Hon. Addison Newton Osgood, a well-known and prominent resident of Pembroke, was born in Allenstown, this State, March 16, 1836, son Ira B. and Alice (Prescott) Osgood. He belongs to the seventh generation of Osgoods in this country, tracing his descent to Christopher Osgood, a native of Ipswich, England, who died in 1650. The first of Christopher’s two marriages was contracted with Mary Everett, an Englishwoman, who had one child by him. His second wife was Margery, daughter of Philip and Mary (Winsley or Winslow) Fowler. She was baptized in Marlboro, England, May 25, 1615. By her he became the father of five children. Christopher, the fourth child and the next in line, was born in Andover, Mass., in 1643. He was a millwright by trade. An active and prominent citizen, he was Captain in the militia, and represented Andover in the General Court of Massachusetts in 1690. He died in 1725. His first wife, in maidenhood Hannah Belknap, of Lynn, bore him six children. His second wife, Hannah Barker Osgood, was the mother of four children. His third wife, Sarah, had no issue. His fourth and last, also named Sarah, was the mother of six. Ezekiel, son of Captain Christopher Osgood, and the great-great-grandfather of Addison N., was born in Andover, Mass., November 5, 1679, and died in 1741. His first wife was Rebecca Wardwell, and the Christian name of his second was Mary. Samuel Osgood, the second of his seven children by his second wife, and the great-grandfather of Addison N., was born in Andover, May 27, 1714, and died March 16, 1774. He, too, was twice married. His first wife, whose maiden name was Dorothy Wardwell, bore him five children; and his second, in maidenhood Elizabeth Abbott, who died September 27, 1792, had eight children.
Christopher Osgood, the youngest child of Samuel and Elizabeth (Abbott) Osgood, born in Andover, April 25, 1769, was a miller by trade. In his early manhood he managed the ferry between Concord and Pembroke. Subsequently he settled on a farm in Pembroke, and purchased extensive tracts of land in the part of the town now called Suncook. Much of this land was covered with timber at the time of purchase, and he dealt extensively in lumber in his later years. He was a prominent man in Pembroke, and took an active part in town affairs. In politics he was a Whig. He died October 3, 1841. His first wife died childless. His second wife, a cousin of his first wife, and whose maiden name was Annie Abbott, lived to be quite old, and reared four children. Both she and her husband were members of the Congregational church. Ira B. Osgood, the youngest of his parents’ children, was born in Pembroke, December 30, 1804. He was engaged in farming and lumbering during a great part of his life, and he owned and managed a saw-mill in Allenstown for a number of years. In politics he was a Republican. He died in Allenstown, October 29, 1869. Both he and his wife were members of the Congregational church. Of their seven children there are living-Warren A., Charles, Addison N., and Alva L.
Addison Newton Osgood acquired his elementary education in Allenstown, and studied the advanced branches at Pembroke Academy. After leaving school he spent three years in Boston. In 1860 he settled in Pembroke, and engaged in lumbering, preparing his lumber for the market on the site of the old mill owned by his father. Until 1873 he was in partnership with another gentleman. Since that date he has managed an independent business. He has been very prosperous in his financial enterprises, and owns much valuable real estate in Pembroke and Allenstown. Mr. Osgood is a man of high integrity, and is respected wherever he is known. He is an 1878 and 1879.
Mr. Osgood was married December 17, 1865, to Mary E., daughter of William A. and Julia (Upham) Phelps, of Pembroke. He has taken the thirty-second degree in Masonry, and is a Knight of Pythias and an Odd Fellow. He is also a Patron of Husbandry, and is affiliated with the grange at Pembroke. Both he and Mrs. Osgood are members of the Methodist church.