Hero of the American War of Independence

William Ogborne was a member of the Monmouth County Militia, 1st Regiment, under the command of Colonel Asher Holmes, which captured the British Brig, Britannia, on the New Jersey Coast, for which he was awarded a portion of the prize money, by a Court of Admiralty of New Jersey, presided over by Judge John Imley at Allentown, February 26, 1780.

Another William Ogborne, great grandson of the first Samuel Ogbourne in New Jersey was a private in Lieutenant Barnes Smock’s Troop of Light Dragoons, Monmouth County during the Revolutionary War. So far no records have been unearthed of Ogbornes fighting on the side of the mother country in this war. The War followed the Declaration of Independence, adopted July 4, 1776, by delegates of the Thirteen Colonies, announcing their separation from Great Britain and the creation of the US. It was written almost totally by Thomas Jefferson.