Matthias Ogden Matthias Ogden was born at Elizabeth , New Jersey ( formerly known as Elizabethtown ) on October 22 , 1754 . Ogden fought in the Revolutionary War and served various political positions afterwards . Family . He was the son of Robert Ogden , a lawyer and public official , and Phebe ( Hatfield ) Ogden . Robert was politically prominent , serving as the speaker of the New Jersey Assembly on the eve of the American Revolution . The family had deep roots in New Jersey : John Ogden had built a house in Elizabeth in 1664 after having moved from Long Island , where he had settled in 1640 from Hampshire , England . Matthias attended the College of New Jersey ( now Princeton University ) as did his younger brother , Aaron Ogden . Revolutionary war . After the outbreak of hostilities between the American colonists and the British authorities in 1775 , Ogden went along as a gentleman - volunteer on Benedict Arnold ' s march to Quebec , joined by his friend Aaron Burr , and was wounded in the assault on that city on December 31 , 1775 . John Trumbull depicted Ogden in his painting commemorating the Battle of Quebec ( 1775 ) and the death of General Richard Montgomery . Ogden ' s journal account of the expedition is in the collection of the New Jersey Historical Society . Ogden was named lieutenant colonel of the First New Jersey Battalion in March 1776 , serving under Colonel William Winds . At the age of 22 , he became colonel of the newly - reorganized 1st New Jersey Regiment on January 1 , 1777 after Silas Newcomb resigned the position . Ogden was captured by the British at Elizabethtown in November 1780 . He was released by exchange . In September 1781 , he conceived of a plan to capture Prince William Henry ( later King William IV ) . The plan received Washington ' s approval and was to be effected in March 1782 , but had to be abandoned . Ogden was granted a leave by Congress in April 1783 to visit Europe in order to secure business relations with the French . While there , he was awarded the honor " le droit du tabouret " by King Louis XVI . Ogden brought back news of the Treaty of Paris upon his return to America . He was breveted brigadier general by Congress in September 1783 and was described by one historian as a " brave and gallant soldier " . Colonel Ogden ' s leadership role is featured prominently in " An American Crisis : George Washington and the Dangerous Two Years after Yorktown , 1781 - 1783 " by William M . Fowler ( 2011 ) . After War . After the war , Ogden served as member of the state ' s legislative council ( 1785 ) . He was one of the agents entrusted with the minting of new state coinage for New Jersey , the famed " Jersey horsehead " pennies . The coins , which depicted a horse ' s head and plow , symbols taken from the coat of arms / Seal of New Jersey , on one side , and a " Union " shield taken from the Great Seal of the United States , on the reverse , were produced in a number of locations . Ogden operated his mint in Elizabethtown . In the 1789 presidential election , Ogden served as an elector for New Jersey . Ogden was married to Hannah Dayton , a daughter of Elias Dayton . They had a son , Francis Barber Ogden ( 1783 - 1857 ) , who was named after fellow Jersey Continental officer and in - law , Francis Barber , who was married to Matthias ' sister , Mary . Ogden died of yellow fever in Elizabethtown on March 31 , 1791 at the age of 36 .