Crawford Co., AR - Biographies - Hon. John B. Ogden, Sr. *********************************************** This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: The Goodspeed Publishing Co Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgenwebarchives.org *********************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SOURCE: History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Hon. John B. Ogden, Sr., was born in Cumberland County, N. J., July 3, 1812, his parents being Col. John B. and Sarah (Buck) Ogden, also natives of New Jersey. The father died in 1813, from the effects of a wound received at the battle on Jones Island, during the War of 1812. He was a speculator and trader interested in the products of the West Indies. The Ogden family is of English descent, and their original coat of arms represents a lion up a tree. The grandfather of our subject. Joseph Ogden, was a Revolutionary soldier, and was at the battle of Yorktown, under Gen. LaFayette. The mother of our subject was again married after Mr. Ogden's death, and lived until 1873. Her father, Joseph Buck, was also present at the battle of Yorktown, and commanded two brigades under Gen. LaFayette. Hon. J. B. Ogden was the only child, and was left fatherless when an infant. He received a common-school education, and at the age of seventeen began to study law with Gov. Elias P. Seeley, of New Jersey, a cousin of his mother. A few years later he began to practice, and in 1834 started westward. He located in Louisville, Ky., afterward going to Charleston, Ind. In 1843 he came to Van Buren, Ark., where he has since practiced his profession with great success. He has also done the largest [p.1182] collecting business of any one west of the Mississippi. In 1856 he was appointed United States Commissioner of the District Court, Western District of Arkansas, which also comprised all of the Indian Territory west of the Rocky Mountains, and held that office until the war, when he withdrew. In 1863 the Confederate States organized the Trans- Mississippi Department, and going to Shreveport to assist in the organization, he was given charge of the pay department, and served until August, 1864, when he resigned. He was then employed by private individuals in the removal of cotton and the collection of debts, and after peace was declared was tendered the position of clerk of the United States Court at Van Buren, but declined, as he could not conscientiously take the oath. In 1866 he was appointed Assistant United States District Attorney for the Western District of the State, and held the position six years. He has been identified with a large number of public enterprises, and is a stockholder in the Van Buren Ice and Coal Company. For the past four years, however, he has led a retired life. In 1835 he married Jane Sibley, daughter of Gen. John Sibley, of New Jersey. Mrs. Ogden was born in 1817, and died in February, 1866. The following four children were born to her: Charles (deceased), who was assistant secretary of State of Arkansas after the war; John B., Henry (deceased, October, 1886), Annie, wife of C. C. Colburn, editor of the Ozark Democrat, and Emma. In 1868 Mr. Ogden married Mrs. Susan H. Wing, nee Barron, of St. Charles, Mo. Mr. Ogden is a member of the I. O. O. F. and the Masonic fraternities. ----------------------------------------------------------------------