Finding Richard Bagley

Introduction

In  Was Edward Bagley the grandson of James Bagley? I was trying to provide an argument that showed the possibility that Edward Bagley could be the son of Richard Bagley of Providence, Pennsylvania and the grandson of James Bagley of Nobletown. Recent results from autosomal DNA indicate the descendants of Edward are related to the descendants of other Bagley families from Kentucky and New York. This new information strengthens the arguments previously made.

DNA Results 

I recently submitted a DNA sample to Ancestry. While waiting for the results I entered a family tree showing my confirmed ancestry to Edward Bagley ignoring other lines. I entered Richard V. Bagley (1766) as Edward's father and Esther as his mother. I included Richard's family with Jane Clark. I included the people I believed where Richard's siblings: Elias, Bethiah, Jesse. I added neighbors who reasonably could be the Richard's siblings: Azor, Asher, and John. I entered the next two generations based on previous research and add the generations to Samuel - i.e. James (1730?), James (1704), John Bagley (1668), and Samuel. Filling out the siblings for each of these generations filled out a hypothetical family based on available sources and speculation. I included plausible descendants that I was not certain about and noted the speculation in publicly available comments.

When results were available, I linked the DNA test to the tree I entered and waited for two days for Ancestry to provide me with matches.  Once I had matches, I reviewed the Thrulines, Ancestry's program to match family trees to DNA results. Filtering to just my entered family tree limited the results to 7 couples, one for each generation. My parents had no additional matches - this was not surprising, none of my siblings, children or my siblings' children had submitted samples. My grandparents showed matches with a discrepancy. My grandfather had five additional matches to my grandmother's four. This was caused by the tree my aunt had entered. Based on that tree, Thrulines identified my aunt as my grandmother. The five matches were my uncle's three children, my aunt and one of her sons. My great grandparents added 3 matches - the grandchildren and great grandchildren of my grandfather's younger brother. My twice great grandparents added 45 matches. They were spread across four of my great grandmother's eight siblings. The next generation was Edward Bagley and Julia Ann Grant. This is last generation where there is a consensus on relationships and sources are widely available. Edward and Julia added 181 matches for a total of 234.₁ Richard and Esther are the first point were there is a disagreement on identification. Richard had 4 matches. Esther had 209 matches. I believe the matches for Esther made up of myself and any of my cousins who entered Ether Puffer in their tree or their tree did not contain information about Edward's parents. Individuals who had entered the then current information from FindaGrave were not included.₂ The four matches for Richard were myself and three descendants of Nancy (Bagley) Lutman. This was a strong indication I might be on the right track. The next generation, James Bagley and Sarah showed 10 matches: 7 descendants of John Bagley from Erie county, New York, a descendant of Alfred Bagley of Broome County and a descendant of Edward Bagley of Columbia and Berkshire counties.

Evaluating Thrulines

Because Thrulines are only as good as the information in the trees on Ancestry, they are vulnerable to incorrect or speculative information in those trees.₃ Likewise, changes made to my speculative tree might update Thrulines to add or remove listed matches. Aside from reviewing obvious anomalies, I did not spend time evaluating the Thrulines for Edward or any of the generations connecting to Edward. This history is well documented and is largely accurate. The connection to Nancy was a pleasant find - I had long speculated the man born in Columbia was Edward's father. The 7 descendants of John Bagley partially resolve the coincidence of two Bagley families using the uncommon name Cyrenus. The other descendants of James appear to be descendants of Josiah Bagley through his sons Eli and Joel. Someone incorrectly attributed Joel to his neighbor Edward. They were apparently unaware of Edward's will which listed his living heirs and does not include Joel. Both individuals are then likely descendants of Josiah.₄

This gave me three groups to validate. The next step was to review the shared matches for the individuals identified from Thrulines. The results for Nancy's descendants were not promising. There were no other descendants of Edward listed in their lists. These are distant cousins - half fifth cousins and half fifth cousins once removed. Ancestry claims they can detect fifth cousins 1 out of 3 times.₅ Simulations predict a half fifth cousin has about a 1 in 12 chance of having measurable DNA - a half fifth cousin once removed has about a 1 in 25 chance.₆ With more than 200 samples from Edwards family you would expect multiple members would also match one of the three. The descendants of Josiah and John had multiple members of Edward's family in their lists as expected. 

