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

official residence An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...

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. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

. It housed

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, his family, household staff and slaves, 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 A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

and Cherry (today Dover) streets in what is now

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Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Origin and use as presidential residence

The owner, Samuel Osgood, 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 in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval room has three lar ...

) and the public business office (the equivalent of the West Wing), making it the first seat of the executive branch of the federal government. The Samuel Osgood Papers, at the New York Historical Society, 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, 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, Giles, Paris, Austin, Moll, and Oney Judge. 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 at 39–41 Broadway, which he occupied from February 23 to August 30, 1790. Under the July 1790 Residence Act, the national capital moved to

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

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. The Osgood House was demolished in 1856. In 1899, the Daughters of the American Revolution marked its location with a bronze plaque, where Pearl Street crosses under the Brooklyn Bridge 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