Week 1: Birth
Emery Julius OGDEN was born 9-Sept-1896 most likely in Union Co., SD. South Dakota did not start keeping birth records until 1905. According to a database of pre-1905 births that the SD Dept. of Health put together here, my grandfather was born in Union Co. I don’t know who provided that information to them or when. On his 1918 WWI draft registration form, Clay Co., SD is his place of birth. His 1929 marriage license lists Spink in Union Co., SD as his birthplace. On his children’s 1945 SD Census cards, someone listed Elk Point, Spink Co., SD as their father’s birthplace. However Elk Point is in Union Co., not Spink Co. In his obituary and on his funeral card, his birthplace is given as Elk Point, Union Co., SD.
His parents were William Frederick OGDEN and Mary Elizabeth HERREN. My grandfather was most likely born at home on his parent’s farm. Further research to pinpoint his birthplace will involve tracking down the location of the farm in 1896 using land records and any county directories that may exist. I can also try looking for a birth announcement in area newspapers.
Week 2: Marriage
Emery OGDEN married Esther Louise JOHNSON at the Morse Memorial Methodist church in Rushville, Sheridan Co., NE on 19-Mar-1929. My sources for that information are their obituaries and a Rushville newspaper clipping from 22-Mar-1929. I wish I had gotten their marriage records 30-40 years ago when my aunt was the County Clerk for Sheridan Co. She could have helped me locate so many records that I could use now.
Week 3: Death
My Grandpa Ogden died on 8-Apr-1984 in the Bennett County Memorial Hospital in Martin, SD. I don’t have the cause of death. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery, east of Rushville, NE. I have two obituaries for him, a funeral card and pictures of his grave marker from when I was last there in 1995. I still need to order the death certificate from the SD Dept. of Health, just to be thorough.
Week 4: Misc.
My grandfather was a merchant. He owned stores in Pine Ridge, SD and Martin, SD that I know of. I remember the clothing store in Martin. His son-in-law, my Uncle Dennis GREGG, took over and ran it after my grandfather retired. He also owned a garage in either Rushville or Gordon.
My grandfather was a roamer. He was born in south-eastern SD and lived in Union Co., Charles Mix Co., Tripp Co. Mellette Co., Todd Co., Shannon Co., Bennett Co. and Pennington Co., all in SD. He also lived in Sheridan Co., NE in both Rushville and Gordon at various times. I’m working on figuring out a timeline of where he was when. I need some input from my mother and to look into land records, county directories and newspapers. I’ve got point-in-time locations from US and SD censuses and other sources, but there are some discrepancies and I don’t know exactly when he moved between the various records.
According to the SD Census records, my grandfather graduated the 6th grade. The 1910 US Census states he had attended school sometime since 1-Sept-1909, when he was about to turn 14. That’s too old for 6th grade, so I think he may have gone beyond the 6th grade but didn’t make it all the way through 8th grade. He most likely went to public schools in Charles Mix Co., SD. I have no ideas what school records still exist from back then.
Emery OGDEN registered for the WWI draft on 5-Jun-1918. He enlisted in the US Army in Sept-1918. He served at Camp Funston in Kansas, the epicenter for the Spanish Flu epidemic. The first cases appeared there in March 1918 and by the time my grandfather arrived word had begun to leak out to the press of the huge number of flu-related deaths at the camp. It must have been a very frightening ordeal for my grandfather. He served as a cook. According to his obituaries, he was discharged in 1919. I’m still working on trying to piece together his service record.
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