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OSBORN-JACKSON HOUSE
This colonial house,
one of the few still in its original position on Main
Street, is owned and maintained by the Village of East
Hampton. It serves as the headquarters for the East
Hampton Historical Society and a period house museum
for the general public.
The Osborn-Jackson House,
named for its first and
last owners, was built in the second quarter of the
of eighteenth century. Owned and lived in by six generations
of Osborns until the late 1960’s, it has been ’modernized’
by each successive generation.
The original house on this
site, thought to
have been built in 1723, would have been a one story
house with a huge gable roof containing sleeping and
storage areas. This was the family home of ’Deacon’
Daniel Osborn. In about 1760, when Daniel died, his
son Jonathan inherited the house and enlarged it. The
full second story was added, along with the high style
plaster cove cornice across the facade. He was a weaver,
possibly using the large, well lighted upstairs southeast
room for his looms and other equipment. After Jonathan,
the house was owned successively by his son Joseph and
his son Sylvanus and his grandson Edward E. Gardner,
until the mid-20th century.
The House in 1870
The front door opens into the
typical small hall of the early eighteenth century with
its ’winder’ stairs set into the back of the chimney.
In accord with mid-nineteenth century use in gentry
homes, there are two parlors, left and right.
The north, or right, parlor
represents the 1870 study/office
of 55 year old Sylvanus Osborn (1815-1886). An elected
Town Trustee, Town Clerk, school teacher and ornithologist,
he also drove his horse and buggy to meet the New York
boat at Sag Harbor to pick up the summer boarders, bringing
them to East Hampton!
In the south parlor,
note the initials, SMO (for Sylvanus Mulford Osborn!
) carved in the fireplace hearth. This parlor was where
ailing Aunt Fanny received a constant stream of visitors
both young and old. Frances Hunting was the unmamed
sister of Mary-Mariah (Hunting) Osborn, Sylvanus’ mother.
In her extensive diaries she noted many details of 19th
century East Hampton including the arrivals of summer
visitors, where they were from and where they boarded.
Across the rear of the house
is the kitchen, with its
early open-hearth fireplace and bake oven which has
remained intact over the years through many alterations.
The cook/housekeeper reigned here, preparing meals for
the family of seven and the Irish farm helper, 23 year
old Coleman Cormelly who lived in the house with the
family. As one of East Hampton’s early gentry families,
the Osborn family would have been engaged in the raising
of sheep, cattle and horses, which provided the base
for products local merchants traded with the West Indies.
In the year 1870, an extended Osborn family owned and
lived in this house. According to the State and Federal
census, Joseph Osborn, age 81, owned 178 acres of pasture
and meadow. (In 1865, the farm was considered worth
$4,000!).
Lionel Jackson donated
the property to the Village of East Hampton in 1977
for use as a museum. Since then, the East Hampton Historical
Society, established in 1921, has administered the site
for public programming and exhibitions.
The 0sborn-Jackson House Museum
is open year-round on weekdays from 9 to 5 pm. The 0sborn-Jackson
House Museum is featured on the Historical Society weekend
Historic District Walking Tours.
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