The Samuel Osgood House, also known as the Walter Franklin House, was the first

official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...

of the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

. It housed

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 ...

, his family, and household staff, from April 23, 1789, to February 23, 1790, during New York City's two-year term as the national capital. Demolished in 1856, it stood at the northeast corner of what was Pearl and Cherry (today Dover) streets in what is now

Civic Center A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

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 ...

Origin and use as presidential residence

The owner,

Samuel Osgood Samuel Osgood (February 3, 1747 – August 12, 1813) was an American merchant and statesman born in Andover, Massachusetts, currently a part of North Andover, Massachusetts. His family home still stands at 440 Osgood Street in North Andover ...

, was a Massachusetts politician and lawyer, who settled in New York City. He married Maria Bowne Franklin, widow of Walter Franklin, the merchant who had built the house in 1770. Congress rented it for Washington's use, and the President-Elect moved in a week before his April 30, 1789, inauguration as first

. In addition to living quarters, the Osgood House contained the President's private office (the equivalent of the

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval-shaped roo ...

) and the public business office (the equivalent of the

West Wing The West Wing of the White House houses the offices of the president of the United States. The West Wing contains the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, the Situation Room, and the Roosevelt Room. The West Wing's four floors contain offices for ...

), making it the first seat of the executive branch of the federal government. The Samuel Osgood Papers, at the

New York Historical Society The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museu ...

, list purchases made to prepare the mansion for Washington occupancy.

I went the morning before the General's arrival to look at it. The best of furniture in every room, and the greatest quantity of plate and china I ever saw; the whole of the first and second stories is papered and the floors covered with the richest kinds of Turkey and Wilton carpets. There is scarcely anything talked about now but General Washington and the Palace.

Edward Savage - The Washington Family - Google Art Project

Steward Samuel Fraunces, former owner of nearby

Fraunces Tavern Fraunces Tavern is a museum and restaurant in New York City, situated at 54 Pearl Street at the corner of Broad Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. The location played a prominent role in history before, during, and after th ...

, managed a household staff of about 20: wage workers, indentured servants, and enslaved servants. Slavery was legal in New York, and Washington brought seven enslaved Africans from Mount Vernon to work in his presidential household: William Lee,

Christopher Sheels Christopher Sheels (born , Mount Vernon, Virginia – year and place of death unknown), was a slave and house servant at George Washington's plantation, Mount Vernon, in Virginia, United States. As a teenager, he worked as Washington's "body s ...

, Giles, Paris, Austin, Moll, and

Oney Judge Ona "Oney" Judge Staines ( 1773 – February 25, 1848) was an enslaved woman of mixed races who was owned by the Washington family, first at the family's plantation at Mount Vernon and later, after George Washington became president, at the ...

. Two of Martha Washington's grandchildren were part of the First Family: Nelly Custis (b. 1779) and "Wash" Custis (b. 1781). Soon after his inauguration, Washington became seriously ill with a tumor on his thigh (possibly caused by anthrax poisoning). Cherry Street was cordoned off to prevent his being disturbed.

Later years

The house was rented for one year at an annual rent of $845, but the president vacated it after ten months when a larger residence became available. Washington moved to the

Alexander Macomb House The Alexander Macomb House at 39–41 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, New York City, served as the second U.S. Presidential Mansion. President George Washington occupied it from February 23 to August 30, 1790, during New York City's two-year term ...

at 39–41 Broadway, which he occupied from February 23 to August 30, 1790. Under the July 1790

Residence Act The Residence Act of 1790, officially titled An Act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the Government of the United States (), is a United States federal statute adopted during the second session of the First United States Co ...

, the national capital 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. Since ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, for a 10-year period, while the permanent national capital was under construction in the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...

. The Osgood House was demolished in 1856. In 1899, the

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

marked its location with a bronze plaque, where Pearl Street crosses under the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East Rive ...

approach."George Washington slept ''here''?!"
''The Bowery Boys: New York History'', January 7, 2008

References

* Decatur, Stephen, Jr., ''The Private Affairs of George Washington'' (1933). * Hoffman, Henry B. "President Washington's Cherry Street Residence." ''The New-York Historical Society Quarterly Bulletin'', vol. 23 (January 1939): 90–103. * Miller, Agnes. "The Macomb House: Presidential Mansion." ''Michigan History'', vol. 37 (December 1953): 373–384. * Wharton, Anne H. "Washington's New York Residence in 1789." ''Lippincott's Monthly Magazine'', vol. 43 (1889): 741–745. {{DEFAULTSORT:Samuel Osgood House (New York City) Buildings and structures demolished in 1856 Civic Center, Manhattan Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan New York City as the National Capital Presidency of George Washington Presidential homes in the United States Osgood History of slavery in New York (state) Osgood Homes of United States Founding Fathers

Origin and use as presidential residence

Later years

See also

References