Moving Beyond Thrulines

Reviewing matches allowed me to add family members who didn't have trees linked to their DNA tests. In the case of parent a sibling relationships, Ancestry's pro tools model seems to be extremely accurate.₇ Using Ancestry's protools, I created a taxonomy to help me identify tests that were associated to specific families and their relationships. Initially I started with five groups: descendants of Edward Bagley, descendants of Nancy (Bagley) Lutman, descendants of John Bagley, descendants of Josiah Bagley, and descendants of my fathers ancestors who are not Bagleys. I added groups as needed.

Once I had my groups, I started updating the family tree to reflect possible relationships from matches. I made a few decisions:  

• I would add individuals up to my grandfather's generation - the purpose of this tree was to help identify Edward Bagley's relatives, not to create a complete list of descendants of any given individual
• I would add or subtract individuals based on the sources and matches found

These efforts resulted in identifying additional matches increase the number of probable family members giving us the following results:₈

• Edward Bagley: 460 matches or probable matches
• John Bagley of Erie County: 27 matches or probable matches
• Josiah Bagley: 7 matches or probable matches
• Nancy (Bagley) Lutman: 6 matches

Grouping matches also highlight the need for additional groups. I added the following groups: 

• for my mother's relatives. The Mormon community is relatively small and over represented in Ancestry's samples. It was not unusual to find someone who was related to my father who had a relative that was related to my mother. Rarely, one of my father's cousins married one of my mother's cousins
• for the Grant relatives of Edward's wife Julia (Grant) Bagley - Julia is the youngest of an unusually large family and some cousins intermarried. Some of Julia's relatives show up in the lists of shared matches for almost all descendants of Edward.
• for my father's family that is not related to the Bagleys. 
• for the Decker family. The Deckers are a large and prolific family from New York with roots back to New Amsterdam. They lived in the same counties as the Bagleys from at least 1760 to 1800. Any matches with ancestors from New York could plausibly be connected to this line rather than a Bagley line.
• for any Bagley lines that had a common ancestor outside of groups already identified

Some individuals belonged to more than one group and were marked with more than one group. For example, my grandmother and grandfather arranged a date between their first cousins. The cousins eventually married and their descendants are marked both as descendants of Edward Bagley and descendants of my father who do not fall into another group.

Methods for Reviewing Matches and Results

The first pass was to review shared matches for individuals identified by Thrulines.  This allowed me to group matches and identify relationships with a reasonably high confidence. For example, I quickly identified from my aunt's test, my uncle, her four children and one grandchild, and my uncle's three children, expanding tests for my grandparents from five to ten. Using the same methodology, I expanded number of identified tests for the descendants for Edward Bagley, Nancy Bagley, John and Josiah Bagley. The second pass involved looking at shared matches that didn't fit into one of the groups that we shared but were distantly related. This showed the need to group and flag members of my mother's family, the Grants, and the Deckers and to separate them from the other descendants of my father's family. When groups of closely related people were identified, I grouped them together and reviewed their common ancestors. When possible, I identified a tentative connection to James Bagley's family based on location and relative age. From this pass I add the following groups:

• The descendants of Able D. Bagley of Tioga, Pennsylvania
• The descendants of David Bagley of Columbia, NY
• The descendants of John and Prudence Bagley
• The descendants of James Bagley and Frances French
• The descendants of Ira Petty and Caroline  Hoffman

The third pass involved searching share matches trees for the name Bagley. This pass added additional matches for the families identified. I found a few matches with distant connections to Samuel Bagley. This pass also identified matches that were descendants of Orlando Bagley. Additional passes searching for families that married identified daughters of probable members of the Bagley families failed to add identifiable matches. 

