Gayton Pickman Osgood (July 4, 1797June 26, 1861) was a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from state

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. He was born in Salem on July 4, 1797. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1815, studied law, was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Salem. He moved to

North Andover North Andover is an affluent town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 30,915. History Native Americans inhabited what is now northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European c ...

. Osgood served as a member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

, and was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-third Congress (March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1835). He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1834. He retired from public life and engaged in agricultural pursuits. Osgood died in Andover on June 26, 1861. His interment was in the Old North Parish Burying Ground.

Personal life

Osgood was the son of Isaac Osgood (1755-1847) and his second wife Rebecca Taylor Pickman (1775-1801), who married on December 8, 1794. His father was previously married to Rebecca's sister, Sarah (1772-1791), who he married in 1790. Following his mother's death, his father married for a third time to Mary Pickman (1765-1856) in 1802. Mary was a first cousin of Sarah and Rebecca Pickman, and the younger sister of Massachusetts Congressman Benjamin Pickman. Pickman was also Gayton Osgood's first cousin, once removed. Osgood's uncle,

Samuel Osgood Samuel Osgood (February 3, 1747 – August 12, 1813) was an American merchant and statesman born in Andover, Massachusetts, currently a part of North Andover, Massachusetts. His family home still stands at 440 Osgood Street in North Andover ...

, was the first Postmaster General of the United States. His sister, Sally Pickman Osgood, was the mother of Massachusetts Congressman George B. Loring. His brother, Isaac, was the father of Charlotte Emeline Osgood, who married Massachusetts Congressman Moses T. Stevens. His second cousin, twice removed was Rhode Island Governor and Senator

George P. Wetmore George Peabody Wetmore (August 2, 1846September 11, 1921) was an American politician who was the 37th Governor of, and a Senator from, Rhode Island. Early life George Peabody Wetmore was born in London, England, during a visit of his parents ...

, while Wetmore's sister, Annie, married

William Watts Sherman William Watts Sherman (August 4, 1842 – January 22, 1912) was a New York City businessman and the treasurer of the Newport Casino. In 1875–1876 he had the William Watts Sherman House constructed in Newport, Rhode Island. Early life ...

. Wetmore and Sherman's daughter Georgette married Harold Brown (Rhode Island financier). His third great-grandmother, Mary Clements Osgood, was accused of being a witch during the

Salem Witch Trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...

. He is also distantly related to the

Cabot family The Cabot family was part of the Boston Brahmin, also known as the "first families of Boston". History Family origin The Boston Brahmin Cabot family descended from John Cabot (born 1680 in Jersey, a British Crown Dependencies and one of the C ...

, as his grandmother, Sarah Orne Pickman, is the great-niece of Anna Orne, who married John Cabot and from whom most of the American Cabot family descends from. Through the Orne line as well, Pickman is a first cousin, three times removed of

Timothy Pickering Timothy Pickering (July 17, 1745January 29, 1829) was the third United States Secretary of State under Presidents George Washington and John Adams. He also represented Massachusetts in both houses of Congress as a member of the Federalist Party ...

, the Second Postmaster General of the United States (following Osgood's uncle) and a United States Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Congressman and Senator.

External links

* 1797 births 1861 deaths Politicians from Salem, Massachusetts Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Harvard University alumni {{Massachusetts-MARepresentative-stub