eastham MA. By 1737, a group of ministers gathered and judged Samuel Osborn not sufficiently Calvinistic and therefore he was dismissed from his position.

He became a grantee of land in Barrington, NS but found the labor so intensive that he returned to Boston. He did not exercise his ministry while in NS. About 1770 he left the province and returned to Boston MA where he died at about the age of 90.

It is stated by some that Rev. Osborne was married three times. His first wife was Jedidah Smith. Together they had 6 children. There is some controversy about the Rev. Samuel having another child, an illegitimate child, with Mercy Norton. The confusion arises because Mercy Norton claimed he was the father of her son b. in 1711, named Samuel. The Rev. Samuel and his wife Jedidah also had a son named Samuel b. in 1711. Court records in Dukes County, MA, 1711, show that Samuel Osborn was convicted of “being the father of an illegitimate child born of the body of Mercy Norton.” He was ordered to pay child support. His son, Samuel, with his wife Jedidah married Margaret Briant, while his son, Samuel, with Mercy Norton married Kezia Butler. So, although he had a child with Mercy, they were never married. His 2^nd wife was Elizabeth Scudder.

The children of Rev. Samuel Osborn and Jedidah Smith:

i. Samuel (1711-1763) m. Margaret Briant – 1 child

ii. Jonathan (1714-1753) m. Anna Doane – 6 children

4 iii. Elizabeth (1715-1798) m. in 1749 Edmond Doane (1718-1806) – 7 children

iv. Mary (1718 – died young)

v. Sarah (1720-?)

vi. Abigail (1724-1764) m. in 1749 John Homer (1724-1800)

Rev. Samuel Osborn with Mercy Norton:

Samuel (1711-1753) m. Kezia Butler

4 Elizabeth Osborn and Edmond Doane

Edmond Doane married Elizabeth Osborn as her third husband. She married her first husband, William Merrick (Myrick), in 1734. William was born in Harwich MA and was a Mayflower descendant of Stephen Hopkins. He was lost at sea in 1742. They had three children:

William Merrick, b. 1734

Gideon, who was mentioned in his grandfather's will

Elizabeth – no further info

Elizabeth married her second husband, William Paine, in 1744. This was his second marriage as well. This William is also a Mayflower descendant of Stephen Hopkins. Elizabeth (Osborn, Merrick) Paine and William had one child:

William Paine, b. 1746, d. 1812 in NY, NY according to Paine Family Records he was the father of John Howard Paine, actor and poet noted as the creator of

“Home Sweet Home”

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home;

A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there,

Which seek thro' the world, is ne'er met elsewhere.

Home! Home!

Sweet, sweet home!

There's no place like home

There's no place like home!

Elizabeth married her third husband, Edmond Doane in 1749 and their family grew to include seven Doane children. It is most likely that Elizabeth's son, William Paine (Payne) was also part of this family. Nothing has been found to show he grew up in another family. In the autumn of 1761, the family sailed from Nathaniel Mayo's Landing in Orleans MA to the Cape Sable District in Nova Scotia. The winds were unfavorable and they arrived at Liverpool instead where they spent the winter. The following spring they again headed for Cape Sable and were among the earliest settlers of Barrington. The first people of English descent to settle the coves, harbors and shores of southwestern Nova Scotia, were fishermen from Cape Cod and Nantucket. These men had been to these waters and knew the abundance of fish available. So when the lands became available in 1757/58, many New England families applied for lands to settle near Cape Sable. It took until 1761/62 for a a large group of settlers, representing some of the best families of Cape Cod and Nantucket to arrive and establish the town now known as Barrington. For the most part, the public records of the times shows these new settlers to be intelligent and educated men, some with more than the ordinary schooling. Two old account books give evidence that Edward Doane kept a store from 1762-1767. This was a general store featuring rum, flour by the pound, molasses, sugar, salt by the hogshead, medicine, dry goods, hardware, etc. It appears he received his supplies from his brother-in-law, John Homer, a merchant of Boston. In return, Edward would ship to him alewives, herring and other fish found in the waters of Nova Scotia.

Mrs. Elizabeth Doane was a woman of considerable education, of more than ordinary personal attractions and natural ability. Having a good knowledge of medicine, and being skilled in the use of roots and herbs, she was the only nurse and doctor to all the sick of all the township. Her services were much sought after and appreciated. When advanced in years or when making long trips, she was carried in a basket suspended from a pole across the shoulders of two men. She returned several times to New England to visit her relatives and friends. In 1763 she was one of three passengers who came up from Barrington on the sloop Sherburn, Capt. Jonathan Clarke, arriving in Boston, Jul 28. Again in Sep, 1767 she came over to Boston on the sloop Dove, Capt. Joseph Chapman. It is said the old pestle, with which she pounded her roots and herbs, is still in use and in possession of her great-granddaughter, as well as Edmund's old Family Bible, on the fly leaf of which is written: "Edmund Doane, his book, bought in New England whilst he lived there." She is buried in the old burial ground at Barrington Head.

Edmond, tiring of the hardships and conditions of life in Nova Scotia, sold his property to his brother-in-law, John Homer, in 1776, for £132, intending to return to New England. However a large number of townspeople signed a petition, asking for a grant of town land to be set aside for Elizabeth, Edmond's wife, in consideration of her valuable medical services. Since they had sold their property, they no longer had a place to live. The land granted to them at Johnson's Point was where they settled and spent their remaining days.

4 Elizabeth Osborn and Edmond Doane had children all born in Eastham, MA:

Israel

(1750-?) m. (in 1772) Desire Nickerson – 7 children

ii. Samuel O. (1752-?) m. Sarah Harding – 9 children

iii. Prince (1753- Lost at sea)

iv. Jedidah (1754-?) m. Ansel Crowell - 5 children

v. Ruth (1756-?) m. Hemen Kenney – 11 children

5. vi. Abigail (1758-1847) m. Hezekiah Smith – 15 children

vii. Edmond (1759-?) m. Tamsin Hamilton – 9 children

The remaining families have been covered several times so I would refer you to the blogs on the Freemans and Ralph Smith.

Abigail Doane m. Hezekiah Smith

Steven Smith m. Elizabeth Spinney