Interpretations and Hypotheses

I have identified 30 matches and possible matches for Abel D. Bagley of Tioga. Abel was born in Pennsylvania in the last decade of the eighteenth century.₉ His descendants show a large number of shared matches with the descendants of Edward Bagley. His birth place, birth date, and the region he lived in leave me to believe he is probably a descendant of James Bagley of Nobletown, possibly a child of one of his sons that settled the Wyoming river valley.₁₀ Asher, John, Elias, Richard, Jesse and James have at least one record in the Wyoming area. Azor may also be present.₁₁ Asher moved to the Northwest Territory and eventually to what would become Arkansas. John moved to Erie county NY. Elias moved his family to Venango, Pennsylvania. Richard moved to Kentucky. Jesse moved to Michigan. James' records are difficult to follow. We know James Bagley has at least one child born between before1780.₁₂ Based on census records, Richard could have as many as 6 children born before 1810; the oldest son born before 1790. Because Abel didn't migrate out of Pennsylvania, I suspect he is probably the child or James or Richard. There is an off chance he is a child of Azor. Tentatively I am putting Abel with Richard. Additional information is needed to make a better placement.

I have identified 21 potential descendants of David Bagley of Columbia. David's first wife is possibly a member of the Decker family.₁₃ Nine of the the matches are descendants of his first wife. The remainder are descendants of his second wife, indicating David likely shares a common ancestor with Edward. Two of David's children are represented by the matches - Daniel Bagley, son of his first wife, and Prudence, daughter of his second wife. Currently, FamilySearch identifies David's parents as John Bagley and Esther Pitcher.₁₄ The amount of shared DNA and the number of shared matches possibly indicates closer relationships to the families from Columbia county than the one reported in FamilySearch. Coupled with David's presence in Columbia county leads me to believe he is possibly the son of John and  Prudence Bagley. Additional information is needed to confirm the family is correctly identifying David's father as either John Bagley.

I identified 21 descendants of John and Prudence Bagley among my matches. This includes descendants of sons, John and Daniel, and daughter Mercy Bagley Bixby. John moved his family to Ohio. Daniel and Mercy remained in New York. This strengthens the claim that John and James the proprietors of Nobletown are brothers. It also shows the John that moved to Ohio is part of this family.  The family in Ohio indicates the mother of this family is Rhoda Renselaer. Baptismal records in New York indicate the oldest son, John is the son of Neeltji Shufelt.₁₅ This would reorganize the family with at least the eldest two children, John and Sally, being the children of Neeltlji. The children born in Ohio are likely the children of Rhoda - there are no records of Neeltji in Ohio and she would have been 50 when the first son was born in Ohio. The middle children are hard to place. Either woman could be the mother based on the children's ages. There is no identified marriage record for Rhoda, nor death record for Neeltji.

I identified 5 descendants of James Bagley and Frances French among my matches.  These are exclusively the descendants of their son Allen. James Bagley likely migrated to Arkansas with Asher Bagley. Asher is possibly a son of James Bagley and brother of Richard Bagley. Reminisces of Independence indicates James and Asher are brothers.₁₆ Currently I have the James Bagley listed as the son of Asher. If Asher were the brother of Asher, James would need another wife. Additional information is need to clarify the relationship between the two men - the age difference between the men is 23 years. Josiah Bagley, possibly Asher's brother, was born 8 year prior. While it is possible the same woman had children 31 years apart, it is very unusual. Additionally, the James Bagley from the Wyoming valley is possibly Asher's brother.

I have 12 descendants of Caroline (Hoffman) Petty. Caroline was the widow of Ira Petty of Tompkins county, New York who died during the Civil War in Virginia. Family trees on Ancestry list her maiden name as Bagly. The only document showing a maiden name is the death certificate of one of her daughters who migrated to Pennsylvania. Shared matches indicate the shared ancestor is likely a member of one of the Bagley families in New York. Caroline is possibly a descendant of Conrad Hoffman a palatine immigrant to New York in the 18th century. His descendants settled in Dutchess county, New York. A Georg Hoffman, also known as Jurrian, and Magretha Moor baptized children in Kinderhook. It is plausible a daughter of John and Prudence married a son of Georg and Magretha.

The two match descended from Samuel Bagley is not related to any other matches with Bagley connections, likely indicating the DNA match is from another line. Similarly the four matches descended from Orlando Bagley are not related to the other Bagley families. The match may represent shared DNA from the small number of people in Colonial New England prior to 1750. 

