Robert Ogden, Esq., age 46, "A Pillar in both Church & State..." was the son of Jonathan and Rebekah (nee Wood) Ogden. A landowner and lifelong resident of Elizabethtown, he is described in colonial records as Collector for Essex County in 1720-21. Twice married, he became the father of a large family. In 1712 he wed Hannah Crane of Newark, and the couple became the parents of six children: Hannah, Robert, Phebe, Moses, Elihu, and David. Hannah died at age 36 in 1726, and the following year he married Phebe (nee Roberts) Baldwin, the young widow of Jonathan Baldwin and mother of Joanna and Matthias Baldwin. Three daughters were born of this second marriage: Rebecca, Mary, and Sarah, bringing the number of children in the Ogden household to eleven by the time of Robert's death six years later. Phebe, twice widowed at 29, later married Edward Sarles.
The serene soul effigy in the tympanum of Robert Ogden's stele is atypical of the 1730's, when most gravestones featured grim effigies of the winged death's head type. It is also more sculptural, including finely-carved heraldric flowers, an indicator of the deceased' superior social status and wealth. Its exceptional craftsmanship and design was a likely influence on the work of famed Elizabeth carver Ebenezer Price---a child at the time of Ogden's death in 1733. The gravestone was pierced by a musket ball in June 1780, when the churchyard became engulfed in the fighting during the Revolutionary War Battle of Springfield. ("Anonymous" Gravestone PHOTO by Nikita Barlow.)
The serene soul effigy in the tympanum of Robert Ogden's stele is atypical of the 1730's, when most gravestones featured grim effigies of the winged death's head type. It is also more sculptural, including finely-carved heraldric flowers, an indicator of the deceased' superior social status and wealth. Its exceptional craftsmanship and design was a likely influence on the work of famed Elizabeth carver Ebenezer Price---a child at the time of Ogden's death in 1733. The gravestone was pierced by a musket ball in June 1780, when the churchyard became engulfed in the fighting during the Revolutionary War Battle of Springfield. ("Anonymous" Gravestone PHOTO by Nikita Barlow.)
Robert Ogden, Esq., age 46, "A Pillar in both Church & State..." was the son of Jonathan and Rebekah (nee Wood) Ogden. A landowner and lifelong resident of Elizabethtown, he is described in colonial records as Collector for Essex County in 1720-21. Twice married, he became the father of a large family. In 1712 he wed Hannah Crane of Newark, and the couple became the parents of six children: Hannah, Robert, Phebe, Moses, Elihu, and David. Hannah died at age 36 in 1726, and the following year he married Phebe (nee Roberts) Baldwin, the young widow of Jonathan Baldwin and mother of Joanna and Matthias Baldwin. Three daughters were born of this second marriage: Rebecca, Mary, and Sarah, bringing the number of children in the Ogden household to eleven by the time of Robert's death six years later. Phebe, twice widowed at 29, later married Edward Sarles.
The serene soul effigy in the tympanum of Robert Ogden's stele is atypical of the 1730's, when most gravestones featured grim effigies of the winged death's head type. It is also more sculptural, including finely-carved heraldric flowers, an indicator of the deceased' superior social status and wealth. Its exceptional craftsmanship and design was a likely influence on the work of famed Elizabeth carver Ebenezer Price---a child at the time of Ogden's death in 1733. The gravestone was pierced by a musket ball in June 1780, when the churchyard became engulfed in the fighting during the Revolutionary War Battle of Springfield. ("Anonymous" Gravestone PHOTO by Nikita Barlow.)
The serene soul effigy in the tympanum of Robert Ogden's stele is atypical of the 1730's, when most gravestones featured grim effigies of the winged death's head type. It is also more sculptural, including finely-carved heraldric flowers, an indicator of the deceased' superior social status and wealth. Its exceptional craftsmanship and design was a likely influence on the work of famed Elizabeth carver Ebenezer Price---a child at the time of Ogden's death in 1733. The gravestone was pierced by a musket ball in June 1780, when the churchyard became engulfed in the fighting during the Revolutionary War Battle of Springfield. ("Anonymous" Gravestone PHOTO by Nikita Barlow.)
Inscription
"Here ly the
Remains of Robert
Ogden Esqr Obijt
Novr 20th A D
1733 AEtat
46
One dear to God to Man most dear
A Pillar in both Church & State
Was he whose precious Dust lies here
Whose Soul doth with bright Seraphs mate
His Name immortal shall remain
Till this cold Clay revive again"
*The f-like letter S seen in the gravestone inscription has been transcribed using s a modern S.
Gravesite Details
Info re: Ogden's 2nd wife courtesy of Findagrave member Karen Thomas
