James Noxon was born on 17 March 1818 in Onondaga Hill, New York and died 6 January
1881 in Syracuse, New York. He was a lawyer and politician from New York and the son
of Bartholomew Davis Noxon (1788–1869) and Sally Ann Van Kleeck Noxon (1793–1874).
James attended Hamilton College and graduated from Union College in 1838. He was
admitted to the bar in 1841, practicing law in Syracuse with his father's firm of
Noxon, Leavenworth and Comstock. He was a member of the New York State Senate (22nd
District) from 1856 to 1859 and a justice of the New York Supreme Court from 1876
until his death.
On 6 September 1842, James married Elizabeth Rebecca Cadwell (1820–1859), and they
had four children. After Elizabeth’s death, James married Sarah Matilda Wright
(1838–1922) on 2 October 1860. They had six children together. James and Elizabeth’s
daughter, Mary Elizabeth Noxon, was born on 13 November 1845 in Syracuse, New York.
In 1872, she received a teaching certificate from the City of Milwaukee and worked
briefly as an assistant at Plankinton School in Milwaukee, WI. On 28 October 1873
Mary married George Whitfield Ogden (1844-1930), a pioneer carriage maker and real
estate agent. George was the son of John Ogden (1801-1891) and Jane Eliza Gray Ogden
(1810-1904).
George and Mary had one daughter, Marion Gray Ogden, born 20 February 1875. Marion
graduated from Wells College in Aurora, New York. Early in her life she volunteered
as a probation officer for the Milwaukee County juvenile court. She was a board
member of the Milwaukee Boys’ Club for more than 40 years. In 1935, she was one of
the co-founders the Milwaukee County Historical Society. Marion died 15 June 1976.
Marion’s grandfather, John Ogden, is for whom Milwaukee’s Ogden Avenue is named.
