Charles Francis Ogden

Nancy Ogden Westerdahl’s First Cousin Three Times Removed

Lindsey Albertson Bailey’s First Cousin Five Times Removed

Charles Francis Ogden was born Francis Charles, but because his father was also Francis, everyone knew him as Charles. When the Civil War began in 1861, Charles lived with family members on the Rose Farm in Gettysburg which Nancy and I and Lindsey and Alex visited on Saturday, April 12, 2014.  

Also living on the farm at the time was John Race and his family including his daughter, Mary Josephine Rose. Allegedly, Charles and Mary Josephine who were seventeen in 1860, became very fond of each other.

In the summer  of 1862, Charles said goodbye to his sweetheart, and on August 7 he enlisted in the Union Army. Less than fifteen months later, Charles was killed in the Battle of Locust Grove, Virginia.  General Sedgwick, whose statue at Gettysburg is cherished by Nancy and me, led one of the charges in that conflict.

In an article by Luther Slifer which appeared in the Gettysburg Times on October 27, 1994, the writer revealed that when he lived with his family on the Rose farm in 1946, the house had no plumbing. Slifer writes that he got up late one night to visit the outdoor toilet.

As he walked through the house with a lantern a grotesque face with shades of gray with yellow and orange highlights appeared at the kitchen window. The ghost of Charles Ogden had come back to look for his Mary Josephine! After one terrifying moment, Slifer realized the ghostly image was simply the reflection of his own face in the glass!

In 1870, a young woman was taken from the house in a straight jacket. Could it have been Mary Josephine still grieving over the loss of her loved one?

Bruce