Discussion

The parents of Edward are contested. The first evidence we have of someone identifying Richard of the Wyoming valley is a query in Boston Evening Transcript.₁₇ The query was published on May 18, 1940. The source record was obtained from the Genealogical Society of Utah indicating the query likely came from a descendant of Edward. Later publications identify Richard of Amesbury and Esther Puffer as Edward's father.₁₈ The Identification of Richard as Richard of Amesbury is still current among many members of Edward's family. Later census records for the children of Edward identify his birth place as New York, perhaps indicating the children had performed research showing Edward was born in New York in spite of the sources created during his lifetime. This may have been reflected in John Grant Bagley's assertion his father was born in New York.₁₉ The DNA evidence appears to support a birth in New York: the descendants of Edward are related to several families with origins in New York. 

The relationship between Richard V. Bagley and Edward is less certain. DNA matches at lower levels indicate several possible relationships from relatively close to very distant. For example, my matches with 10 cM include fourth cousins related through Edward Bagley, fifth cousins related through William Grant, and ninth cousins related through Tristan Hillman. These relationships are well documented and the trees for these individuals do not have glaring mistakes. All five individuals descended from Nancy (Bagley) Lutman share 11 cM with me. They are not matched to any other descendants of Edward Bagley. Some are matched to other Bagley families in New York. Since Ancestry does not map DNA to specific chromosomes, I can not determine if all five individuals share the same markers and if those markers may have come from a common ancestor. 

Sharing DNA with two individuals who are also related doesn't indicate all three share a common ancestor. I have reviewed the available trees for the descendants of Nancy and find, aside from Richard, all of their ancestors have origins south of the Mason Dixon line. My ancestors who settled in North America prior to 1850 are  exclusively from  New England and New York, it is extremely unlikely we share a common ancestor through those lines prior to the European settlement of North America. If Richard is not the common ancestor responsible for the matches, the ancestors would likely be from the British Isles and would likely make the descendants of Nancy very distant cousins to me.₂₀ This raises my confidence the identification of Richard as a common ancestor. 

There are no matches to the descendants of Nancy's younger brother Richard. He appears to have many descendants. The lack of matches has a few possible sources:

• The descendants of Richard have not submitted and DNA tests to Ancestry. 
• The descendants of Richard submitted tests to Ancestry, but the test do not match mine based on Ancestry's algorithm. 
• The people identified as descendants of Richard are not descendants of Richard and/or Richard has no living descendants.₂₁ 

Finding relatives of Edward or other related lines with share matches for the families of Richard T W Bagley would strengthen the connection between Richard V Bagley and Edward. 

The descendants of  John Bagley of Erie county include descendants of both of his probable sons, John A and Gilbert. Matches fall between 8 and 46 cM. Ancestry identifies these as relatively close relationships. Because some of these individuals also match my uncle and cousins I can use Blaine T. Bellinger's DNA painter to evaluate the results by comparing two people with the same relationship to show possible relationships. When evaluating the shared matches with my uncle and cousins, the range of possible relationships included those expected if John and Richard are brothers. The matches that can be evaluate eliminate more distant relationships. The matches are on the higher side of the distribution - the 80th percentile of the comparison sample. The relationships predicted by DNA painter appear to be more accurate than the relations predicted by Ancestry. The closer relationships predicted by Ancestry invite speculation there is a second shared line between John and Richard. There is little information about the women who married John and Richard. John's wife may be named Elisabeth based on a land record that may be for this family. Richard's wife Esther is only named on Edward's patriarchal blessing. The measure DNA falls into the expected ranges. While additional related lines may increase amounts, the increase would not push the measurement outside the expected range. The available DNA measurement does not support or exclude the possibility these two women are related - perhaps sisters or close cousins. 

Matches to descendants of Josiah Bagley confirm he is likely related to his neighbors James and John. This man is possibly Lt. Josiah Bagley of the New York Line.22 The matches are descendants of his two sons Eli and Joel. Unfortunately, there are no descendants of his two daughters. Had I identified matches to Margaret Bagley Adsit, it would have increased the likelihood the father of Eli and Joel is Lt. Josiah.

