Samuel Ogle was born in 1694 in Northumberland County, England, where the Ogle family had become prominent as early as the eleventh century. The son of Samuel Ogle of Bousden, who represented Berwick-on-Tweed in the House of Commons, and of his second wife, Ursula, the daughter of Sir Robert Markham and the widow of Lord Altham.
Career
Samuel Ogle was a captain of cavalry in the British army, when in 1731 he sailed for Annapolis, Maryland. He arrived on December 2, and five days later was sworn in as proprietary governor of the province, in which his predecessor, Benedict Leonard Calvert, the brother of the lord proprietor, had failed to procure the cooperation of the popular branch of the General Assembly. Tobacco, the staple crop, was yielding small returns for labor, and the boundary dispute with the Penns was so serious that the lord proprietor visited the province and from December 18, 1732, to July 11, 1733, administered the government in person. From the latter date until August 23, 1742, Ogle was again governor, and he served a third term from March 16, 1747, until his death.
As governor, he made it his first care not to show a disregard for any faction, and he was somewhat successful in his efforts to win the support of the leaders of the opposition by promises of lucrative offices. He issued effective proclamations for the apprehension and punishment of persons guilty of inciting mob violence for the destruction of tobacco plants. By accepting a compromise he brought to a close the dispute over the question of the extension of the English statutes to Maryland, a question that since 1722 had been a chief source of discord between the governor and the Assembly. He ably defended the interests of Maryland in a petty border warfare arising from the boundary dispute with Pennsylvania.
He met his first and only serious defeat as governor, when in 1739 he attempted to force the passage of a bill for continuing the levy of a tobacco duty for the purchase of arms and ammunition. Disputes over other money bills contributed to a deadlock, and to break this the lord proprietor appointed his own brother-in-law, Thomas Bladen, to succeed Ogle. When Bladen proved to be incompetent, Ogle was restored and from his restoration until his death he was popular. Acting on his recommendations the Assembly, at its first session of his third term, not only passed an acceptable bill for the purchase of arms and ammunition but also passed a bill for the inspection of tobacco and the limitation of officers' fees. The limitation of fees removed a large source of discord between the executive and legislative branches. The inspection of tobacco was the salvation of the tobacco industry and contributed to the successful floating of a paper currency.
At his death in Annapolis he was characterized as a man of ability and understanding, whose conversation was affable and instructive but never assuming.
Achievements
Membership
Samuel Ogle was a member of the Maryland Jockey Club.
Personality
Through Ogle's marriage to Anne Tasker, he came into possession of "Belair, " an estate of 3600 acres in Prince George's County twenty miles west of Annapolis. The house was a fine specimen of architecture, and the estate was laid out with a deer park of perhaps six hundred acres, a race track, kennels, and a bowling green. Here and on the highways in a four-in-hand coach with outriders, he maintained the traditions of the English gentleman.
Interests
Sport & Clubs
Samuel Ogle was a lover of sport and took a prominent part in the organization of the Maryland Jockey Club.
Connections
In 1741, Samuel Ogle married Anne, the daughter of Benjamin Tasker. They had five children; among them Benjamin, who was governor of Maryland from 1798 to 1801.