| Notes |
- ROBERT4 OGDEN II, (Robert3 Jonathan2 John1), was born atElizabethtown,October 7, 1716. His father and grandfather died when hewas seventeenand he inherited considerable property which heincreased, besidesobtaining a liberal education for those days. In1751 he was elected tothe 18th Provincial Assembly and December 24thwas Recorder of theBorough of Elizabethtown. In 1755 he was DeputySecretary of the Council,and soon after elected to the Assembly. Hewas Speaker of the 20thAssembly, a position he held until he resigned1765. January 27, 1753,Governor Belcher appointed him a surrogate andAugust 14, "one of ourclerks in Chancery." From 1757, through theFrench War and until 1773, hewas Commissary and Barrack Master for theKing's Troops. August 3, 1761,he was appointed Justice and Judge--hehad been a Justice of the Quorumsince 1755. December 24, 1761, "RobertOgden Gentleman" was commissionedClerk of the Court of Essex County,and March 22, 1762, he wascommissioned by Gov. Hardy one of theSurrogates of the Orphan's Court ofthe Province of East Jersey. In1763 and 1766 as Ruling Elder he attendedthe Synod of New York and NewJersey. At the time of the stamp act Mr.Ogden was Speaker of the NewJersey Assembly and "on his own authority"reconvened it in order tocompel an attendance at the first Congress ofthe American Colonies atNew York, October 7, 1765. This Congress agreedupon a declaration ofrights to be sent to the King and Parliament.Timothy Ruggles of Mass.,Speaker of the Congress and Mr. Ogden inopposition to the majoritythrought that greater effect would be gainedby sending separateaddresses from each of the Colonies, and thereforethey refused tosign, as Mr. Ogden explained afterward, New Jersey wouldstill "be atliberty to make a separate application to the Crown." Buthis attitudewas so misunderstood that he resigned his position asSpeaker. "HadRobert Ogden not thought and acted as he did, however, nodoubt hewould have represented his state in the National Congress,whosemembers signed the Declaration of Independence." In 1776 he wasChairmanof the Elizabethtown Committee of Safety, and in January,1776, wasactive in the capture of the British Store ship "The BlueMountainValley," his account of which to the President of Congress isin theAmerican Archives, 4 Serv. Vol. 4, p. 987.
Robert Ogden married 1736, PHOEBE HATFIELD of Elizabethtown (305).Shewas born November 25, 1720. Her eldest child, Phoebe, was bornJanuary27, 1737. Mr. Ogden had moved to Ogdensburg in Northern NewJersey wherehe owned large tracts of land in 1777. His wife called theplace Sparta.Here they were both buried. Mr. Ogden died January 21,1789, and his wifeDecember 22, 1796. They had twenty-two children.Their son Matthias wasColonel of the First New Jersey regiment in theRevolution, and theirsons-in-law, Colonel Oliver Spencer and MajorFrancis Barber and theirson Aaron Ogden, were all officers in other N.J. regiments.
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1716 - 1787 (70 years)
