Solomon Osgood Jr. of Dracut, Massachusetts. A clockmaker, blacksmith and a distinguished mathematician.

Little is currently known of the life of the clockmaker Solomon Osgood. The first Osgood that settled in America came to this country in 1638. His children and grandchildren settled in the area north of Boston in towns that included Andover, Newbury, Salem, Medford, Massachusetts, and also southern New Hampshire towns like Concord, Pelham, and Milford. Ancestry records indicate that there were two people, Father and son, named Solomon Osgood, that lived in the town of Dracut. The first was born in Andover, Massachusetts, in 1734 and died in Dracut in 1805. His parents were Josiah Osgood and Abigail Day. He married Jonna Colburn (Coburn), who was born in 1723 and died in 1765. They had a son whom they named Solomon Jr. He was born on May 23, 1762, three years before his mother died. Solomon Jr. married Pheby (Phebe) Colbrun (Coburn) on March 5, 1801. Solomon Jr. died on May 26, 1841. He was 79 years old. 

Currently, three tall clocks are known to us that are signed by the clockmaker Solomon Osgood on the dial. Two of these clocks are signed Solomon Jr. One of these signed Junior clocks has a pendulum that is engraved with the number "9." The third clock known to us is signed "Solomon Osgood." This may indicate that the third clock was made after his Father's death. It was a common practice to drop the Jr. designation once the parent died. 

In the Town History of Dracut and an article published on February 7, 1896, about the Early Osgoods, we are able to piece together a bit about their lives. During the Revolutionary War, Solomon hired Asa Coburn as his military substitute to travel to Ticonderoga under Capt. John Ford. Coburn was paid 10 dollars for his service. Solomon is listed in the December 31, 1793 rolls voting against the proposed building of the new meeting house in Dracut. He is also listed as having a pew in the Presbyterian Meeting House. He served the town in June of 1796 as an assessor. He was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for Dracut in 1812. He is described there as a clockmaker and a blacksmith and is distinguished in mathematics. His blacksmith shop was located on Mammouth Road.

Middlesex county property records from 1790 indicate that Solomon Osgood of Dracut, blacksmith, sold 100 acres of land in Fitzwilliam, NH to Francis Whitcomb of Fitzwilliam, NH county of Cheshire, NH, yeoman. This document was signed by Solomon. This information was found in a set of period documents (1788-1807) that involved Solomon Osgood. One of these documents, from 1807, lists Solomon's trade as a clockmaker.