Samuel Osgood (February 3, 1747 – August 12, 1813) was an American merchant and statesman born in

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

, currently a part of

North Andover, Massachusetts North Andover is an affluent town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 30,915. History Native Americans inhabited what is now northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European c ...

. His family home still stands at 440 Osgood Street in North Andover and his home in New York City, the

Samuel Osgood House The Samuel Osgood House, also known as the Walter Franklin House, was the first official residence of the President of the United States. It housed George Washington, his family, and household staff, from April 23, 1789, to February 23, 1790, ...

, served as the country's first Presidential mansion. He served in the

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

and

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

legislatures, represented Massachusetts in the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

and was the fourth

Postmaster General of the United States The United States Postmaster General (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency. The PMG is selected and appointed by ...

(the first under the current Constitution), serving during

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

's first term. In 1812, he was elected the first president of the newly formed City Bank of New York, which later became

Citibank Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...

, predecessor of today's Citigroup.

Early life

John Osgood came to Massachusetts from

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia * Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Ando ...

in England in 1638. In 1646 he started a new settlement there and named it Andover for his home town. Four generations later, Captain Peter Osgood lived there and in 1747 he had a third son whom he named Samuel. Samuel attended Dummer Academy (now

The Governor's Academy The Governor's Academy is an independent school north of Boston located on in the village of Byfield, Massachusetts, United States (town of Newbury), north of Boston. The Academy enrolls approximately 412 students in grades nine through twelve ...

), and then

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

,University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs
where he studied theology and graduated in 1770. Later, he returned to Andover to follow a mercantile career. He joined the local militia, was elected to represent the town in the

colonial assembly The governments of the Thirteen Colonies of British America developed in the 17th and 18th centuries under the influence of the British constitution. After the Thirteen Colonies had become the United States, the experience under colonial rule would ...

, and in 1775 to the

provincial congress The Provincial Congresses were extra-legal legislative bodies established in ten of the Thirteen Colonies early in the American Revolution. Some were referred to as congresses while others used different terms for a similar type body. These bodies ...

that functioned as a revolutionary government.

The Revolution

Osgood led a local company of minutemen into the

Battle of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, ...

in the spring of 1775. They followed the retreating British, and became part of the

Siege of Boston The siege of Boston (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776) was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. New England militiamen prevented the movement by land of the British Army, which was garrisoned in what was then the peninsular town ...

. As more troops assembled, he was made Major of a brigade while serving at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. He became an aide to General

Artemas Ward Artemas Ward (November 26, 1727 – October 28, 1800) was an American major general in the American Revolutionary War and a Congressman from Massachusetts. He was considered an effective political leader, President John Adams describing him as ...

, and was promoted to Colonel. When the siege succeeded in the spring of 1776 Osgood left the army and returned to the provincial congress. The Provincial Congress named Osgood to the Massachusetts Board of War and he served there until 1780 when the government was reorganized. He was a delegate to the state's constitutional convention in 1779-1780. Under the new Constitution he was elected to the

Massachusetts State Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member sen ...

in 1780 and served two terms. The new government named Osgood as one of their delegates to the

and he served there from 1782 until 1784. After a brief term in the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

in 1784, the governor appointed Osgood a judge in 1785 but he soon resigned when the National Congress made him a commissioner of the Treasury later that year. He moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to take up this office, which he held until the Congressional Government ended.

Postmaster General and New York career

When a new U.S. government was installed in 1789,

President Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of t ...

appointed Osgood the first

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official respons ...

under the new

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

, replacing Ebenezer Hazard who was commissioned postmaster of the city of New York by the Continental Congress. Osgood served as Postmaster from 1789 to 1791.Miller Center
/ref> One of the first things Osgood would do is make the Post Office in Baltimore the new regional headquarters, whose postmaster was Katherine Goddard. Osgood ordered Goddard to resign from her post and was replaced by John White. The seat of the Federal Government at that time was in New York City and the official residence of the President was located at the

at 3 Cherry Street, which was the home of Samuel Osgood and his family. Osgood offered the mansion to Washington so that the President and his wife would have what was then considered the finest house in the city as their home. The residence thus became America's first executive mansion. When the Federal Government moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

for a ten-year period before finally settling in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, Osgood chose to remain in New York and resigned his post in 1791. Osgood was a

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

in 1792, and cast his votes for

and George Clinton. He was a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

in 1800-01 and 1802, and was

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

in 1800-01. In 1803, he was appointed by President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

as Naval Officer of the Port of New York, a position he held until his death. For the last year of his life he was President of the new City Bank of New York. Osgood was a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

, and in his later years devoted time to writing and study. He had an extensive correspondence with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson among others.

Personal life

On January 4, 1775, Osgood married Martha Brandon, who died in 1778. On May 24, 1786, Osgood married Maria Bowne (1754-1813), widow of Walter Franklin and mother of Maria Franklin Clinton, first wife of New York Governor

DeWitt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and naturalist. He served as a United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the seventh governor of New York. In this last capacity, he was largely res ...

. They had a daughter named Martha Brandon Osgood, who married diplomat

Edmond-Charles Genêt Edmond-Charles Genêt (January 8, 1763July 14, 1834), also known as Citizen Genêt, was the French envoy to the United States appointed by the Girondins during the French Revolution. His actions on arriving in the United States led to a major po ...

. Osgood's brother, Isaac, married Sarah Pickman (1772-1791) on October 12, 1790; following her death, he married her sister, Rebecca Taylor Pickman (1775-1801), on December 8, 1794. They had a son, Isaac Osgood Jr., whose daughter Charlotte married Moses T. Stevens, and a daughter, Sally Pickman Osgood, who married Bailey Loring and had a son, George B. Loring. Thirdly, Isaac married Mary Pickman in 1802, the cousin of his first two wives. His first two wives were cousins of, and his third wife a sister of, Benjamin Pickman.

Death

He died in New York City in 1813. His birthplace in

is located on a street named for his family, and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, as is his New York residence. Col. Osgood's portrait has been housed in the President's Room of the

U.S. Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the Legislature, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is form ...

since Lincoln's presidency.

References

External links

* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Osgood, Samuel 1747 births 1813 deaths American people of English descent Continental Congressmen from Massachusetts 18th-century American politicians Harvard College alumni Massachusetts militiamen in the American Revolution Massachusetts state senators Members of the New York State Assembly People from North Andover, Massachusetts Speakers of the New York State Assembly United States Postmasters General 1792 United States presidential electors The Governor's Academy alumni