SHERBURNE FAMILIES OF EPSOM, GENEALOGY

BOSTON TRANSCRIPT January 8, 1906
SHERBURNE, Note #858

Sherburnes of Epsom NH. Epsom was granted May 18, 1727, to the inhabitants and freeholders of new Castle, NH, which included Rye, and the parish of Greenland. The first settlers were mostly from these three towns. One of the original proprietors was a John Sherburne, suppoed to have been son of Henry (2) John (1) of New Castle. He had lot No. 109 of 138 acres, in the northwesterly corner of the town, later known as the New Orchard district. This lot was settled and long occupied by Sherburnes, who were relatives, but not descendants of the original proprietor.
Its southern side was taken up by Joseph Sherburne, a Revolutionary soldier, born in Portsmouth in 1745, died in Epsom in 1807. He married Olive Pitman. They had thirteen children:
William*, born May 8, 1769; died July 29, 1807; he married Dorcas, daughter of Daniel Hall of Concord, NH, where they lived.
Olive, born Feb. 23, 1773, died Dept. 14, 1837.
Elizabeth, born Feb. 23, 1775.
Sally, born Sept. 15, 1776, died Jan. 12, 1824; she married John Dolbeer, born Aug. 17, 1778, died June 25, 1819, son of Nicholas and Mary (Randall) Dolbeer; they lived in Epsom and had seven children: Nicholas, Joseph Sherburne, John, William, Jonathan, Elivira and Benjamin Alonzo.
John **, born March 8, 1780, died April 20, 1822
Daniel, born April 13, 1782, died 1860, he lived in Canada.
Lucy, born May 3, 1784, died May 7, 1807.
Molly [Mary], born April 13, 1786, died Feb. 23, 1800
Lydia, born June 27, 1788, died Jan. 22, 1844
James, born Dec. 22, 1789, died Oct. 30, 1857*** he married in June, 1822, Sally Prescott, born 1799, died 1852, daughter of Jesse and Abigail (Towle) Prescott of Loudon, NH; they lived on the homeplace in a large colonial house, that is still standing, and had eight children: Emeline, Jason, Abbie, Oliver, Henry Orlando, Sarah and Joseph.
Abigail, born Nov. 13, 1792, died Jan. 11, 1838.
Ruhamah, born April 7. 1795
(*) William married Margaret Libbey Feb. 12, 1795, moved to Stanstead, Canada
(**) John died 1822, unmarried; there was a son Joseph who married Dorcas, daughter of Daniel Hall of Concord, NH, where they lived, attributed incorrectly in the article to William above.
(***) James died 1851 (Cemetery)
The northern side of lot No. 109 was settled by Joseph's brother, William Sherburne, born in Portsmouth in 1746, died in Epsom June 23, 1808. He married, in Portsmouth, March 19, 1772, Sarah Muchmore, born in 1748, died Feb. 18, 1820, daughter of Nathaniel Muchmore. They had ten children:
Molly [Polly]
Abigail, who married James Locke of Epsom
Sarah, born in 1776, who married Thomas Rand of Chichester, NH
Jane, who married James Blake of Epsom
David, born in 1780, who married Nov. 25, 1807, Betsey Sherburne Moses, born Dec. 15, 1786, daughter of James (4) Moses (Mark 3, Aaron 3, John 1) and Elizabeth (Sherburne) Moses. They had the home place where both lived to old age, they had nine children: William, James, Moses, Eliza, David, Sarah and Jane Moses, William, Mary Ann and Lucinda.
