Elizabeth (Clere) Osgood (abt. 1612)

Born about Feb 1612 in Hampshire, England

Wife of William Osgood — married before 1640 in Salisbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Descendants

Died [date unknown] in Salisbury, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

Elizabeth was born in Hampshire, England in 1612, married William Osgood (1609-aft.1700) abt. 1640, and died bef. 1700, both in Salisbury^[1]

Also spelled Clear http://fam.eastmill.com/f1624.htm#f161411

Salisbury Vital Records for the latter five Osgood children, born 1648-52, name both parents as William and Elizabeth (or Elisabeth).

The claim that William Osgood's wife's surname was Clere or Cleer appears to originate from a colorful but unsourced anecdote in an 1894 Osgood genealogy:

"His wife's name was Elizabeth, which is all the account we have of her except what comes by 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.'"^[2]

The author doesn't say who he heard this story from, or who they heard it from, but it's the closest thing to a primary source found thus far—other publications have repeated the Cleer claim (or cited each other) without adding evidence.^[3][4]

The Osgood genealogy itself, on the preceding page, gives her name as "Elizabeth __", not "Cleer".^[2] Torrey offers "[?CLEER/?CORLISS]"; it's currently unknown where "Corliss" came from.^[3]

Her birthdate, birthplace, parentage, death date, and death place are not recorded, and she is neither named nor mentioned in her husband's will (dated 15 Mar 1700) which does, however, name several of their children.

Family

1. Elizabeth
2. Joanna
3. John, s. twin, William and Elisabeth, 8: 8m: 1648. (p. 185)
4. William, s. twin, William and Elisabeth, 8: 8m: 1648. (p. 189)
5. Mary, d. William and Elizabeth, 3: 1m: 1649. (p. 185)
6. Joseph, s. William and Elisabeth, 18: 1m: 1651 . (p. 185)
7. Sarah, d. William and Elizabeth, 7: 12m: 1652.(p. 189)

Notes

In Find A Grave: Memorial #147049158 we read Elizabeth Clere Osgood

Birth: Feb 1612 Hampshire, England

Death: unknown Salisbury, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA Memorial #: 147049158

Bio

She married William Osgood about 1640 in Salisbury, Essex County, Massachusetts. (Source: Torry, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004.) Thanks to Find A Grave contributor Lisa Shumaker for finding this info.

There is reportedly a baptism record Feb 12 1612 of an Elizabeth, daughter of John Clere in Ropely, Hampshire, England. Thanks to Find A Grave contributor Debra Mason for finding this info; however, there is no evidence or reason to believe that this individual in the baptism record is the same as Elizabeth, the Massachusetts forebearer.

Elizabeth probably died before 1700, as it is noted that William died in 1700 as a widow and his will makes no mention of Elizabeth. (Source is the Osgood Family “A Genealogy of the Descendants of John, Christopher and William Osgood” compiled by Ira Osgood and published by the Salem Press in 1891.) Thanks to Find A Grave contributor Paul Osgood for providing this information.

Family Members

Spouse - William Osgood 1609-1700

Children

Elizabeth Osgood Quimby Blaisdell 1636-1694

Mary Osgood Currier 1650-1705

Created by: S. Mendenhall (48740583) Added: 27 May 2015 URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/147049158/elizabeth-osgood Citation: Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 10 February 2021), memorial page for Elizabeth Clere Osgood (Feb 1612–unknown), Find a Grave Memorial no. 147049158, ; Maintained by S. Mendenhall (contributor 48740583) Unknown.

Sources

1. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #147049158
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Osgood, Ira. A Genealogy of the Descendants of John, Christopher and William Osgood. Salem: Salem Press, 1894, p. 312. Digital image at archive.org (free) accessed 31 Jan 2015.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Torrey, Clarence Almon. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., orig. 1963, rev. 2004.
4. ↑ Ferrin-Hollinger, Lavisa. Genealogical record of the ancestors and descendants of Joseph Ferrin and Elizabeth Preston. Cherokee, Iowa: n.p., 1915, p. 22. Digital image at archive.org (free) accessed 2 Nov 2016.

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ancestral File (R), Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998. Ancestral File Number 93TP-KW