SERVICE.--Duty in Cheat Mountain District, West Virginia, to December, 1861.  Action at Greenbrier October 3-4.  Scouting Expedition through the Kanawha District October 27 - November 7.  Expedition to Camp Baldwin December 11-14.  Moved to Green Springs Run December 18, and duty there till March, 1862.  Advance on Winchester March 5-13.  Middleton March 18.  Battle of Winchester March 22-23. ... [Note: Jesse was wounded in the Battle of Winchester and mustered out.]

103rd REGIMENT INFANTRY

 Jesse S. Ogden, the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Ogden, was born in West Virginia, near Winchester, in 1839, and died February 10, 1877, just at the time when he was at the height of his success and popularity.  The Ogden family trace their lineage back to colonial times and the members of his family occupied many places of trust and responsibility in the history of early Virginia.  John Ogden and his family came to Indiana and settled in Hendricks county early in its history.  Jesse S. Ogden was educated in the public schools of Danville, the Danville Academy and Northwestern Law School at Indianapolis.  His education was interrupted by the opening of the Civil War and he laid aside his books for the musket and answered the call of Governor Morton for troops.  He enlisted in Company H, Seventh Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served until he was wounded at the battle of Winchester, Virginia.  After he was mustered out of the service on account of disability he returned to Hendricks county, Indiana, where he continued to reside until his death.  He completed his legal education in Indianapolis and then formed a partnership with Judge John V. Hadley.  Immediately after the close of the was he was elected recorder of Hendricks county and later prosecuting attorney of his home county.  He was always interested in the principles of the Republican party and was honored by being elected to the House of Representatives in 1874.  He had a brilliant career before him and would have undoubtedly have occupied a much higher place in the political and official life of Indiana had he not died at such an early age.  He was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, and in his church affiliations was identified with the Methodist Episcopal church.  His widow is still living and makes her home with her son, Rev. Horace G. Ogden, at Jamestown, New York.

Jesse S. Ogden was married to Mary A. Carter, of Danville, and to this union were born three children, Rev. Horace G., D. D. of Jamestown, New York, who is now pastor of the furst Methodist church of that place; Mrs. Adella L. Duvall, of Delaware, Ohio, who has won renown as a soprano singer, and James M., a successful lawyer of Indianapolis.

Jesse S. Ogden's Creed

That Jesse S. Ogden was a remarkable man in more ways than one, is indicated in the striking document which he wrote a short time before his death.  When he was told that he did not have much longer to live, he accepted the inevitable decree like a martyr, and looking calmly into the face of death, he composed a creed for the guidance of his little children, whom he was about to leave.  In all the range of literature and in all the annals of philanthropy there may not be found a more comprehensive summary or a stronger code of morals than he composed under such strange conditions, and it is safe to say that this document, teeming with a father's love, has fulfilled the mission for which the fond father wrote it.  In view of the exquisite beauty of language and the lofty purity of thought which are embodied in this remarkable document, and believing that future generations may profit by the words, it is reproduced here just as it was given to his children on January 18, 1877, less than one month before his death.

"My Dear Children:

"If I were to undertake to tell you how much I love you and how solicitous I am for your welfare and happiness in this life and in the life to come, you could not understand me, for you are too young to comprehend it.  It was my sincere wish to live long enough to superintend your education and see you fairly started on the perilous journey of life.  This coveted pleasure will be denied me.  You will never know what it is to have a father to assist and guide you.  You will be compelled to struggle unaided and alone, against the many vicissitudes and hardships of this life without light or counsel from me.  I can not leave you any great patrimony and even if I could it might prove to you a curse rather than a blessing.  Since I leave you nothing more substantial, I thought it prudent to cull out of my own limited wisdom and experience some plain and simple maxims which, if practiced, I am sure will make you estimable citizens of society and prepare you for that eternity whose shadow ever encompasses your footsteps.

"First of all, revere God and keep his commandments.

"Unite with some church whose tenants accord nearest with your conscience, and attend faithfully to your religious duties.

"Avoid all pomp and bigotry in religion.  All true religion is embodied in one word--Charity: charity that embraces God with one arm and all humanity with the other.  All else is counterfeit.

"Now let me call your attention more particularly to some plain rules of conduct in your relations to society, and for your own personal guidance.

"Above all things be truthful.  And if you are truthful, then you will be honest--and these two constitute the cardinal virtues of a good life.

"Again, be industrious.  Labor assiduously, and complete with thoroughness whatever you undertake.  Indolence is the mother of poverty, unhappiness and crime.

"Be independent and self-reliant.  Learn some independent trade or profession where you can receive the rewards of your own industry.

"Practice economy, without being miserly.  Give according to your means to worthy objects of charity--and be sure they are worthy.

"Pay as you go.  I repeat it, pay as you go!  This is the true secret of all substantial success.  The percentage of you creditor will make you a bankrupt if you run in debt.

"If possible, secure for yourself a competency, without striving to become rich.  Get no wealth at the expense of conscience.  If fortune should favor you, in your prosperity do not forget the poor and needy.

"Be courteous.  Politeness is the highway to popularity and station.

"Seek the society of the pure and learned; avoid the low and vulgar.  Your position and standing in society depend upon the observance of this rule.

"Read good books, such s have received the commendation of competent critics.  Do not stuff yourself on the current trash of the day--it is as reprehensible as gluttony.  Time is the best critic.  The books that survive his touch deserve to be studied.

"Be temperate in all things.  Touch not the intoxicating bowl.  It is full of vice, violence, misery and poverty.  I beg you touch it not.

"Govern your temper.  It is a fiery steed, and unless put under severe discipline, will carry you into all manner of difficulties.  Coolness is the ballast of a wise head.

"Be cleanly and dress neatly, without ornamentation.  The sloven carries with him the highest evidence of his thriftlessness and ill breeding, while on the other hand the brainless fop is equally abhorrent.

"Avoid all affectation and dissimulation.  Be natural and sincere.  Have the courage to say 'no' where your honor or integrity might suffer.

"Economize your time. do not procrastinate.  Remember that you can not recall a single moment of your lives.  There are no pauses in the steady, ceaseless revolutions of the ponderous wheel that hurries you on to the end.  Make sure, then, of each moment, and out of it extract something for your moral, intellectual or financial progress.  Recreate your minds with manual labor, your bodies with study.

"Remain home at night.  Let me entreat you not to mingle with the vile gossiping crowd on the street corners or in some den of iniquity.  It is in such company that bad habits are contracted and moral depravity has its origin.

"Obey your dear mother in all things.  She understands your rights and duties, and will make no unreasonable demands of you.  Strive to make her life pleasant and happy.

"Lass of all, revere your country and obey her laws.  Cherish her institutions of freedom and the rights of man.  If these should be threatened, sacrifice your lives rather than see them perish.

"I might multiply indefinitely the minor duties of life; but I hope by the observance of these maxims, you will be actuated by higher motives, a higher faith, a broader philanthropy and a sublimer patriotism than myself.  God knows how sincerely I yearn for such a consummation.  If I only knew you would grow up into perfect manhood and womanhood I would die content.

"On each recurring anniversary of my death, I desire you to read this and resolve that you will observe these simple precepts with renewed fidelity.  As you read them, may they be to you as a message direct from my home in that celestial city where I expect to take up my everlasting abode.

"May God bless and preserve you from all harm and save you finally in heaven, is my parting benediction.  Farewell.

"Your much afflicted, but affectionate father,

"J. S. Ogden.

"P. S.--I desire Horace to keep in his possession this original manuscript, and that he furnish James and Adella each with a copy when they grow up and separate from each other.--J. S. O.

"January 18, 1877"