1851. William Bigler 186,507 W. F. Johnston 178,070 Whole number ——————— 364,577 1854. James Pollock 204,008 William Bigler 167,001 Whole number ——————— 371,009 1857. William F. Packer 188,890 David Wilmot 146,147 Isaac Hazlehurst 28,100 Whole number ——————— 363,137 1860. Andrew G. Curtin 262,403 Henry D. Foster 230,239 Whole number ——————— 492,642 1863. Andrew G. Curtin 269,496 G. W. Woodward 254,171 Whole number ——————— 523,667 XI. Postmasters. Having brought the postal history of the colonies up to the time Richard Bache succeeded Benjamin Franklin (November, 1776), and whose dismissal gave the latter some grounds of complaint, if not censure, against the appointment of Ebenezer Hazard, who had the office under President Washington, we will carry out the object of these tables, by continuing the list of postmaster-generals from that period. SAMUEL OSGOOD.—This gentleman was born at Andover, Massachusetts, February 14, 1748; graduated at Harvard College in 1770; a member of the Massachusetts Legislature, and also of the board of war, and subsequently an aid to General Ward; in 1779, a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention; in 1781, appointed a member of Congress; in 1785, first commissioner of the treasury; and September 26, 1789, postmaster-general. He was afterwards naval officer of the port of New York, and died in that city, August 12, 1813. Early in the first session of the Second Congress two important subjects of a national character received the attention of the representatives of the people: one was establishing a national mint, and the other the organization of the postal system. The establishing of a mint, however, was delayed, and no special action was taken in that direction until 1790, when Mr. Jefferson, then Secretary of State, urged the matter upon the attention of Congress. In 1792, April 2, laws were enacted for the establishment of a mint. It did not, however, go into full operation until 1795. The first mint was located in Philadelphia, and remained the sole issuer of coin in the United States until 1835, when a branch was established in each of the States of Georgia, North Carolina, and Louisiana,—in Charlotte, Dahlonega, and New Orleans. These three branches went into operation in the years 1837-38. A bill for the organization of a post-office system was passed in 1792, simultaneously with that for establishing the mint.