John B. Ogden was an Arkansas judge.

John B. Ogden was the son of Col John B. Ogden and Sarah Buck. His father died in 1813 from the effects of a wound received during the War of 1812

War of 1812

The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

. His mother Sarah (Buck) Ogden died in 1873. John B. Ogden was an only child.

At 17 years old, he began the study of law. In 1835 he married (probably in Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

) to Jane Sibley (1817-1866), daughter of Gen. John Sibley of New Jersey.

In 1843 he came to Van Buren, Crawford County, Arkansas where he lived the rest of his life.

In 1856, he was made a United States Commissioner of the District Court, Western District of Arkansas, which also included all of the district of the Indian Territory

Indian Territory

The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...

 (now Oklahoma). He held that office until after the Civil War.

He was the judge who presided over the evidentiary hearing against Parley P. Pratt

Parley P. Pratt

Parley Parker Pratt, Sr. was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1835 until his murder in 1857. He served in the Quorum with his younger brother, Orson Pratt...

, the famous Mormon apostle, on 12 May 1857, and acquitted him. A short time after his release, Parley was murdered by Hector McLean, James Cornell and Amasa Howell in front of the Winn farm near Alma, Crawford Co, Arkansas.

In 1866 John B. Ogden was appointed Assistant United States District Attorney

District attorney

In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...

 for the Western District of the State (of Arkansas) and held that position until 1871 or 1872.

In 1868 he married Mrs. Susan H Wing (née Barron) of Saint Charles, Missouri

Saint Charles, Missouri

St. Charles is a city in, and the county seat of, St. Charles County, Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 65,794, making St. Charles the 2nd largest city in St. Charles County. It lies just to the northwest of St. Louis, Missouri on the Missouri River, and, for a time,...

.

John B. Ogden, Lawyer, was alive in 1889 living in Van Buren

Van Buren, Arkansas

Van Buren is the second largest city in the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area and the county seat of Crawford County, Arkansas, United States. The city is located directly northeast of Fort Smith at the Interstate 40 - Interstate 540 junction...

, Crawford Co, Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

at the time Goodspeed made his famous biographies of that area.