Sarah Osborn
Sarah Osborn was an influential figure in early American religious and educational circles, born in 1722 in England and later settling in Newport, Rhode Island. Orphaned young, she faced significant personal challenges, including the early death of her first husband, Samuel Wheaton, and the loss of her only son. Osborn became a devoted follower of Calvinist teachings under the mentorship of Nathaniel Clap, leading her to embrace Puritan practices that would shape her life's work. In 1737, she joined the First Church and later led a society of women within the congregation, focusing on spiritual education and community service. Her experience during the Revolutionary War highlighted her resilience; she provided support to her church community amidst turmoil and hosted prayer meetings for both enslaved and free Black individuals in her home. In 1755, she published *The Nature, Certainty, and Evidence of True Christianity*, reflecting her spiritual journey. Despite facing financial hardships towards the end of her life, Osborn remained dedicated to helping the poor and her church, ultimately leaving her possessions to those in need upon her death. Her legacy continued posthumously with the publication of *Memoirs of the Life of Mrs. Sarah Osborn*, which expanded on her writings and contributions.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Sarah Osborn
- Born: February 22, 1714
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: August 2, 1796
Biography
Sarah Osborn, born to Benjamin and Susanna Guyse Haggar, attended a religious boarding school near London for a short time when she was still a young child. When she was eight years old, in 1722, Sarah traveled with her mother across the Atlantic Ocean to join her father, who had already settled in Boston. The family lived throughout New England before settling in Newport, Rhode Island, during Sarah’s teenage years. Sarah married sailor Samuel Wheaton when she was eighteen years old, but the marriage was short-lived; Wheaton died at sea only two years later, leaving Sarah with a small child.
The young widow began teaching school and in the meantime became drawn to the teachings of Calvinist Nathaniel Clap, minister of the First Church. Against her parents’ wishes, Sarah began attending the First Church and soon embraced Puritan religious views and practices. She joined the First Church in 1737, at age twenty-three, with Clap having become her mentor. Four years later, a group of fifty-some women in the congregation asked Sarah to lead a female society within the church, and the group met twice each week for lessons and meditation, together observing special religious days and raising funds for church projects as well. At its best times, the society boasted more than sixty members.
Sarah then married widower Henry Osborn, and the two brought together their families: Sarah’s one son and Henry’s three. But just a few months after the couple wed, Henry Osborn’s tailoring business and health both began to fail, and Sarah Osborn returned to her teaching work. During this same difficult period, Sarah’s son died at age twelve, and the grieving mother found comfort with the women in the society she led. In 1755, Osborn published The Nature, Certainty, and Evidence of True Christianity, an autobiographical collection of texts, including letters to friends, that chronicle her spiritual life and growth.
During the chaos of the Revolutionary War, when the church was taken for military uses and the minister Samuel Hopkins, one of Osborn’s dear friends and her contemporary in the antislavery movement, was forced to flee Newport, Osborn proved vital to the church, keeping members’ spirits high and offering her home as the church’s meeting place. The Osborns had already been hosting regular prayer meetings in their home for some time, including Sunday-evening prayer meetings for black slaves as well as Tuesday-evening meetings for the Ethiopian Society of free black residents of the community.
Upon her death, which followed years of poor health, Osborn had little money or material possessions left, but before dying, she insisted that whatever she did have be given to Newport’s poor and to her beloved church. In 1799, three years after Osborn’s death, Memoirs of the Life of Mrs. Sarah Osborn appeared and included and expanded upon the texts of Osborn’s 1755 volume.