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            UNCLE BENT was what his friends called him in later life, but he was born James Benton Ogilvie in late 1823 in Williamson or Bedford County, Tennessee He was the first son of Lemuel Harris Ogilvie and Martha Patricia Winstead Moses Ogilvie, who were married March 27, 1823. It was the second marriage for Martha. She had married Abraham Moses on Oct. 25, 1819, and they had two children: Frank and Elizabeth. Lemuel apparently adopted the Moses children, because they later took the Ogilvie name.  When Bent was about six years old, Lemuel and Martha joined a  family wagon train which took them to Calloway County, KY. After a few years,  Lemuel and Martha moved on to the Paducah area. By 1842, the family had grown to eight plus the Moses children.

            Benton married Elizabeth Wood on April 26, 1849 and the 1850 U.S.  Census lists them with a four-month-old child, named John. A gray period started about this time, as far as the family history concerns, and in the 1870 U.S. Census, Benton is married to Henrietta Purdy. [He married Henrietta on July 8, 1861.]

            His children included: Martha, b: 1852; James W., b: 1863; William H., b: 1865; Monmouth, b: 1867; James B., b: 1868; Frank (m: Alice Yates); Mollie (m: George Flowers); Linnie (m: Ed Smith) and Zelotes Purdy Ogilvie (m: Amanda Emily Miller) .

            Bent served in the Confederate Army and was engaged in running  supplies on the Ohio River until he was reportedly taken prisoner by the Union Army. He spent most of his life in the Paducah area, working as a master carpenter. Bent often boasted of building 11 churches, all still standing in 1909. He also built several schoolhouses, the one at Ragland, KY was named in his honor. It was said that most of the better homes across McCracken County built during the 1850s, 60s, and 70s were the handiwork of Bent Ogilvie.

            Said to be a jolly, kind-hearted Christian gentleman, Bent Ogilvie died on Feb. 4, 1909 at the home of his daughter, Mollie Flowers, in Joppa, Ill. He was survived by his wife, two sons, Rev. Purdy Ogilvie and William Ogilvie; two daughters, Mrs. George Flowers and Mrs. Ed Smith, both of the Joppa area. (William had moved away to Texas)
 

 *This article was reprinted from the Dec. 1985 Ogilvie "kith and kin’ published by Craig Ogilvie.

Note: If you have additional information please let me know, or contact Craig Ogilvie of the Ogilvie "kith and ‘kin.