BIOS: OGLE Family, Somerset County, PA File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Candace Roth Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/somerset/ ________________________________________________ History of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania; Bedford County by E. Howard Blackburn; Somerset County by William H. Welfley; v.3, Pub. The Lewis Publishing Company, New York/Chicago 1906, ppg. 10-13 OGLE Family. John Ogle (I) was the pioneer of the Ogle family in America. He came from England in 1666 and settled in Newcastle, Delaware (then a part of Pennsylvania), where he held large grants of land under the Duke of York and afterward from the Penns. He had three sons, Thomas, John and William. (II) Thomas Ogle, eldest son of John Ogle, the founder of the family in this country, was married to Mary Crawford, by whom he had five children, the eldest of whom was Thomas, born in Oglestown, Newcastle county, Delaware, in 1705, and he was the ancestor of Hon. Thomas M. Ogle, late of Wilmington, Delaware. By his second wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Graham, he had six children. His fourth child by his first wife was Joseph. (III) Joseph Ogle, son of Thomas and Mary (Crawford) Ogle, married Sarah Winters, with whom he migrated to Frederickstown, Maryland, about 1746. He was commissioned a justice of the peace by his kinsman, Governor Samuel Ogle, when Frederick was organized as a county of Maryland in 1748, and by virtue of that office was a member of the first county court of Frederick county. He had seen military service, and in the court records and elsewhere in the history of those days is called Major and sometimes Colonel Joseph Ogle. He owned lands on Owen Creek, Frederick county, Maryland, aggregating about five thousand acres. He was father by his first wife, Sarah, to seven sons and three daughters. His first child was named John. (IV) John Ogle, eldest child of Joseph and Sarah (Winters) Ogle, at the death of his father in 1756 received by his last will and testament, recorded at Frederick, Maryland, about five hundred acres of valuable land from off the old homestead. He married and had six sons. About 1785 he, with two of his sons, Joseph, the eldest, and John, the fifth son, migrated to Illinois, along with other families from Frederick and Washington counties, Maryland. Among others was Captain Joseph Ogle, who as early as 1769 was living on the Ohio river, near the present city of Wheeling. Jacob Ogle (a sergeant in Joseph Ogle's company) was killed near Fort Henry, being ambushed by the Indians, in 1877. Another brother, Captain James Ogle, was killed in 1782 in the unfortunate engagement of Colonel Crawford at Upper Sandusky, Ohio. The Ogles settled in what is now known as Monroe county, Illinois. The second son of Joseph Ogle was Charles; he lived in Elizabethtown, now Hagerstown, in 1794, and during that year severed his connection with the Mount Etna iron works, of which he was a superintendent. The same year he engaged in the general merchandise business as a member of the firm of Ogle & Hall. He was a vestryman in St. John's Protestant Episcopal church. The third son of John was Alexander. (V) Alexander Ogle, third son of John Ogle, born about 1766, was a clerk in the grocery store of his uncle, James Ogle, which grocery store stood on the corner of a two or four acre lot, in the center of which stood his uncle's dwelling, being the same house in which major Joseph Ogle had lived--the old homestead on Owen's creek, Frederick county, Maryland. With others of the family, and friends, the Cresaps, the Wetzels, the Poes and other Frederick county people, he went westerly to Washington county, Maryland, where, after the Revolutionary war, they congregated in the neighborhood of Oldtown, from which place Alexander removed to Somerset county, Pennsylvania, about the time of the formation of the county in 1795. Here he almost immediately sprang into prominence. He was repeatedly commissioned as prothonotary, register and recorder; was a representative in the assembly and state senator and member of congress. He was commissioned by Governor Snyder in 1811 as major-general of the state militia, and also by Governor Shultz, August 3, 1828, to the same office. As the representative of Somerset county, in one of his speeches delivered in the senate of Pennsylvania he referred to his constituents as the "frosty sons of thunder," in reference to the high altitude of this mountain county, an appellation by which the people of Somerset county have ever since been known and in which they take particular pride. Alexander Ogle was a tall man of commanding presence, finely chiseled features; generally wore a red vest and ruffled shirt. He was a Democrat and a great admirer of General Andrew Jackson. He was the subject of a character sketch by Dr. William Elder, of Philadelphia, published in his book, "Periscopics." He married Mary Williams, of Bedford county, distinguished for her beauty and Christian amiability. She was one of the "three Marys" by whose efforts the first Christian (Disciple) church was started in Somerset. Alexander and Mary Ogle had two children, Charles and Alexander. (VI) Alexander Ogle, Jr., son of Alexander and Mary (Williams) Ogle, was brigade general of the militia and captain of the Independent Blues. He was prothonotary, register and recorder for a number of years and a member of the legislature. His brother Charles was distinguished as a lawyer and a member of congress, where he delivered his speech in 1840 on the Royal Splendor of the President's Palace, so effictive in the Harrison campaign of that year. Alexander Ogle, Jr. married Charlotte, daughter of Jacob Schneider and wife. Jacob Schneider's brother Adam owned most of the land in Somerset borough north of Main street and conveyed to the county the lot where the court house and jail are erected, and to the borough the lot where the academy or high school stands. Alexander Ogle and wife, Charlotte, were the parents of six children: Andrew Jackson; Charles Henry, graduated at West Point, member of New York cavalry regiment and died during the Civil war; Mary, married Judge F. M. Kimmel; Charlotte, married Ross Forward; Louisa, married Hon. Edward Scull, for many years editor of the "Somerset Herald," collector of United States revenues and member of congress. (VII) Andrew Jackson Ogle, son of Alexander and Charlote (Schneider) Ogle, born in Somerset, Pennsylvania, March 25, 1822, attended college at Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, read law with Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, who was his brother-in-law. In 1845 he was elected prothonotary and in 1848 to congress, representing the district composed of Somerset, Fayette and Green counties. He was a Whig in politics, and in the election of 1850 the Democratic majorities of Fayette and Green counties elected his competitor, Hon. John L. Dawson, of Fayette county. He was then appointed charge de affaires to Denmark by President Filmore, but died suddenly of apoplexy October 14, 1852, at his home in Somerset. He was six feet tall, fair complexion, light brown hair and blue eyes. He was unusual as a stump orator, popular and beloved by all who knew him. His untimely death cut short what promised to be a brilliant political career. He married Harriet Forward, daughter of Hon. Chauncey Forward, who was a lawyer of prominence, a member of congress and a brother of Hon. Walter Forward, who was a judge in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and secretary of the treasury in the cabinet of President Tyler. The children born to Andrew Jackson and Harriet (Forward) Ogle were: Maud, married Hon. Francis J. Kooser, present president judge of Somerset county; Alexander, who graduated at West Point in 1872 and died as first lieutenant in 1901; and John G. Ogle. (VIII) John G. Ogle, youngest son of Andrew Jackson and Harriet (Forward) Ogle, was born at Somerset, Pennsylvania, March 25, 1851. He attended the public schools, Millersville State Normal and Bethany College, West Virginia. He then read law with his brother-in-law, Hon. F. J. Kooser, was admitted to the bar in 1873 and has since continuously practiced law. At present he is associated with General W. H. Koontz as Koontz & Ogle. He has never held office, but takes an interest in politics and has several times been chairman of the Republican county committee. Mr. Ogle married, in 1875, Cora Baer, daughter of Hon. William J. Baer, who was president judge of the counties of Somerset and Bedford from 1881 to 1891. Mr. and Mrs. Ogle have two children, Hallie and Elizabeth.