Summary and Further Areas for Research

Based on the information available to me through Ancestry DNA, Edward Bagley is probably the son of the Richard Bagley born in Columbia county in 1766 who migrated to Luzerne County, and from there to western New York, Kentucky, and Missouri. The descendants of Edward appear to be related to the descendants of Nancy Bagley Lutman, a daughter from Richard's last marriage in Kentucky. Additionally, descendants of Edward are related to families from western New York that are possibly descendants of James and John Bagley the proprietors of Nobletown.   Matches for the descendants of John Bagley and Edward partially explains the use of the name Cyrenus in both families, possibly indicating a common origin. Matches for the descendants of Josiah Bagley raise the possibility Josiah is Richard's brother rather than his cousin. The inclusion of families related to John Bagley support the contention the James and John Bagley, the proprietors of Nobletown, were probably brothers. Matches included descendants of John who settled in Green county and confirmed the John Bagley who settled in Green county likely migrated to Ohio with his last wife.

Matches indicate the family of Abel Bagley is related to Edward Bagley. Abel's birth place is identified as Pennsylvania possibly indicating Abel was born to one of the men who settled in the Wyoming valley.  Matches to the descendants of James Bagley of Arkansas confirm sources that connect his family to Columbia county and indicate he is probably related to the proprietors of Nobletown. The matches for descendants of Caroline Petty confirm that family's oral tradition that Caroline's maiden name or the maiden name of her mother is Bagley and they may be related to the families from Columbia county. 

Ancestry DNA has provided valuable information but left open several questions for further research including:

• The mother of Edward remains a mystery. Are descendants of her relatives listed among the matches for Edward's family? If so, how would they be identified?
• The connection between Edward and Abel is high speculative. Does the family of Abel have additional information that might identify how he is connected to the families from Luzerne county and Columbia county?
• Is Lt. Josiah Bagley the father of Joel and Eli?
• How is Asher Bagley related to his neighbor James? How are they related to the family in Columbia?
• How is Caroline Petty related to the families from Columbia? 

End Notes

¹At this time, the number of matches has grown by two as additional members of this family have submitted DNA tests or updated a public tree so it could be matched against mine.

²When I started this project FindaGrave identified Richard of Amesbury as Edward's father and Richard's wife Sarah Bailey as his mother. For the public trees I checked, my relatives that were not listed as matches had Richard and Sarah listed as Edward's parents. FindaGrave has since been updated to reflect the identification of Richard V. Bagley as Edward's parent. 

³FamilySearch has this same issue with View Relationship. 

⁴Josiah Bagley's identification is a puzzle for another day. There are two (possibly related) families claiming Lt. Josiah Bagley is part of their family. Alfred Bagley noted his grandfather was born in Massachusetts and had two sons and two daughters. One daughter remains unidentified and adding Lt. Josiah's daughter who remained in Columbia county would supply the missing daughter. The descendants of Thomas Gray Bagley claim Josiah, but there are some discrepancies in the described relationship. If this is correct, Josiah would likely be Thomas older brother born in Manhattan.

⁵Cousin statistics (https://isogg.org/wiki/Cousin_statistics) 

⁶How often do two half relatives share DNA? (https://hapi-dna.org/2020/11/how-often-do-two-half-relatives-share-dna/)

⁷Pro Tools enhanced shared matches allows you to review a list of shared matches with the predicted relationship to the user selected. This allowed me to not only see who was related but also how they were related. The Ancestry model seems to overweight close relationships. This works very well for relationships where there are very few choices. This is very helpful when there is a parent or sibling listed. For relationships that are further out, I found the two suggested relationships were not often not the ones I confirmed with available sources. Gedmatch has a relationship predictor that is more accurate. For example for 15c match AncestryDNA predicts a fourth cousin or half third cousin twice removed relationship. GedMatch's Relationship Probability Calculator predicts only a 1 in 20 chance that this will be the correct relationship. I suspect AncestryDNA is modeling based on the relationships users confirm and users are more likely to be able to confirm closer relationships. The Ancestry model also uses statistical phasing to assign matches to each parent. This is usually correct - I've only found one instance in the 1000 or so matches reviewed where the parent Ancestry assigned did not match the expected parent.

