John A Osborne
John A. Osborn | |
|---|---|
| United States Commissioner for the Southern District of New York | |
| In office Documented in office 1867 – 1887 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | abt 1837 Otisville, New York |
| Died | Dec 28, 1889 New York City, New York |
| Profession | Lawyer |
John A. Osborn (sometimes spelled Osborne) (b. 1837, d. 1887) was a 19th-century United States commissioner in and for the city of New York (Southern District of New York). He served as Clerk of the US Circuit Court of New York, and was a lawyer and author. [1] Contemporary federal records identify him by that title; for example, an 1881 presidential message refers to “a warrant of arrest issued by John A. Osborn, United States commissioner in and for the city of New York.”
Career
By 1867 Osborn was active in federal proceedings in New York, handling the preliminary work typical of U.S. commissioners—warrants, examinations, bail, and committals. Period newspapers repeatedly report examinations “before Commissioner Osborn,” including cases involving illicit distilling (1867), postal or customs matters (1868), and later extradition and criminal hearings (1877, 1879, and 1887). In early November 1872, amid the Woodhull & Claflin obscenity arrests, reports noted the defendants were taken before Commissioner Osborne, who remarked that grand-jury indictments removed the need for a further preliminary examination.[2] [3]
Role and Context
United States commissioners were federal judicial officers who assisted the district and circuit courts with warrants, bail, depositions, and preliminary examinations. Congress later replaced the commissioner system with today’s United States magistrate judges in 1968.[4]
References
- ↑ Phi, Delta (1907). Delta Phi Catalogue [of the Members of the Fraternity] 1827-1907. Mason-Henry Press. Search this book on
- ↑ New York Tribune (12 May 1868). "CRIMINAL". New York Daily Tribune. p. 1. Retrieved 9/5/2025. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ Georgia, Digital Library of. "Macon daily enterprise. (Macon, Ga.) 1872-1873, November 05, 1872, Image 1".
- ↑ "Court Officers and Staff: Commissioners | Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
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