Captain Nathaniel Austin

Captain Nathaniel Austin was born on May 23, 1706 in Suffield, Hampshire, Massachusetts. He was the son of Dr. Nathaniel Austin and Abigail Hovey. Nathaniel died on April 13, 1777 in Sheffield, Berkshire, Massachusetts and is buried in the Sheffield Plain Cemetery. He married Agnes Adams on May 16, 1732 in Suffield, Hampshire, Massachusetts. They had 10 children: Gad Austin, Phenix Austin, Diadama Austin, John Austin, Lieutenant Joab Austin, Levi Austin, Judah Austin, Elijah Austin, and Mary Austin. At 23, Nathaniel took title to his father’s Suffield, Connecticut properties. Later, with his cousin Anthony Austin, he became 1 of 39 original proprietors of Housatonic Township #1, the lower half of an original tract that extended north from the Connecticut line for about 18 miles. This lower tract, extending almost to Great Barrington, was further divided into 5 divisions, the lower 3 incorporated as Sheffield, Massachusetts in 1733. Nathaniel and Anthony held title to land in the 3rd division, and area just north of the present town center called Sheffield Plain. Nathaniel and Anthony were appointed to a committee for building a meeting house at the first town meeting of Sheffield on January 16, 1733. Nathaniel was also employed by varies individuals, as well as the Town of Sheffield, as a surveyor. Nathaniel held the title of Lieutenant when Agnes died on October 2, 1754. He was later listed on town records as Captain. Nathaniel was an active Revolutionary War patriot. In 1773 he signed the “Declaration Against Great Britain”. He was also a delegate (from Sheffield) to the Berkshire Co. Convention, which convened at Stockbridge, Massachusetts on July 6, 1774, and where the Convention advised inhabitants not to consume products of British manufactures. Nathaniel was on the committee that made a report to the residents of the town, at a meeting held on June 18, 1776, which, after adoption, resolved to take up arms.