⁸Results from 2 June 2025. Matches where I could identify the exact relationship through shared appropriately sourced family trees or a close relationship genetic relationship - parent or sibling to a match. Possible matches indicate individuals who were closely related (2nd cousin or closer) to matches but I couldn't necessarily identify the exact relationship, e.g. there were three or more possible relationship based on the amount of DNA, but the individual likely shared a common identified ancestor.

⁹Depending on which census you believe, Abel was born either 1791 or 1800.  

¹⁰Asher, John, Richard, Jesse and James have at least one record in the Wyoming area. Azor may also be present. Abel would be the right age to be one of the males listed in the 1800 census with either Richard or James Bagley. There is a James Bagley in Pittstown in 1800. There is a Richard Bagley in Seneca NY in 1800. Both households have at least on male child under 10.

¹¹Ezra Bagley heads a household in Luzerne county PA in 1790. This could be Azor or Elias misheard.

¹²James stated he had one child in his 1780 petition to Congress. See James Bagley of Westmoreland Revisited. 

¹³David's first wife is Christina Decker. If she is correctly identified she would be my first cousin seven times removed i.e. she is the first cousin of my 5g. grandfather or we share 7g. grandparents.

¹⁴John is the great grandson of Samuel Bagley of Weymouth. He is probably a cousin of the proprietors in Nobletown. 

¹⁵John was baptized at Hillsdale in 1807. His mother's brother and wife are the sponsors.  

¹⁶Arkansas History Commission. Publications of the Arkansas Historical Assoc. Vol 3, 1911. pg 344  Asher had a son with Catherine House named Asher. It is not clear which Asher is James' brother.

¹⁷"Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSQW-MVKM?view=explore : Jun 14, 2025), image 6 of 9; New England Historic Genealogical Society. Image Group Number: 101799769

¹⁸A History of Documents: Richard Bagley and Esther Puffer See also "Family Group Records Collection, Archives Section, 1942-1969," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89QR-98BJ?cc=2060211&wc=WWXQ-X4N%3A352088201%2C352159401 : 20 May 2014), B > Bagley, James David - Bahr, Hans Hinrich > image 198 of 1339; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, compiler, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

¹⁹See Some Descendants of Richard Bagley and of his son Edward Bagley of New Brunswick and Salt Lake. (1973)  and John Bagley record book, 1894

²⁰The proposed family tree has 10 generations from me to Samuel Bagley. My other lines in colonial New England and New York vary between 9 and 13 generations. I expect this is fair representation for most of my cousins. 

²¹Richard T W Bagley married a cousin of Stonewall Jackson prior to the Civil War. They had two daughters. He and his wife separated. There is a sensational 1855 newspaper article detailing a later marriage and possible bigamy. The wife from the later marriage was involved in a series of lawsuits in the 1870's. In those lawsuits she purports Richard died circa 1863. In the 1880's a man named Richard T W Bagley is living in Texas with a large family consisting of a wife born in Illinois and several children born in Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas. The daughters from his first marriage were cared for by his wife's uncle. Probate records show the uncle acting as their guardian until his death in 1869. This presents two plausible scenarios: Richard died during the Civil War and the person in Texas had assumed his identity, or Richard disappeared and didn't emerge back into public view until 1880. If it is the former it is unlikely the family in Texas would be closely related to me.

22 See The Mysterious Lieutenant Josiah Bagley and A Wildly Speculative Reconstruction of the Descendants of Josiah Bagley and Ann Lockwood of Fairfield, Connecticut. There are two families with plausible origins for Lt. Josiah Bagley. Either could be correct.

The Bagley Family in Berkshire, Columbia, and Litchfield Counties

Introduction

In the middle of the 18th century, western Massachusetts was the frontier. What would become Berkshire county was being settled by people from New England from the east and people from New York from the west. Records are thin for this period, but there is evidence individuals with the name Bagley settled and/or owned land in the area. Records for this area during this era can be found in the neighboring counties in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. i.e. Hampshire county prior to 1761, Berkshire County after 1761, Fairfield county prior to 1751, Litchfield county after 1751 and the part of Albany county that would become Columbia.

