Davids Bagley

On FamilytreeDNA there is a descendant of David Bagley (about 1765-1829) whose DNA closely matches the descendants of Edward Bagley (1815-1868) indicating there is probably a recent shared ancestor. This is likely the David Bagley who married Sally Covey of Dutchess County, NY. Their daughter Christena joined the Mormon Church. Most of what we know about this family comes from her family's oral traditions, guesses, research and public documents.

From the public documents we can guess the following:

• Sally the wife of David Bagley was living in Ohio according to the list of heirs of the estate of Walter Covey of Venice, NY probated in 1834.
• Salla Bagley was listed in her father's will dated 17 June 1822, so she was married prior to 1822, and believed to be alive at that time.
• The three children ascribed to this family with public records are born in New York.

The family's oral traditions have the following:

• David was born in Scotland in 1765-1775 and wandered a lot.
• David had a family prior to marrying Sarah: sons, Daniel 1797, twins Alvin and Calvin 1799 and Isaac 1801.
• David and Sarah were married in Dutchess County, NY
• Sarah died about 1820 in Illinois
• David died in 1829 in Cleveland, OH

From family records we believe: 

• Christena was born in Frederickstown, Dutchess, New York in 1808. 
• Her younger brothers and sister were born in Scipio, NY between 1812 and 1816.

This makes it possible the record indexed as David Bodey in Scipio, NY in the 1810 census is for the family of David Bagley and Sally Covey. The household has 

• three males under 10
• two males between 10 and 15
• two males between 16 and 25
• one male over 45
• two females under 10
• one female between 26 and 45

If this is correct, we can make the following guesses:

• David Bagley was born before 1765
• Sarah was born between 1765 and 1784
• David is old enough to be the individual who served in Willet's Regiment, the New York 3rd Regiment and New York 1st Regiment from 1777 to 1781.
• There are possibly 7 sons and two daughters - the only daughter accounted for is Christena and dates are wrong for her brothers in the oral tradition, or one of them died before 1810.

Adding to the confusion, the descendants of Christena have also associated David and Sarah's family with the David Bagley household appearing in Freehold, NY in 1800 and the household in Mentz, NY in 1820 and 1830. David and Sally have also been associated with the household in Monroe, IL in 1820. These associations are probably incorrect:

• The Bagley family in Freehold is usually associated with the children of Lt. Jonathan Bagley of New Hampshire. This David is likely a cousin of that family. Governor John Judd Bagley of MI is a member of this family and it has been well documented and researched since the 19th century.
• The Bagley family in Mentz is likely the family of David Bagley and Harriet Smith. Land records show sales from David Bagley and Harriet his wife in 1819. David was born in Connecticut. He migrated to Hillsdale, MI. 
• The Bagley family in Monroe, IL is likely Elder David Badgley of New Jersey an early Baptist leader in that part of Illinois.

So the only conclusions we can make at this time is:

• We can't rule out a direct connection to the Samuel Bagley family. 
• If this is the David that enlisted in the 3rd Regiment of the New York line, he was likely from New York City - this would imply a connection to the family of Josiah Bagley either as an unknown child of Josiah and Martha Wenman, or through Josiah's contemporary, William. 
• The residence in Scipio, raises the question of whether or not David is related to his neighbor John. John and his wife Betsey engaged in land transaction in Scipio at the time David was living there. John may have moved to Clarence, NY where John A and Glibert took over his mortgage to the Holland land company. It is likely they are his sons. A family bible lists John A.'s birthplace as Pennsylvania, setting up a possible link to the family of James and Sarah of Nobletown, NY and Providence, PA. 
• If the family in Scipio is correct, the dates are wrong:
• Sally may be considerably older than the current estimated dates. She is old enough to be the parent of children older than Christena. 
• David is older than expected by the dates given in the oral family traditions.
• Sally probably did not die in Illinois - we don't have a good record showing the family in Illinois.
• David may not be from Scotland - the family might have confused generations and one of his ancestors is from Scotland.
• David may not have died in Cleveland - there is little evidence for a Bagley family in Cleveland.
• David and Sally may or may not have been alive in 1822 and 1834. 

The descendants of David Bagley and Sally Covey have the same problems facing Edward Bagley's family: a lack of public records, a lack of written family records and well developed oral tradition that might have been creatively edited to fit family aspirations. The fact that the two men appear to be closely related is interesting without being very helpful.

February 6, 2020 Update: David and Edward are likely not closely related. The DNA tests are almost identical except for a single marker. That single marker is used to distinguish Middle Eastern families from European families. A common paternal ancestor likely lived thousands of years ago. A shorter test would show them as closely related.