The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-08-11
WIN. B, OGDEN.

died at his residence ut High Bridge, near New
Delaware county n. Y, in 1905, in 1884 he
was elected from Delaware county to the New
York Legislature, and in 1885 moved to Chica-
go, which for the next 81 years, was his home
and chief field OF labor In 1881 he was elect
ed the first Mayor of Chicago and in 1860 was
elected to the Illinois State Senate but never
having been a politician, though generally yo-
ting with the Democratic party, he never
would consent except under exceptional cir
cumstances, 10 be Il candidate for any othcrpo-
litcal office
As the name Of William B. Ogden has
been familiar 10 most of the citizens of Illinois
for many years and he was, during his life,
very largely identified with those great enter
priseS that have made not only Chicago the
marvel of the world for its rapid growth and
Illinois scarcely less so for It's wonderful mate
rial prosperity, the following brief biography
of Mr. Ogden which we find in the New York
SIM, cannot fail TO be interesting to most orour
readers
llc II Ol lut cdSltIU NtN JtlS'l oSutH l"Ii-
ily and of ancient and honorable lineage on
the side of both of his parents. Intended for
the practice of the law, the sudden decease OF
his father, when the son was ut the age OF III,
called upon him to devote his energies and
very marked abilities to tho care OF his lathers
business. In the course Ofhis business he was
required to travel much about the country, and
to visit the large cities At 81 he entered into
a large mercantile firm, and after spending
few years in his native county, he determineo
to turn his attention westward.
He established there Il land and trust agen-
cy, which has developed into one of the insti-
tutions of the West, and is still conducted by
his brother, Mr. Mahlon ID. Ogden, and his
brother-in-law, Edwin H. Sheldon, Esq. His
transactions In real estate have been immense,
and as the growth of the city demanded space
and outlet, he found the operations OF the au-
thorities too tardy, and proceeded to lay out
and actually construct more than hundred
miles of streets at his own cost.
Mr. Ogden was quick to discoverth courses
and currents of business and the needs OF com
munity He constructed the first SWING
bridge in Chicago, then never having seen one.
He was among the first to introduce the reap
ing and moving machines into general use,
and it was at his suggestion that the first reap
er was sent to the London Exhibition OF lool
nois and Michigan Canal were untirlng
OF great public spirit, of wellregulated ac-
tivity of immense energy, Of captivating ad-
dress and winning manners, Mr. Ogden has
done more than any one man on this continent
to contribute to the development of the great
Northwest. TO recount his relations with
the enterprises of that region is to catalogue
them.
He was the first President of Rush Medical
College, President of the Galena and Chicago
Union Railroad Company, and President of
the Northwestern Railroad Company.
He was President of the great National Kali
road Convention held at Philadelphia in 1850
70 take measures to build the Pacific railroad,
also of the Illinois and Wisconsin Railroad
Company, of the Buffalo and Mississippi Rail
road Company in lndiana until merged in the
Michigan Central, of the Chicago branch in
the State of Illinois, and of the Board OF Sew
erage Commissioners of Chicago,
In 1915 Mr. Ogden visited Europe and was
an accurate and useful observer of great public
works II was his examination Of the canals
Of Holland that first suggested to him the
OF Il channel for the free flow Of
he waters of Lake Michigan through the
Chicago and Des PLANES rivers into the Hi
lois and Mississippi rivers.
lie was president and carried forward large
ion ,..r.,hc Chicago, St Paul and Fond dr Lac
Railroad,
He was an active director Of the Pittsburgh,
Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad Company.
N the legal steps between the courts of the
different states through which this road passes,
[ was found impossible to obtain unity of aG-
ion at a certain period of its history, and Nj.
ogden was rendered the receivcrShip, With
alary of $4,000 per annum, which ne de
lined, but after repeated decliningS lac was
Orced hv the necessities OF the case to accept,
5 no other name could be found. chat was salts
actory. He declined the large compensation,
5 not warranted by the necessities Of the
Oad
When the Cnior. Pacific Railroad Company
,as organized ,,ndcr the act Of congress Mr,
'gdeh was .,nosen its first president; out MS
WI "ilih $, Immense and widespread as 'heI
cie' ..CManded that he retire rom tile psi.
~ Ogden was the owner OF pEoyaDiy INC
argCSt numbering establishment IN inc WORTH
il. l.ctorics being situated al PeshiIgo, III WIS
,OfSin.
He was singularly atfabe and agreeable N
address. hosnitablc, cultivated, and Ot Il klnd
md charitable spirit. Nearly every institu'
ion in the Northwest, includin" the husl
Medical College, the Theological seminary OF
The Northwest, the Historical Society, the Acad-
nmv of Sciences, the Astronomical Society me
University of Chicago, and the Chicago Wo-
mems Home. is Indicted to him for timely
aid ..
Ills namo wac urged for the Democratic
oomina;icr for President in 1860, on the
ground that he had been foremost and I'M
measurably ahead of all other men IN project :
ing the public credit and advancing public I'M
Reinr in New York at the time the great fire
broke ont in Chicago in the fall of 1871, he
To the West to find his own home in
ruins, with It's gathered treasures of lietinhs,,
andthe appalling loss Of more than a million
of property. Scarcely had he viewed rlie'
waste before the news reached him from Green
Bav that his immense mills in PeShtigo with
their accessious, were in ruins. Passing from
lnc scene Of disaster 10 another, he saw the lit
lie village completely swept away, AMI nearly