Savoy and the descendants of Joseph Bagley

In the land records of Berkshire County, there are references starting in 1773 to Samuel Bagley of Smithfield, Rhode Island. The original rights came from James Bagley and John Bagley._1,2,3,4,5 Samuel Bagley and his heirs sold portions of the land through 1803. At least some of the land stayed in the family. David Jenks, the son of Margaret (Bagley) Jenks purchase land rights in Savoy from his parents and aunts and uncles._2,3,4

Samuel is the only documented child of Deacon Joseph Bagley of Providence.₆ The relationship between James, John and Samuel is not clear. Joseph has older brothers, James (b 1663) and John (b.1668)._7,8,9 John is believed to have moved to Fairfield, Connecticut. This raises the following questions:

• Who are James and John?
• Are they related to Samuel Bagley of Smithfield? If so, how?
• When and how was the land transferred to Samuel?

Following the Land

The land in question was part of Bullock's Grant. Bullock's Grant was "Granted in Lieu of a Township formerly Granted to Capt. Samuel Gallup Anno Domini..1690."₁₀ Captain Samuel Gallup lead a regiment during an English expedition to conquer Quebec in 1690. This land was then a military grant to the soldiers of Samuel Gallup's regiment. John Bagley is listed as a private in this regiment.₁₁ This is possibly the brother of Joseph Bagley, who would have been about 22 at the time of the expedition. On 22 June 1772, the proprietors of the Bullock's Grant assigned lots.₁₂ John Bagley was assigned lots 22, 84, 140, and 41; James Bagley was assigned lots  39, 155, 106, and 24. 

In the 22 May 1781 proprietors' meeting notes, the owners of John Bagley's lots are the heirs of Samuel Bagley.₁₃ The lots granted to James are owned by the heirs of Samll Bagley and Stephanis Attwood. Samuel Bagley of Smithfield's children and grandchildren sold lots in both groups. At some time between 1772 and 1781 the rights to the grant were transferred. Samuel Bagley died in 1773, so the rights may have been transferred before then. The rights could have been transferred one of two ways:

• The rights were inherited
• The rights were purchased

The shared family name may indicate a relationship between the three men. The method of transfer impacts how we would interpret the relationship between Samuel, John, and James. If the rights were inherited we would need to show how the family relationship or legal documentation supporting the inheritance. If the rights were sold, no family relationship would be implied by the transfer.

Identifying James and John Bagley

James and John Bagley could be related to Samuel. Samuel's father Joseph had brother's named John and James. The men would have been in over 100 if they where still alive in 1772. This makes it unlikely these two men receiving lots in 1772 are the brothers of Joseph. If they are the brothers of Samuel, there are several gaps - there are no records for James or John in Rhodes Island or the neighboring parts of Massachusetts after 1694.₁₄ Records for John Bagley in Fairfield start in 1698.₁₅ John's children recorded in Fairfield are:₁₆

• Joseph bp. 1700
• Josiah bp. 1702
• James bp. 1704
• Mary bp. 1707
• Sarah bp. 1709
• Ann bp. 1711 

The son James could plausibly be still alive in 1772; he would be around 68. There is no John listed in this group of children. If the lots are being passed to John the private, the only recorded grandchildren for this group is Lydia and Bathia Bagley daughters of James Bagley and Bethia his wife.₁₇  We have records for Lydia, James, and John Bagley in the Berkshire county region from about 1757. I have argued James, John, and Lydia are possibly the children of James and Bethia.₁₈ James and John could possibly be the heirs of John Bagley through his son James Bagley.₁₉

Determining how Samuel received the right to the land

If Samuel Bagley inherited the land from James and John, it is plausible Samuel received the land because James and John were dead and had no heirs. This would make sense if it were his uncle John, born in 1668 and Mary Dikeman is not the daughter of John. Josiah would have died in  New York without heirs indicating he is not the father of Josiah and William. However, we don't have a good identification for James, nor can we explain why the rights transferred to Samuel and not to his first cousins the descendants of Samuel Bagley Jr and Mary Thayer. 

