Bert was born in the Amherst Shore area in Nova Scotia in 1901. Amherst Shore is near the connection to New Brunswick, and for a time they appeared to have lived in Moncton and Hopewell, New Brunswick. He had brown hair and green eyes according to his border crossing record in 1914.

His father, Albert "James" Ogden, was a farmer in Nova Scotia. He moved the family to Hampden, ME, just south of Bangor in June 1914. Bert crossed the border on June 17, 1914 with his mother and siblings to meet his father in Hampden. James worked there as a nickel plater (electroplator) at the Crogan Manufacturing Company at 27 Franklin Street in Bangor where they manufactured tape measures. Bert worked as a mattressmaker at the Bangor Mattress Company. They lived in (East) Hampden, Maine.

Bert grew up the oldest of at least 8 siblings, the youngest, Charles, being born in Hampden when Bert was 21. His father died the following year. Bert, his mother, and family moved into Bangor around that time, and to Cambridge, Massachusetts a few years later. In Massachusetts, Bert worked for Simplex Electric (and Conduit?) - the company that built the American end cable for the first trans Atlantic telephone cable. He was a wire tester and electrical foreman; his coworkers called him Zeek.

Bert's mother died in 1931 when he was almost 30 years old. He married Mary Massison-Reilly at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Cambridge in 1935. They had 2 children born in 1938 and 1945. Bert became a naturalized citizen in 1940 after being in America for about 26 years. His brother Jesse was naturalized 2 years later. His youngest brother Charles recieved the Purple Heart during World War II, and was killed in Korea in 1950.

Places of Residence:
1901: Nova Scotia (born)
1914-1925: Bangor, Maine
before 1931: 13 Andrews Street, Cambridge
before 1935: 20 Watson Street, Cambridge
before 1980: 44 Colburn Road, Reading
Last residence: 2 Elderberry Lane, Reading; Apt. 109

Bert Ogden