William Ogden – Death at Winchester Camp 3

Things Remain Mysteries Because We Give Up Trying To Solve Them.

The Mystery of Lieutenant William Ogden's Grave 

(1790 - 1813)

If I've learned anything over the years of doing historical research, it's that things can often fall into the "well its a mystery" category simply because we fail to take the time and make the extra efforts to solve them, especially if we consider them of little consequence to an overall storyline.  Case in point are the countless number of ordinary soldiers who during the War of 1812, died, were buried in unmarked graves and basically forgotten sometimes even by their own descendants.

One such soldier was a man named William Ogden from Clermont County, Ohio.  Ogden, like hundreds of others never made it home.  His death wasn't glorious, he more than likely died from the measles in  a dirty, filthy, disease ridden fort at Defiance, Oh.  (Ft. Winchester)   For over 200 hundred years history has treated him, like so many others as a "who cares" or his life was "of little consequence to an overall storyline." I took that as a challenge.   

My first introduction to Ogden was through studying a journal of William Schillinger, an Ensign at Fort Amanda who kept a daily journal while stationed there from March  to August 1813. Schillinger mentions Ogden only twice in his journal; once when Ogden arrived at Ft. Amanda and the second when he was told that Ogden had died.   Ordinarily I'd not have pursued the subject any further until I remembered how I the terms "unknown soldier" and "burial site unknown" always bothered me.  I knew Ogden had died at Fort Winchester (Defiance, Oh.) the middle of July 1813, but the question was where?

First what we know about Ogden the man

We don't know much about William Ogden the man.  Other than internet sources showing he was born in Maryland around1780, little is known about his pre-military days.  What we do know is he married married a woman named Sarah Stewart/Stuart (b. 1790). It's believed the couple made their home in Neville, Ohio, a small town on the bank of the Ohio River.  Ogden may have been married prior because some sources state that when he died in 1813 he left behind a 4-year-old daughter, Mary,  and 8-year old son, Lucian.  In 1813, Sarah was 23-year-old.  Lucian, 8 years old born in 1805 meaning  Sarah would have been 14 or 15-years old when Lucian was born which, though possible, isn't likely.  As for an occupation, William was probably a farmer. 

My Quest to Find Ogden's Gravesite

To fully appreciate the conditions the men were subjected to in the area in 1812 - 13 look no further than the story of Winchester's Camp #3 or better known to the soldiers there as "Camp Starvation."  Camp #3 was located on the north side of the Maumee River and 6 miles east of Ft. Winchester (Defiance, Oh.)   

What's for supper?   Horsemeat, leather belts and shoes again?

During Nov. and Dec. 1812, several hundred soldiers died at Fort Winchester, and at Gen. Winchester's Camp 3 (Camp Starvation) The Kentuckians at Camp 3 entered service in August of 1812 wearing only linen clothing.  That Winter was particularly brutal and with the shortages of supplies the men were forced to eat their horses and even boil down leather shoes and belts to eat.  The graves of 300+ Kentuckian militia soldiers  who died at Camp #3 were discovered in 1845 while crews were digging the Miami-Erie Canal.   The site is marked by a historical marker.

Ogden wasn't afforded the luxury of a dignified funeral or a marked grave and in fact, his burial site has gone unidentified for over 200 years.  The purpose of his blog is to present evidence to show where I believe William Ogden is buried.  You be the judge.   

William Ogden the Soldier - 1813

The first mention of William Ogden the soldier in any records I've found to date is in the journal kept by William Schillinger, an Ensign stationed at Fort Amanda and who kept meticulous records of daily events including the weather.  On March 8, Schillinger wrote the following in his journal.

Monday the 8 March 

This morning cold, & cloudy,  Lieutenant Ogdon, of Capt Seaton’s  company with 12 Men March,d to join the company at fort Defiance, there being no prospect of getting down by water with their baggage on acount of the Ice & they Left two Men, one of which being Lame & unable to travel -  our sick Men on the mend -  Men busy Chinking the block house and hang the S.W. gate,  Receiv,d intelligance this evening By Mr. Oliver, Express to Gen’l Harrison that the Shawonoes, had Discover,d 5  Potawatimies skulking in the woods between our fort & Wapukanati the Indian town 8 miles above on the river

William Ogden was a lieutenant in a militia company from Clermont County, Oh. led by Captain Thomas Seton.  Seaton and most of his company arrived at Fort Amanda around 4 o'clock in the afternoon of March 1, 1813.  Seton's company was on its way to relieve the troops now at Fort Winchester (Defiance, Oh.).   Military life must not have suited at least 2 men in the company as they deserted a few days later. 

The following week, March 8, Lt. Ogden and 12 others from Seton's company arrive at Fort Amanda. As an officer, Ogden may have remained behind to help 12 men who hadn't kept up with the rest of the company.   We know from Schillinger's journal that at least one of men was "lame" and was unable to go any further.  How long that man remained at Amanda is unknown.    

Normally the men would have loaded into boats and traveled on to Ft. Winchester, but the weather was so  cold, the Auglaize River had frozen over and they had no chance but to go on to Ft. Winchester by foot. 

Ogden's New Home- Ft. Winchester

Fort Winchester was built a short distance south of Wayne’s old Fort Defiance.  Years after the war, a man named William Atherton, who was a soldier stationed at Ft. Winchester during it’s construction wrote this about Ft. Winchester’s location.

"south of the ruins of Fort Defiance, near the present First Street of the city of Defiance, Ohio, the fort extended southward to, or south of, Third Street, a distance of something over six hundred feet, and including the highest ground. Its east line was about Washington Street. It was in the form of a parallelogram, and extended in width to about Jefferson Street."

