More research, specifically substantiating records, are still needed on this line. Anyone researching this Osborne family knows the immense confusion regarding the early multiple generations of the name Thomas Osborne. Even early articles written in some genealogical periodicals have invadvertently comingled incorrect generations of the name Thomas. After three years of unsuccessfully untangling this family, the author was fortunate to make contact with an Osborne relative and long-time researcher in Halifax County. This author is certain of the last two generations, and feels confident that the generations between immigrant Thomas Osborne and Thomas A. Osborne are reasonably accurate.
Captain Thomas (I) Osborne
Lieutenant Thomas Osborne arrived in Jamestown aboard the Bona Nova late in 1619; no family members are known to have accompanied him at this time. Whether his wife had previously died in England is not known, but her name has never appeared in any of the extant colonial Virginia records. He was selected by the London Company in England to serve as the leader of the military contingent in the settlement of College Land, a large area of land near Henricus City. The latter was the second permanent settlement in Virginia, the first, of course, being Jamestown. He appears in the two early lists of inhabitants, dated February 1623/24, and January 1224/25, as a resident of "Colledge Land."
After the March 1622 attack by the Indians, where roughly one-third of those settlers between Jamestown and Henricus City were killed, Lieut. Thomas Osborne lead a retaliatory attack; from this point onward, he appears in the records as Captain Thomas Osborne. From 1625-1633 he served in the House of Burgesses and, having been granted a large tract of land known as Coxendale, settled there around 1625. The first town in Coxendale, Gatesville, was later named Osbornes and became an important inspection, storage, and shipping center for tobacco well into the late 19th century. He lived his entire life in Coxendale (that part which is now Chesterfield County), and the succeeding four generations of his namesake also made Coxendale their home.
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From Colonial Virginia Register, House of Burgesses, pp. 54-58 1629 Assembled October 6th The Plantation at the College: Lieutenant Thomas Osborne, Matthew Edlowe. 1629-30 Assembled March 14th Plantations of the College and Neck of Land: Captain Thomas Osborne, Thomas Farmer. 1631-32 Assembled February 21st Arrowhattocks, Neck of Land, and Curles: Captain Thomas Osborne. 1632 Assembled September 4th Arrowhattocks, Neck of Land, and Curles: Captain Thomas Osborne. 1632-3 Assembled February 1st Arrowhattocks, Henrico Neck of Land, and Curles: Captain Thomas Osborne. |
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From Cavaliers and Pioneers, Patent Book 1, Part II, p. 80. CAPT. THOMAS OSBORNE, 1000 acs. Henrico Co., 6 Feb 1637, p. 519. N. upon Procters Cr., E. upon the maine river, W. into the woods & S. upon Henrico Island called by the name of Fearing. Granted by order of Ct., 8 Oct. 1634 & due for trans. of 20 pers.... |
Thomas (II) Osborne, Jr.
Often referred to in colonial Virginia records as "Thomas, Jr.", it is believed that he
came to Virginia sometime shortly after his father. The identity of his wife is also not known.
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From Cavaliers and Pioneers, Patent Book 1, Part II, p 78 THOMAS OSBORNE, JUNR., 500 acs., Henrico Co., 16 June 1637, p. 512. Sly. upon fearing & Nly. into the woods, the whole tract of land to bee called by the name of Batchelers bancke. Due for his pers. adv. & trans. of 9 pers: Henry Kilbye, John Finch, Wm. Burford, Samll. Thorneford, Edward Williams, Jerimiah Hoveller, Agnes Sherly, Jon. Weyan, Richard Perrin. |
Thomas (III) Osborne
The third of five successive generations of Thomas, this Thomas Osborne was the first born in America (1641), and he resided his entire life in Coxendale, Henrico County. A long-time Osborne researcher and resident Osborne authority of Halifax, Virginia, states that he married twice and that a Miss Bailey (possibly Mary), daughter of one Henry Bailey, was his first wife and mother of the succeeding Thomas (IV) Osborne. He secondly married Martha Griegg.
Thomas (IV) Osborne
The first Thomas Osborne for which more than scant information is available was born in 1665, Coxendale, Henrico County. It is recorded that he married Martha Jones bef 24 February, 1689, and had seven children. The unusual given name of Repps was introduced in this generation, through Martha's mother, Mary Repps.
The fifth Thomas in succession, he became the first of this line to leave Coxendale. At which point he did so is uncertain, but sometime after his marriage to Ann Worsham, he removed to Charlotte County, Virginia, where it is believed that all four of their children were born.
John Osborne and William Osborne
John Osborne removed to Amelia County, where his son, William Osborne, was born in 1745. William Osborne then subsequently removed to Halifax County, Virginia.
Thomas A. Osborne
Thomas A. Osborne appears in the 1850 Halifax County, Virginia census, with wife Martha Powell. According to the aforementioned Halifax County researcher, Martha was his second wife, which would account for his age (about 46) at the time of their marriage in 1829. Research is still ongoing regarding Martha Powell. The author believes her to be the daughter of John Powell and Lucy Owen, and has found the will of William Owen, dated 11 Aug 1806, in which he mentions his daughter Lucy (Owen) Powell, wife of John Powell.
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