John Augustus (1785-June 21, 1859) was a Boston boot maker who is called the "Father of Probation" in the United States because of his pioneering efforts to campaign for more lenient sentences for convicted criminals based on their backgrounds. Augustus efforts is credited with the establishment of the Presentence Investigation. Augustus was born in Woburn, Massachusetts. Wikipedia
The definitive Wikipedia entry for John Augustus. Wikipedia is the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Augustus