OGG, Robert Alexander - Putnam

The Sunday school and other religious workers of Putnam County feel a personal interest in a recognition service which was held in the Methodist Church in Greencastle Sunday evening the honored ones being Prof. Robert A. Ogg and Dr. William M. Blanchard, both of whom are known over Putnam County as leaders in religious work.  Mrs. Frank Donner was the speaker in honor of Prof. Ogg and Dr. Francis C. Tilden spoke of Dr. Blanchard’s work.  Dr. Blanchard has been superintendent of Sunday schools throughout 27 years.  Prof. Ogg edits the Sunday School column of The Times News and referred to that fact in his response, mentioning it as an opportunity to reach the thoughts of more people than he had reached before entering upon the newspaper work.  It has proved one of the most popular departments of The Times-News and that paper hereby adds its appreciation of the high character of his weekly contributions.  The editor, as a boy became an admirer of Prof. Ogg when he was superintendent of the public schools of Greencastle, beginning in 1887 and has retained that admiration.  In her address Mrs. Donner had the following passages after speaking of the difficulty she had encountered in expressing her deep appreciation of him in written or spoken words: “One of his first acts was to establish his church relationship.  The class of girls to which I belonged was without a teacher and immediately Prof. Ogg was pressed into service.  Looking back, I can think of several groups in that Sunday school who would have offered a great challenge and far more interest to a teacher of his ability…Prof. Ogg assumed we had brains and were willing to use them.  Some way or another, we got the idea that our Bible and our religion was founded on truth and that we could bring it right out into the open where the searchlight of science and higher criticism could play all over it and no essential weakness be discovered.  Those were years of growth and inspiration.  At least three other women who were in that class reside in Greencastle at present.  I feel sure they will be as happy and surprised as I was when, during a conversation with him the other day, he literally called the roll of that class.  70 years active in the work in the Master’s vineyard – that is his record.  34 years of service in our community and in this church – you cannot estimate the size of a service like this.  I have found the measurements of a perfect life as they are to be found in the Bible.  May I quote just one of them.  “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God?  Who that has known Prof. Ogg can fail to recognize in this text the pattern according to which his life has been fashioned?”

Superintendent Ogg of the city schools has been engaged in teaching for 24 years and has never missed hearing his classes but three days on account of sickness.

(born 14 Dec 1847 Ohio died 12 May 1936 Greencastle buried Forest Hill)  -  a photo