Benjamin Ogle
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Ogle was the ninth Governor of Maryland
Governor of Maryland
The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of Maryland, and he is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and he has a broad range of appointive powers in both the State and local governments,...

 from 1798 to 1801.

Early life

The Ogle family
Ogle family
The Ogle family was prominent landed gentry in Northumberland from before the time of the Norman Conquest.-Origins:The earliest appearances of the family name was written Hoggel, Oggehill, Ogille and Oghill....

 was quite prominent for many centuries in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, dating from the medieval period. Born in Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...

, Benjamin Ogle was the son of former Provincial governor
Province of Maryland
The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S...

, Samuel Ogle
Samuel Ogle
Samuel Ogle was the 16th, 18th and 20th Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1731 to 1732, 1733 to 1742, and 1746/1747 to 1752.-Background:...

 and Anne Tasker. Upon his death in 1752, Samuel left his estate to his 3 year old son Benjamin, but appointed Benjamin Tasker, Sr. as his son's guardian and to manage the estate. Tasker sent young Ogle to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 when he was 10 to further his education.

Ogle returned to Maryland in 1770 to find Tasker's daughters (his aunts) were occupying his father's estate, the Belair Mansion
Belair Mansion
The Belair Mansion, located in Collington, Maryland, United States, was built in circa 1745 as the Georgian plantation home of the Provincial Governor of Maryland, Samuel Ogle...

, so he resided in his father's city home at 247 King George Street in Annapolis
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...

 (which is now Alumni House for the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...

). Ogle took possession of the Belair Mansion in 1774 after a lawsuit to reclaim his father's home from the Tasker family.

Career

Benjamin Ogle became a member of the Maryland colonial council and would support the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

.
Ogle became a friend of George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

 whose presidential records show he dined at Belair on October 1, 1773.

Governor of Maryland

He was elected Governor of Maryland by the Legislature in 1798, serving until 1801.

Upon George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

's death in 1799, Ogle issued a proclamation that February 11, 1800 be observed throughout the State as a day of mourning. His precedent started the tradition of observing a holiday on February each year, now known as President's Day.

Legacy

Benjamin Ogle married Rebecca Stilley and had one daughter, Elizabeth. Ogle later married Henrietta Margaret Hill with whom he had a son, Benjamin Ogle II. He left his estate, Belair, to Benjamin Ogle II upon his death in 1809 in Annapolis. He is buried in Annapolis, Maryland.

External links

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