Ruth who married Benjamin Shaw of Chichester, NH
Ann, who married Thomas Cass of Canada
Nathaniel, born April 23, 1798, who married Jane Piper of Loudon, NH
William, born in 1791, who died unmarried
Elizabeth, born in 1792, who married Samuel Drake
Nathaniel Sherburne, another brother of the above-named Epsom pioneers Joseph and William, lived on his father's place at Portsmouth Plains. He was born in 1741 and married Jane Nutter. They had sons Nathaniel Jr., Levi, James and David or Daniel. Nathaniel Jr. settled in Epsom on lot No. 99 in the New Orchard district and married Nov. 26, 1789, Molly Sanders of Epsom. His father deeded him part of this lot Sept. 9, 1799, the rest of it having been previously deeded to his brother David or Daniel. Nathaniel Jr. had children: John, David, Mary and Elizabeth.
Besides Joseph, William and Nathaniel there were two other brothers, Daniel, born in 1740, who settled in Goshen, NH; and David, born in 1756, a Revolutionary soldier, who died unmarried at sea. These five brothers and a sister, Ruth, were children of Nathaniel (4) Sherburne (John 3, John 2, John 1) of Portsmouth Plains and his wife Sarah, who was also a Sherburne, probably daughter of Henry (2) (John 1).
Another representative of the family among the early settlers of Epsom was Abigail (Sherburne) Cate, born at Portsmouth Plains, April 6, 1743, died in Epsom March 18, 1818, wife of Deacon John (4) Cate (William 3, John 2, James 1) born in Greenland, N.H. May 1, 1732, died in Epsom, Nov. 6, 1821, They were married Sept. 2, 1766, and settled first in Londonderry, NH, whence the removed to Epsom about 1776 and settled on lot. No. 100 in the New Orchard district. She was daughter of Deacon Samuel (3) Sherburne (John 2, John 1) and Mercy (Wiggin) Sherburne of Portsmouth Plains, and was of distinguished ancestry on her mother's side. Mercy Wiggin was daughter of Hon. Andrew and Abigail (Follett) Wiggin, and granddaughter of Andrew and Hannah (Bradstreet) Wiggin of Exeter, NH. This Andrew was son of Governor Thomas Wiggin of Dover, NH. Andrew's wife, Hannah Bradstreet, was daughter of Governor Simon Bradstreet of Massachusetts, and his wife, Anne, our first American poetress, who was daughter of Governor Thomas Dudley of Massachusetts. See Transcript of June 20, 1900, answer No. 3991. Deacon John (4) and Abigail Cate had children: Abigail ,Ebenezer, John, Martha, Betsey, Samuel and Mary.
Other Sherburne pioneers in Epsom were three sisters, daughters of Lieutenant John (4) Sherburne (John 3, Samuel 2, Henry 1) of Hampton and Northwood, NH, namely
Jane, baptized at Hampton Oct. 14, 1744, died 1828, who married, in 1764, Colonel Jeremiah Prescott of Epsom and had eight children:
Mary, baptized Oct. 26, 1746, died 1834, who married Levi Cass of Epsom, and had sons, Levi and Samuel, and two daughters,.
Elizabeth, born July 5, 1749, died 1826, who married, March 19, 1780, James (4) Moses (mark 3, Aaron 2, John 1) of Epsom and had children: Mark, James, Jane, Betsey Sherburne, Mary and Sarah.
It will be seen that before 1790 there were seven families in Epsom in which one parent was a Sherburne. It is hardly necessary to say that they were among the most respectable and influential families of the town. The Sherburne family was a distinguished one in the early history of New Hampshire.
The American ancestry of these seven Sherburne's may be found in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register vols. lviii and lix. In the Sherburne articles by the late Edward Raymond Sherburne of Boston, to whom I am indebted for much of the information given in this note. The publishers have reprinted these articles in a pamphlet. The Sherburne Ancestry has also been traced back six generations in England, the line backward being: Joseph of Odlham, Hampshire, died 1621; Henry of Oxford, born 1555; Hugh of Haighton, born 1534; Richard of Bailey and Haighton, born 1510; Richard of Wiswall, born 1488, who was the second son of Sir Richard Sherburne, Knight, born 1465 of Stonyhurst, in the town of Haighton, Lancashire. See page 57 of C.S. Gurney's "Portsmouth Historic and Picturesque." P.P.M.