Alfred Brown Osgood (July 16, 1843 - 1911) was an American legislator and Christian minister in Florida.[1]

Alfred Brown Osgood
Florida House of Representatives
In office
1868–1874
Florida State Senate
In office
1875–1876
Personal details
BornJuly 16, 1843
Florida
Died1911(1911-00-00) (aged 67–68)
Political partyRepublican

Biography edit

He was born enslaved July 16, 1843 in Madison, Florida.[1][2] He worked as a shoemaker and A.M.E. minister.

On July 27, 1867 Osgood registered as a voter in Madison County having lived in the state for at least 12 months.[3] Osgood was elected to the Florida House in 1868 as a Republican. He was allied to David Montgomery. He resigned in 1873 as a result of a policy that forbade state and county officeholders from also having any federal appointments. In 1874 he ran for speaker of the house, but was defeated by fellow Republican Malachi Martin[4] due to his connection to Montgomery. The Republican Party had divisions between African American Floridians and northerners who relocated from northern states seeking office, derisively termed carpetbaggers.[5]

A Republican he represented Madison and served in 1868 until 1874 and in 1879, 1883, and 1885.[6] He also served in the state senate in 1875 and 1876.[7][8]

In November 1874 he was elected to the Florida State Senate for the 10th senatorial district beating George Franklin Drew.[9] After his term he joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church clergy.[10] He was still active in politics a member of the state central committee in December 1907.[11]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Fortune, T. Thomas (September 30, 2014). After War Times: An African American Childhood in Reconstruction-Era Florida. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817318369 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Finkelman, Paul (6 April 2006). Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895: From the Colonial Period to the Age of Frederick Douglass Three-volume Set (Volume 2 F-Q ed.). Oxford University Press, USA. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-19-516777-1. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  3. ^ "Osgood, Alfred B. - Voter registration". Florida Memory. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Last GOP speaker reigned in 1874 (Florida)". The Miami Herald. 4 March 1997. p. 18. Retrieved 27 November 2022. 
  5. ^ Brown, Canter (September 22, 1998). Florida's Black Public Officials, 1867-1924. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817309152 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "Request Rejected". www.myfloridahouse.gov.
  7. ^ Foner, Eric (1 August 1996). Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction. LSU Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-8071-2082-8. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  8. ^ Fortune, T. Thomas (September 30, 2014). After War Times: An African American Childhood in Reconstruction-Era Florida. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817318369 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ House, United States Congress (1876). Miscellaneous Documents: 30th Congress, 1st Session - 49th Congress, 1st Session. pp. 21, 29 & 108. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  10. ^ Rivers, Larry E.; Brown, Canter Jn. (2001). Laborers in the Vineyard of the Lord - The Beginnings of the AME Church in Florida, 1865–1895 (PDF). p. 75. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  11. ^ "To Hold Convention: Florida Republicans will meet..." Live Oak Daily Democrat. 20 December 1907. p. 3. Retrieved 27 November 2022.