The Ogle Family

The Ogle Family

Captain Joseph Ogle was born 17 Jun 1737 in Owens Creek, Frederick, Maryland. He served in the Revolutionary War. He settled in Monroe Co., IL in 1785. In 1802 he moved outside of Belleville, near O'Fallon and Shiloh, in St. Clair co. He helped found the Shiloh Methodist Church and had the reputation of being the earliest convert to Methodism in IL. He was selected by his neighbors to lead them in their skirmishes with the Indians, perhaps because of his military background. Ogle County, IL was named after him. He died at his home in Ridge Prairie, St. Clair, IL on 24 Feb 1821. According to his grandson, he was buried in the Shiloh Methodist Church yard, although no tombstone exists today.

According to the "Combined History of Randolph, Monroe, and Perry Counties, Illinois," (1883), p. 330, "Captain Joseph Ogle was one of the pioneers of New Design. He was born in Virginia. . . . He commanded a company of Virginia troops during the Revolutionary war, holding a commission as captain from Patrick Henry, then Governor or [sic] Virginia. He came to Illinois from the neighborhood of Wheeling, Virginia, in 1785. . . . He was a man of untiring energy, and strong will power, in his honor one of the counties of the State received its name. He professed religion under the preaching of the Rev. James Smith, at New Design in 1787, and was appointed leader, by the Rev. Joseph Lillard, in 1793, of the first Methodist class ever formed in Illinois. Members of the Ogle family removed from New Design, and in 1796 made a settlement in the American Bottom, near where the road from Bellefontaine to Cahokia descended the bluff."

"In 1802 Captain Ogle made one of the pioneer locations in the Ridge Prairie, near the present town of O'Fallon, in St. Clair county, where he resided till his death. . . His descendants reside in St. Clair county."

According to "Pioneers of Old Monocracy," Joseph and Prudence settled on Buffalo Creek in what is today Brooke County, West Virginia. Their land was next to that of Silas and Joseph Hedges. Order Book 1:2, January 7, 1777, maintained in the court house of Wheeling, West Virginia, contains the order from Patrick Henry making Joseph a captain.

Joseph's ancestry has been traced by other researchers back to John Ogle, who came over from England in 1664 with Col. Nicholls' expedition to free New Amsterdam from the Dutch. For his efforts, John Ogle was awarded 800 acres on White Clay Creek near New Castle, DE. John, in turn is descended from a long line of English ancestors, and he is presumably related to the family who built the extant Ogle Castle in England.

A database of all of Joseph Ogle's descendants is being maintained by the author of this web page, and anyone descended from him is urged to write to Jim Bridges.

For those researching the surname, you might wish to check the Ogle/Ogles Family Association.