Seeking the Lost

Short Name: W. A. Ogden
Full Name: Ogden, William Augustine
Birth Year: 1841
Death Year: 1897

William Augustine Ogden was an American hymn writer, composer, music educator, and publisher. He was born in 1841 in Franklin County, Ohio. When he was six years old, his family moved to Indiana. Ogden showed musical ability at an early age, studying music in local singing schools by the age of eight and learning to read church music proficiently by age ten. He later developed the ability to write melodies after hearing them sung or played.

During the American Civil War, Ogden enlisted in the 30th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. While in service, he organized a male choir that gained recognition throughout the Army of the Cumberland. After the war, he returned home, resumed his musical studies, and worked as a schoolteacher.

Ogden married Jennie V. Headington, and they had two children, Lowell and Marian. He pursued formal music education under prominent teachers, including Lowell Mason, Thomas Hastings, E. E. Bailey, and B. F. Baker, president of the Boston Music School. His professional career included work with the Iowa Normal School and the Toledo public school system.

In 1870, Ogden published his first songbook, The Silver Song, which achieved remarkable success, selling approximately 500,000 copies. He continued publishing influential gospel and Sunday school music collections, including New Silver Songs for Sunday School (1872), Crown of Life (1875), Notes of Victory (1885), The Way of Life (1886), and Gathering Jewels (1886). His hymns often combined accessible melodies with evangelical themes, making them popular in revival and educational settings.

Ogden taught music widely across the United States and Canada and, in 1887, was appointed superintendent of music for the public schools of Toledo, Ohio. He was known for his enthusiasm, energy, and warm personal manner. William Augustine Ogden died in Toledo, Ohio, in 1897.