Bogard was the only son of six children born to M. L. and Nancy Bogard in Elizabethtown in central Kentucky. The Bogards were tenant farmers who raised tobacco as their cash crop. In 1873, the Bogards moved to CaseyvilleNot to be confused with Casey County in Central Kentucky in Union County in western Kentucky. There he attended school and the nearby Woodland Baptist Church, still in existence in Morganfield, Kentucky. Young Bogard was also a frequent participant in religious camp meetings. In the spring of 1913, Caseyville was destroyed by an Ohio River flood and not rebuilt.
