Samuel Osgood, first Postmaster General

Samuel Osgood was an American merchant and statesman born in North Andover, Massachusetts, parent town of the Andovers. His family home still stands at 440 Osgood Street in North Andover. He served in the Massachusetts and New York state legislatures, represented Massachusetts in the Continental Congress and was the first Postmaster General under the United States Constitution. In 1812, he was elected the first president of the newly formed City Bank of New York, which later became Citibank, predecessor of today’s Citigroup.[1][2]


John Osgood came to Massachusetts from Andover 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 February 3, 1747, he had a third son whom he named Samuel.










Osgood was a member of American Philosophical Society, and in his later years devoted time to writing and study. He had an extensive correspondence with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson among others. He died at home (3 Cherry Street) in New York City on August 12, 1813, and was buried in the Brick Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.[7] The church is located at what is now the corner of Fifth Avenue and Thirty-seventh Street.

His birthplace in North Andover, Massachusetts is located on a street named for his family. Colonel Osgood’s portrait has been housed in the President’s Room of the U.S. Capitol since the Lincoln presidency.[2]


  1. University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs
  2. “SAMUEL OSGOOD”. Osgoode Family Association. http://www.osgoodfamily.com/
  3. “A list of Civil Officers of the Revolutionary Period
    second quarter of the Town’s Second Century
    Representatives to the General Court.”. Andover, Massachusetts / Andover Historical Society
  4. “OSGOOD BIOGRAPHIES”. Osgood Family History Site. http://www.osgood.org/Osgood/Biographies.htm
  5. American Philosophical Society: Ebenezer Hazard papers, 1766-1813
  6. “Neither Snow nor Rain…”. HistoryNet, Weider History Group. http://www.historynet.com/neither-snow-nor-rain-december-97-american-history-feature.htm
  7. Find a Grave
  8. “Women in the U.S. Postal System”. Smithsonian National Postal Museum http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/WomenHistory/women_history/history_goddard.html
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