The First Postmaster General - Samuel Osgood
Updated 9/4/21
Samuel Osgood was the first Postmaster General of the United States.
Samuel Osgood
When the alarm sounded to signal the British were coming, Samuel Osgood led the militia of Andover, Massachusetts into the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
After chasing the Redcoats to Boston, Samuel served as an aide-de-camp to Artemas Ward.
After the British evacuated the city, Osgood resigned from the militia to accept election to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress.
Continental Congress
Samuel Osgood served on the Massachusetts Board of War, which oversaw the state militia during the Revolution.
Samuel went to the State’s constitutional convention and afterwards was Andover’s representative in the Massachusetts Senate. At this time he was chosen as a delegate to the Continental Congress.
Osgood spent the second half of the 1780’s as a Commissioner of the Treasury for the Confederation.
Postmaster General
Samuel's work did not go unnoticed and in 1789 George Washington appointed him as the first Postmaster General of the United States under the new government, a position he held for two years.
Osgood, who had moved to New York City during his Treasury job, offered his house to Washington.
It was this house which became the first Executive Mansion, predating the White House.
When the government moved to Philadelphia (and Robert Morris’ house became the Executive Mansion), Osgood decided to remain in New York. He resigned the office of Postmaster and took a seat in the New York State Senate, eventually serving as it's Speaker.
Jefferson Administration
Samuel Osgood proved himself to be a hard worker who put country ahead of politics.
When Thomas Jefferson took over as President, few of the people who associated with the Washington Administration were offered jobs.
Osgood, however, was appointed as Naval Officer for the Port of New York. In this position, Samuel was responsible for overseeing the police force in the city's harbor.
Near the end of his life, Samuel Osgood was named the first President of City Bank of New York. This company is still around today under the name of Citigroup.
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