Judge David Ogden1
#11412, (1707 - 1798)
| Father* | Col. Josiah Ogden1 (c 1679 - 1763) | |
| Mother* | Catharine Hardenbroeck1 (s 1681 - ) |
Family | Gertrude Gouverneur b. 1716, d. 1775 | |
| Children | 1. | Isaac1 Ogden4 (1737 - 1740) |
| 2. | Josiah Ogden4 (1739 - ) | |
| 3. | Isaac Ogden4 (1740 - 1824) | |
| 4. | Sarah Ogden4 (1742 - 1821) | |
| 5. | Abraham Ogden4 (1743 - 1798) | |
| 6. | Catharine Ogden4 (1745 - 1748) | |
| 7. | Samuel Ogden4 (1746 - 1810) | |
| 8. | Nicholas1 Ogden4 (1749 - 1752) | |
| 9. | Peter1 Ogden4 (1750 - 1752) | |
| 10. | Nicholas Ogden4 (1753 - 1812) | |
| 11. | Peter Ogden4 (1757 - ) |
| "It is a fact which has perhaps escaped the attention of historians that some of the strongest and ablest men in the profession of the law became devoted loyalists. David Ogden was one of these, and he embraced the side of the King of England from pure convictions of duty, for he was an honest man, and his decisions for his own individual guidance were based upon what he deemed just and right. "He was of a distinguished family which came to New England at an early date and removed from there to New Jersey. His father was Josiah Ogden, who was for many years a member of the Legislature from Essex County. His brother was Jacob Ogden, a physician who attained great eminence in his profession. David Ogden was born at Newark, very early in the eighteenth century. He was educated at Yale, where he was matriculated in 1728. He then read law in New York, and after completing' his studies began practice in Newark. He was not a dazzling nor a brilliant man, and could not be called a genius, but he had better qualifications than those generally accompanying genius, to equip him for a lawyer's life. He was clear-headed, of uncommon good sense, of unfailing judgment, and added to these excellent aids to success in the legal profession, the most untiring industry, imsurpassed by any of his contemporaries at the bar. Very soon, he was the acknowledged leader of the profession in New Jersey. He received an appointment to the bench, as associate justice, in 1772. No man of his time was better equipped than he for the performance of the duties of this office. His inexhaustible stores of learning, his clear perception and honesty of purpose, were qualifications which admirably fitted him for the office of judge. But he could not have had a fair opportunity of displaying his capability for the position. He was appointed in troublous times, at a period when it must have been apparent to the most casual observer that the issue between the colonies and England must soon be submitted to the arbitrament of the sword. When the lawyers refused to purchase stamps, he united with them in their action; but he was a loyalist and an honest one. When hostilities actually began and it was not safe for him longer to remain in the place of his birth, he removed to New York and resided there during the war. His convictions of duty drove him to decided action and he devoted all the energies of his nature to the success of the cause he honestly believed deserved to be successful and never despaired until the last moment of its final triumph. He busied himself most industriously with his pen. Among his productions was one which provided for a plan for the government of the colonies after their submission, which, as he expressed it, "was certain and soon to happen, if proper measures were not neglected. " His plan was quite complex, but it is somewhat amusing to notice that it embraced perfect self government by the colonies through a parliament and officers chosen by the colonists, with power of taxation vested only in the Continental Parliament. Among other propositions made by Mr. Ogden was the creation of Barons from among the freeholders and inhabitants of the colonies, who were to compose a house of Peers for the American Parliament. Perhaps David Ogden might have had in his mind one inhabitant of the provinces who, he thought, would make an excellent member of the proposed House of Lords and who ought to be made a Baron. "After the independence of the Republic was acknowledged by the British government, Mr. Ogden went to England and became agent for the loyalists in the prosecution of their claims for compensation for losses they had sustained by their adherence to the King. He returned from England, in 1790, and resided in Long Island until his death, which occurred in 1800."2 | ||
| Birth* | 1707 | He was born in 1707.1 |
| Marriage* | 21 April 1736 | He married Gertrude Gouverneur, daughter of Isaac Gouverneur and Sarah Statts, on 21 April 1736.3 |
| Death* | 1798 | He died in 1798.1 |
Citations
- [S1083] William Ogden Wheeler, The Ogden Family in America (Elizabethtown Branch) and Their English Ancestry (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1897, 1907), 52-54.
- [S1093] John Whitehead, The Judicial and Civil History of New Jersey (n.p.: The Boston History Company, 1897), 395-397, see memo.
- [S1083] William Ogden Wheeler, Ogden Family in America, 67.
- [S1083] William Ogden Wheeler, Ogden Family in America, 69-70.