Bosson Family Record Sampler
Catharine Mayo Bosson (1797-1876)
Silk on linen
Roxbury, Massachusetts and Cincinnati, Ohio
1807-c. 1826
Catharine Bosson lived a rather storied life. She was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts to Major William Bosson Jr. (1753-1823) and Susanna Mayo (1759-1826). Major Bosson was a Minute Man at the Battles of Concord and Long Island, and later served as an artillery officer in the 3rd Continental Artillery Regiment under Colonel John Crane.
Shortly after the War of 1812, two of the Bosson sons, Thomas and John, migrated west, settling in Cincinnati, both being physicians. Another brother, Joseph, followed them shortly thereafter. In 1816, Major Bosson visited his sons in the Queen City, and upon his return to Roxbury, made plans for his family to move west, which they did in 1818, including 21-year-old Catharine.
Later that same year, Catharine married the editor and publisher of the Cincinnati Inquisitor, Benjamin Franklin Powers (1788-1860). Like Catharine, Benjamin was another recent émigré, having come west from Woodstock, Vermont with his family that same year. Among his family was his younger brother, Hiram, who got his first job in Luman Watson’s clock factory, and then, years later, develop the skill for sculpting marble that would define the rest of his life.
Ten-year-old Catharine neatly laid out her large family on this sampler. She listed her father at the top, with his first wife, Prudence Mayo (1755-1784). The couple had four children: William (1778-1799), Nehemiah (1779-1807), Prudence (1782-1787), and Sukey (1784-1833). After Prudence died, William married Susanna Mayo, is late wife’s younger sister. They had ten children: Thomas (1785-1850), Prudence (1787-1790), John (1790-1790), Charles (1791-1864), John (1790-1818), Joseph (1795-1838), Catharine (1797-1876), Nancy (1799-1803), Mary (1801-1871), and William (1803-1887).
It is clear that Catharine treasured her sampler as she took it west to Cincinnati. She updated it with the deaths of some of her siblings as well as her parents. Her mother’s death in 1826 was the last update Catharine made to her sampler.
At the time of her last sampler update, Catharine had been married for eight years and had two children, Mary (1822-1851) and William (1824-1851), and would have two more, Benjamin (1834-1865) and Ellen (1838-1916). She and her had removed from Cincinnati and settled in Troy, Miami County, where she and Benjamin would spend their remaining years, and where they are buried.
Catharine Mayo Bosson (1797-1876)
Silk on linen
Roxbury, Massachusetts and Cincinnati, Ohio
1807-c. 1826
Catharine Bosson lived a rather storied life. She was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts to Major William Bosson Jr. (1753-1823) and Susanna Mayo (1759-1826). Major Bosson was a Minute Man at the Battles of Concord and Long Island, and later served as an artillery officer in the 3rd Continental Artillery Regiment under Colonel John Crane.
Shortly after the War of 1812, two of the Bosson sons, Thomas and John, migrated west, settling in Cincinnati, both being physicians. Another brother, Joseph, followed them shortly thereafter. In 1816, Major Bosson visited his sons in the Queen City, and upon his return to Roxbury, made plans for his family to move west, which they did in 1818, including 21-year-old Catharine.
Later that same year, Catharine married the editor and publisher of the Cincinnati Inquisitor, Benjamin Franklin Powers (1788-1860). Like Catharine, Benjamin was another recent émigré, having come west from Woodstock, Vermont with his family that same year. Among his family was his younger brother, Hiram, who got his first job in Luman Watson’s clock factory, and then, years later, develop the skill for sculpting marble that would define the rest of his life.
Ten-year-old Catharine neatly laid out her large family on this sampler. She listed her father at the top, with his first wife, Prudence Mayo (1755-1784). The couple had four children: William (1778-1799), Nehemiah (1779-1807), Prudence (1782-1787), and Sukey (1784-1833). After Prudence died, William married Susanna Mayo, is late wife’s younger sister. They had ten children: Thomas (1785-1850), Prudence (1787-1790), John (1790-1790), Charles (1791-1864), John (1790-1818), Joseph (1795-1838), Catharine (1797-1876), Nancy (1799-1803), Mary (1801-1871), and William (1803-1887).
It is clear that Catharine treasured her sampler as she took it west to Cincinnati. She updated it with the deaths of some of her siblings as well as her parents. Her mother’s death in 1826 was the last update Catharine made to her sampler.
At the time of her last sampler update, Catharine had been married for eight years and had two children, Mary (1822-1851) and William (1824-1851), and would have two more, Benjamin (1834-1865) and Ellen (1838-1916). She and her had removed from Cincinnati and settled in Troy, Miami County, where she and Benjamin would spend their remaining years, and where they are buried.