Ogden trained as a lawyer, establishing his practice in Morristown, New Jersey. He was appointed Surrogate of Morris County in 1768. Among those who studied law at his Morristown office were Richard Stockton and his nephew, Josiah Ogden Hoffman, later the New York State Attorney General. During the Revolutionary War, Ogden and his brother Samuel sided with the Patriots, while their father David and brothers Isaac, Nicholas and Peter sided with the Loyalists. Ogden befriended George Washington, who often visited his family residence while the Continental Army was quartered in Morristown. During that time, his young son, Thomas Ludlow Ogden, wounded Washington's hand in a fencing bout. This is believed to be the only injury that Washington suffered in the course of the war.
Post-Revolutionary War
After the war, Ogden settled in Newark. He represented Essex County in the New Jersey General Assembly in 1790. In 1791 President Washington appointed him U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, a position he served until his death. Washington also appointed Ogden as Commissioner to the Indians in Northern New York. He led the delegation that negotiated the Treaty of New York with the Seven Nations of Canada. They had been allies of the British during the Revolutionary War. Aware that the Iroquois and other tribes were being forced to cede most of their lands in New York State, which wanted to sell the property for development, Ogden, his brother Samuel, Gouverneur Morris and others purchased a large tract of land in New York, south of the Saint Lawrence River. They intended to plat and sell it to new settlers; many migrants were entering the state from New England, and some men made fortunes in land speculation. The town of Ogdensburg, New York was named after his brother, Samuel Ogden.
Personal life
On December 22, 1767, Ogden married Sarah Frances Ludlow, the daughter of Catherine Ludlow and Thomas Ludlow, merchant of New York. Together, they had 13 children:
David A. Ogden, U.S. Representative from New York, married Rebecca C. Edwards
Catharine L. Ogden, Abijah Hammond, original landholder of Hammond, New York
Charles L. Ogden, who married Elizabeth Meredith
Thomas Ludlow Ogden, leading New York City lawyer, who married Martha Hammond
His grandson, William D. Waddington, who married Mary Elizabeth Ogden, were the parents of George Waddington, who married Elizabeth Van Rensselaer, the daughter of Henry Bell Van Rensselaer, a U.S. Representative and the son of New York's Lt. Gov. Stephen Van Rensselaer.
