Modern Mississauga and Heritage Mississauga have come together to present an ongoing series called “Way Back Wednesday’s."
We’ll share information about the history of Mississauga here and answer your questions.
Today’s topic is the history of Ogden Avenue.

Ogden Avenue is Lakeview takes its name from Joseph Ogden and the Ogden family, who settled on a 200-acre plot of land in this area. Ogden Avenue runs roughly through the middle of the historic Ogden property.
Joseph Ogden Jr. (1762-1844), the son of Doctor Joseph Ogden Sr., was born in Pennsylvania. Joseph Jr. married Hannah Jones (1765-1865) and the couple had at least five children: Samuel (c1800-1863), Anna (1802-1846), William (1803-1888), Jane and David.

The Ogden family came to Canada in 1798 as a Loyalist, and first settled in Etobicoke. In 1831 Joseph Jr. obtained a land grant in historic Mississauga in 1831. In 1819, their daughter, Anna, married Jacob Cook, after whom Cooksville was named, where they raised 12 children.

When Joseph Jr. passed away in 1844, his son William Jones Ogden, inherited the family property in Lakeview.

William Jones Ogden married Rebecca Ann Ward (1807-1868) and the couple continued to live and work on the family farm. In addition to farming, William Jones and Rebecca kept a hotel on their property along the Lakeshore Road. William was also civic-minded, and served various government posts including Commissioner of Repairs to Bridges and Justice of the Peace. William Jones was also an officer in the York County Militia, and he was responsible for building the first government bridge over the Etobicoke Creek on Lakeshore Road.

William and Rebecca had 10 children: Uzziel, Hannah Ann, Emma, William Winslow, Jehu, Jessie, Isaac, Albert, Azariah and Joseph. Several of their children rose to prominence in their respective fields of study: Uzziel, William Winslow and Jehu all became medical doctors and physicians, graduating from the Victoria College School of Medicine in 1849, 1860 and 1868 respectively. Uzziel lived on Carlton Street in Toronto and practiced in Rosedale; Jehu practiced in historic Mississauga; and William Winslow practiced near Queen Street and Spadina in Toronto. Their brother, Albert, became a noted and respected lawyer, and is listed in the census as a Barrister and Solicitor. Isaac became a minister in the Queen Street Methodist Church in Toronto, and was considered by his father to be the brightest and cleverest of all his children.

Dr. Uzziel Ogden became well-known for his study of internal medicine and lectured at the University of Toronto. In 1855, he accepted the position of Chair of Midwifery at Victoria College, which specialized in diseases of women and children. Uzziel was the founding professor of gynecology at the University of Toronto, where he continued a teaching and lecturing career that spanned over 50 years. He engaged most prolifically in medical journalism, and was the founding editor of the Canadian Journal of Medical Science.

Dr. William Winslow Ogden perhaps rose the highest of the children: he held degrees from the Toronto Academy, Knox College, Victoria College, Toronto School of Medicine and the University of Toronto, and was considering widely as the leading medical practitioner in Toronto. In 1869, he was appointed a lecturer on jurisprudence and toxicology at the Toronto School of Medicine. In 1887, with the creation of the faculty of medicine at the University of Toronto, he was appointed professor of forensic medicine, toxicology and medical psychology. He served in this position for 22 years, during which time he was noted as being active in the Toronto School of Medicine and as a leading authority in religion, politics, law and medicine. Three sons of both Drs. Uzziel and William Winslow also engaged in the medical profession and became well-known doctors in their own right.

The family property in Lakeview remained in the Ogden family until 1921. While the Ogden house, which stood near the intersection of Ogden Avenue and Lakeshore Road, burned in 1930, the road name remembers this significant early family.