Uzal Ogden

Uzal Ogden (1744 - November 4, 1822) was an American clergyman, at first a member of the Episcopal Church and later as a minister of the Presbyterian Church.

The Reverend Uzal Ogden D.D.
Church	Presbyterian Church
Orders
Ordination	September 21, 1773 by Richard Terrick
Personal details
Born	1744 Newark, Province of New Jersey
Died	November 4, 1822 (aged 77–78)
Nationality	American
Spouse	Mary Gouverneur ​ ​ (m. 1776; died 1813)​
Children	6
Previous post	Rector of Trinity Church (1788-1805)

Early life

Ogden was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1744. He was the son of Elizabeth Charlotte (née Thébaut) Ogden and Judge Uzal Ogden Sr. (c. 1705-c. 1780), an owner of the Ringwood Iron Works on Sussex County, New Jersey. His older brother, Provincial Congressman Lewis Ogden, married Margaret Gouverneur and his younger brother, Charles Ogden, married Hannah Gouverneur, both sisters of Uzal Jr.'s wife Mary Gouverneur. One of his sisters, Mary Ogden, married Peter Schuyler, son of Philip Schuyler and grandson of Arent Schuyler.[1]

Through his paternal grandfather Capt. David Ogden Jr., he was a direct descendant of colonist John Ogden. His maternal grandfather was Gabriel Lewis Thébaut of the island of Antigua.[1]

Ogden graduated from Princeton University in 1762.[2] He studied theology in Elizabethtown, and then, going abroad, received at the same time both deacon's and priest's orders in the Protestant Episcopal church on 21 September 1773, from the bishop of London.[1]

Career

For some years after the beginning of his ministry he labored as a missionary in Sussex County, New Jersey, but after April, 1779, he preached occasionally in Trinity church, Newark, of which parish he was rector from 1788 till 1805. Meanwhile, he was in 1784-'9 one of the assistant ministers of Trinity church in New York city, and connected with St. John's in Elizabethtown, also preaching at least, once each Sunday in a chapel at what is now Belleville, New Jersey.[2]

In 1798 he was elected bishop of New Jersey, but consecration was refused by the general convention in June, 1799, owing to difficulties that, existed between him and his parish. These culminated in 1804, and his suspension was authorized if he persisted in his refusal to resign.[3] In 1805 he became a Presbyterian, but, although he continued active in missionary work, he never thereafter held a charge. The degree of D. D. was conferred on him by Princeton in 1798. He published numerous letters, addresses, sermons, and "Antidote to Deism" (2 vols., 1795), being an ample refutation of all the objections of Thomas Paine against the Christian religion, as contained in a pamphlet entitled The Age of Reason, addressed to the citizens of these states.[2]

Personal life

In 1766, Ogden was married to Mary Gouverneur (1755–1814), the daughter of Samuel Gouverneur and Experience (née Johnson) Gouverneur.[2] Through her brother Nicholas Gouverneur, a merchant, Mary was the aunt of Samuel L. Gouverneur, who was both nephew and son-in-law to President James Monroe,[4] and Maria Charlotte Gouverneur, the wife of Thomas McCall Cadwalader.[5] Through her sister Gertrude Gouverneur, wife of merchant Peter Kemble, she was the aunt of U.S. Representative Gouverneur Kemble.[4] Together, they were the parents of:[1]

• Nicholas Gouverneur Ogden (1776–1823), who became a business partner of John Jacob Astor.[1]
• Samuel Gouverneur Ogden (1779–1860), who married Eliza Lewis, a granddaughter of Francis Lewis. After her death, he married Julia Fairlie (1808–1862).[1]
• Alida Gouverneur Ogden (1785–1847), who married Rev. Anson Rood (1801–1857).[6]
• Wallace Ogden (1788–1803), who died unmarried.[1]
• Mary Gouverneur Ogden (1792–1860), who died unmarried.[6]
• Margaret E. Ogden (1798–1823), who died unmarried.[1]

Ogden died on November 4, 1822.[1]

References

1. Van Alstyne, Lawrence; Ogden, Charles Burr (1907). The Ogden family in America, Elizabethtown branch, and their English ancestry: John Ogden, the Pilgrim, and his descendants, 1640-1906. J.B. Lippincott company. p. 94. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
2. Cyclopedia of New Jersey Biography, Memorial and Biographical: With the Assistance of the Following Advisory Committee : Joseph Fulford Folsom, Chairman ; Hiram Edmund Deats ; Charles Tiebout Cowenhoven ; Alfred M. Heston ; David Demarest Zabriskie ; John Stillwell Applegate ; Frank John Urquhart ; John Albert Blair ; George Mason La Monte ; Carlton P. Hoagland. American historical society, Incorporated. 1921. p. 178. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
3. "Founders Online: From Thomas Jefferson to Uzal Ogden, 12 February 1800". founders.archives.gov. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
4. Sturm-Lind, Lisa (2018). Actors of Globalization: New York Merchants in Global Trade, 1784-1812. BRILL. p. 18. ISBN 9789004356412. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
5. John Woolf Jordan; Thomas Lynch Montgomery; Ernest Spofford; Frederic Antes Godcharies (1914). Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography: illustrated. 3. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. pp. 894–897.
6. Historical Catalogue of the Members of the First Church of Christ in New Haven, Connecticut (Center Church): A.D. 1639-1914. 1914. p. 247. Retrieved 14 July 2019.

External links