Male

December 3, 1756

April 19, 1839

Elizabeth, NJ

Elizabeth, NJ

Elizabeth Chetwood Ogden (October 27, 1787)

Aaron Ogden was born and raised in Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth), New Jersey. He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1773. During the American Revolution, he served as an officer in the military, rising to brigade major. He also studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1784.

He later practiced law in his hometown even as he turned to politics. He served as presidential elector in 1796, as clerk of Essex County from 1785 to 1803, and was elected on the Federalist ticket to the United States Senate in 1801 after the serving New Jersey representative resigned. He ran unsuccessfully for re-election in 1802 and left the Senate in 1803.

In 1812, Ogden was elected as the eighth Governor of New Jersey and the next year turned down an offer ...from President James Madison to serve as a major general in the U.S. Army. After an unsuccessful re-election campaign, Ogden retired from politics and concentrated in stead on his legal career.

At this time, he became interested in and involved with the steamboat business. Indeed, he became embroiled in a landmark Supreme Court case in 1824. The state of New York had granted Ogden a monopoly on steamboat ferries between New Jersey and New York on the Hudson River. Another ferry, owned by a man named Gibbons, operated on this same route (he claimed the federal government had given him a monopoly) and Ogden sought an injunction against him. Eventually, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled in favor of Gibbons, finding that New York's monopoly was in violation of the Constitution which says, "Congress shall have the power to regulate commerce ... among the several States." This landmark case rapidly expanded the control Congress had over commercial activities and enabled it rapid growth in power throughout the next century. Marshall, a Federalist, believed that industry and commerce were the best path for the financial stability and growth of the United States.

Aaron Ogden married Elizabeth Chetwood. The couple had seven children, including Law School student Matthias Ogden. Other children include Mary Chetwood Ogden, Phebe Ann Ogden, John Ogden, Elias B. D. Ogden, and two that died as small children.

Ogden died in April, 1839 and is interred in the First Presbyterian Church Burial Ground in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
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Political Office; Lawyer; Business

1784

Federalist

U.S. Senator (New Jersey) 1801 - 1803

Governor (New Jersey) 1812 - 1813

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. "OGDEN, Aaron (1756 - 1839)." http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=o000041

National Governors Association. "New Jersey Governor Aaron Ogden." http://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_new_jersey/col2-content/main-content-list/title_ogden_aaron.html

McBride, Alex. "Landmark Cases: Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)." PBS: Supreme Court History. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/antebellum/landmark_gibbons.html