Herbert Gouverneur Ogden was an American geographer, topographer, and cartographer.
Background
Herbert Gouverneur Ogden was born on April 4, 1846, in New York City, the son of Morgan Lewis and Eliza Glendy (McLaughlin) Ogden and great-grandson of Rev. Uzal Ogden. A descendant of John Ogden who came to America in 1640 and finally settled in New Jersey, he numbered also among his ancestors Francis Lewis, signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Education
Herbert Ogden was educated in the grammar schools of New York City, at Rugby Institute, Washington, D. C. , and under private tutors.
Career
Herbert Ogden became a clerk in the office of the register of wills in Washington, serving in this capacity until April 22, 1863, when he was appointed aid in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, with which he remained connected up to the time of his death. During the Civil War he was assigned to detached service and was engaged in the construction of the defenses of Washington (1863), under Gen. John G. Barnard of the corps of engineers. From November 1863 to May 1864 he saw duty on the North Atlantic blockade at Beaufort, Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina, and was on the gunboat Commodore Hull as volunteer watch officer when the Confederates besieged New Bern, North Carolina. In 1865 he went with the Nicaraguan expedition, and five years later served as topographer with the first naval exploring expedition to the Isthmus of Darien. He was promoted to sub-assistant in the Coast and Geodetic Survey, January 1, 1869, and on January 1, 1872, was made assistant. In the regular course of his duties he eventually directed nearly every branch of the work. He was given charge of the engraving division in 1880, which position required an extensive and varied knowledge of chart construction and publishing.
On November 1, 1898, he was made inspector of hydrography and topography. Under his direction three editions of the United States Coast Pilot (1899, 1903, 1904), covering the coast of the United States and Alaska, were published. "Of the thousands who traverse our coasts in ships few are aware of the extent their safety depends on the integrity and completeness of his charts. " His best-remembered service was his work in connection with the boundary of Alaska and British Columbia. In 1893 he carried on original explorations and made maps, on the basis of which the present international boundary in southeastern Alaska was determined. His memory is perpetuated there by the names Mount Ogden, and Ogden Passage--an important Alaskan waterway on the southwestern coast of Chichagof Island. From September 4, 1890, till his death he served on the United States Board of Geographic Names. His interest led him to catalogue 2, 400 names of places in southeastern Alaska, and these comprise 72 per cent of those listed by Marcus Baker in his Geographic Dictionary of Alaska (1906), a work with which Ogden was for some time connected. Among his publications are an article under the title "Map" in Johnson's Universal Cyclopaedia (1897) and "Geography of the Land, " in the National Geographic Magazine (1889). He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of several other learned societies. He died at Fortress Monroe, Virginia.