Weather and Illness; a Correlation?

One thing is for certain, illness was taking its toll on men in forts on the Auglaize that year.  On July 4th, 1813, all celebrations at Fort Amanda were cancelled because so many of the men were sick with either measles or other ailments.  The same was no doubt true at Ft. Winchester as well.

To give readers some idea of what weather was like at that time, I compiled a list of the weather conditions Schillinger recorded each day.   Bottom line; of the time the men were on active duty, it  was either cold, cool or rainy 80% of time.  Put another way, of the 197 days the men were on active duty, the weather was pretty miserable 158 of them.   

The weather the men endured in 1813

 

What Happened to Ogden? 

The next mention of Ogden is found in Schillinger's journal entry of  July 16, 1813.  Measles and other diseases were running rampant at Ft. Winchester.  Captain Seton had less than a month of enlistment time left, but was so ill, he had to turn over his command at Winchester to Capt. Daniel Hosbrook, (Ft. Amanda).  Seton stopped at Amanda on his  way home and informed them that  "he had lost his Lieut by sickness."   With less than 3 weeks left on his active duty time, William Ogden had died.

Friday the 16^th

very cool,  river rising,  some of our men repairing  a couple of pirogues for the purpose of taking some flour Down to fort Jennings,   4 PM. Capt Seaton arrivd at fort from Winchester  Received A Letter from Maj Kain  Men many of them sick at that fort  Capt Seaton quite ill & informd us that he had lost his Lieut by sickness,  Ensign Fleming of the Kentucky troops came to the fort this evening  from the settlements  no news particular

 The Mystery  - Ogden's Gravesite

Clue #1

One obvious question is "why wouldn't they bury Ogden where they buried the Kentuckians at Camp 3?"  I think the answer to that is why would they go to all the trouble to ferry the body across the Maumee River, than transport it 6 miles east to where they buried the Kentuckians.  Besides, it was common knowledge that the there was no love loss between the Kentuckians and Ohio troops.  The Ohioans saw Kentuckians as uncouth, backwoods country bumpkins and the Kentuckians viewed the Ohio troops as undependable an likely to run at the first sign of a fight.  NOTE:  Kentuckians suffered the highest casualty rate during the war.  

Site A or B?

What about in the area marked  "A" - Ft. Defiance had been abandoned by that point but some of the buildings probably still existed meaning there probably would have been some amount of foot and wagon traffic between Ft. Winchester and Ft. Defiance.  Having to pass through or even by a graveyard of dead soldiers would not have been a good idea in my view.

What about area marked "B" -  The area west of the fort would have been somewhat of a high traffic area.  Troops arriving from the south would have generally followed the dotted line route shown in the pic above which would have led directly to the fort.   In addition, troops  needed campsites and being close to a road seems logical.   

Clue #2

OK, If Not Areas "A" or "B" Where?

The most logical spot to bury the dead would have been "out of site, out of mind," for obvious reasons, and the area south of the fort seems to have been the best choice.  Looking at early maps of the area I learned that in 1880 there was a Presbyterian cemetery located south of the fort at the southeast corner of Washington and 4th street.   Going on the thought that  the Presbyterians used the old military graveyard as their new graveyard I began to wonder if Ogden was buried there.  

The black and white pics are from an 1880 map of the area.  The colored picture (top right) is the area today. 

Location Relative to the Fort

Area C shows the relative position of the old Presbyterian Church Cemetery to Fort Winchester.  The distance from the fort to the cemetery is approx. 400 feet.

"Some" Bodies Removed in 1847

Riverside Cemetery

The marker above is interesting in that it says that it marks the graves of soldiers from 1794 and the War of 1812 which raises a new question. Was there a cemetery for the soldiers at Ft. Defiance AND another for the soldiers at Ft. Winchester, OR, were they all buried in on the site of the old Presbyterian cemetery and later to removed to the Riverside cemetery? 

So Where is Ogden Buried?

An internet site for the old Presbyterian cemetery states that in 1847 "some of the bodies were removed." The term "some" intrigued me as it means that not all of the bodies there had been removed. The remains of the soldiers buried there would have been 50 years old by then which makes me wonder if perhaps little if nothing of Ogden's body remained. Whether they were moved doesn't really matter but truth be told, I'd like to like to think they weren't, they may remain, undisturbed under the parking lot on the east end of the church. And if his remains were moved to Riverside Cemetery, that's OK too because at the end of the day, the important thing is a man who was basically unknown to history and likely forgotten by his descendants now has an identity and a place in written history, albeit only a blog.  

What Became of William Ogden's Wife, Sarah

Two years after William's death, On Sept. 16, 1815, Sarah married a man named Elijah Larkin. They went on to have more children and lived out their lives, a highly respected couple in the village of Neville in Clermont County, Ohio. Sarah died at her daughter Polly's home in Neville on June 8, 1875. She and Elijah are buried in the Neville cemetery.

Conclusion

The next time I'm up near Defiance, I'll probably be driving the old Defiance Trail and as I'm driving into town I'll turn right and go over to the Presbyterian church at the corner of Washington and 4th st.

If by chance a member of an Ogden family in Clermont or nearby county reads this blog and finds that he/she is a descendant I hope they remember this. William Ogden never got the opportunity to sit his grandkids on his knees and tell them stories about growing up, the war, and stories of their ancestors, so my hope is that the modern day story tellers of the Ogden family do just that. William Ogden was forgotten for 200 years, whether he disappears from history again will be up to them.