If  Samuel purchased the land we have more flexibility to interpret the transfer. We still may question the absence of the possible heirs of John through Mary Dikeman and Josiah Bagley of Manhattan; however, the families do not need to be related. If James and John are the grandsons of John, Samuel would be their father's first cousin. It is plausible that James the son of John had died - he is not given the lots. James and John sold their shares in Bullocks purchase to a family member who has more cash, in this case their father's cousin. After Samuel's death the land goes to his heirs. This seems especially likely since Samuel sold land in 1773 to Joseph Brigham shortly before his death.₂₀ 

Summary Conclusions

Based on the available records. Samuel likely purchased the land in Berkshire county from James and John Bagley. James and John are possibly the grandsons of private John Bagley. Plausibly they sold the land to a relative, in this case their father's cousin, who had more readily available cash. 

Notes and Sources

¹"Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9Z8-2QNH?cc=2106411&wc=MCBT-FP8%3A361613101%2C362672601 : 22 May 2014), Berkshire > Deeds 1788-1793 vol 1-2 > image 362 of 500; county courthouses and offices, Massachusetts. 

²"Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9Z8-2Z2B?cc=2106411&wc=MCBT-VNR%3A361613101%2C362736101 : 22 May 2014), Berkshire > Deeds 1839-1843 vol 52-53 > image 317 of 586; county courthouses and offices, Massachusetts.

³"Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89Z8-2JX?cc=2106411&wc=MCBT-NM3%3A361613101%2C362673501 : 22 May 2014), Berkshire > Deeds 1791-1796 vol 3-4 > image 423 of 546; county courthouses and offices, Massachusetts.

⁴"Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9Z8-2XF?cc=2106411&wc=MCBT-NM3%3A361613101%2C362673501 : 22 May 2014), Berkshire > Deeds 1791-1796 vol 3-4 > image 425 of 546; county courthouses and offices, Massachusetts. 

⁵"Massachusetts, Land Records, 1620-1986," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9Z8-2H72?cc=2106411&wc=MCBT-JWL%3A361613101%2C362674201 : 22 May 2014), Berkshire > Deeds 1796-1799 vol 5-6 > image 269 of 631; county courthouses and offices, Massachusetts.

⁶The source connection Joseph to Samuel are secondary. They consist of references to the family in town histories, letters and notes from family historians. 

⁷Mackenzie, George Norbury, and Nelson Osgood Rhoades, editors. Colonial Families of the United States of America: in Which is Given the History, Genealogy and Armorial Bearings of Colonial Families Who Settled in the American Colonies From the Time of the Settlement of Jamestown, 13th May, 1607, to the Battle of Lexington, 19th April, 1775. 7 volumes. 1912. 

⁸Jacobus, Donald Lines. History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield. (Clearfield : Baltimore), 2007. p. 22

⁹Jacobus, Donald Lines. Additions and corrections to History and genealogy of the families of old Fairfield : supplement to the American Genealogist, October 1943. p. 4.

¹⁰ "Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4Y-7SHG?view=fullText : May 17, 2025), image 430 of 894; . Image Group Number: 007901760

¹¹Watkins, Walter Kendall. Soldiers in the expedition to Canada in 1690 [microform] : and grantees of the Canada townships. (Boston : Printed for the author), 1898. p. 80-84

¹²Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4Y-7SHN?lang=en?view=fullText : May 17, 2025), image 431 of 894; .
Image Group Number: 007901760

¹³"Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4Y-7SHV?lang=en?lang=en?view=fullText : May 17, 2025), image 432 of 894; .
Image Group Number: 007901760

¹⁴"Bristol, Massachusetts, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9YT-98H4?view=explore : May 18, 2025), image 221 of 745; . Image Group Number: 007703530

¹⁵Abstract of probate records at Fairfield, Connecticut, down to 1721. n.d. pp 48, 55, 88, 208 

¹⁶History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield. p.22

¹⁷History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield. p.22; Fairfield Episcopal Church Records. Bathia's baptism might show the family's move to the Anglican Church. James and John Bagley's children were baptized in the Anglican church in Berkshire. John's later children were baptized in the Collegiate Church. This is especially surprising given Anglicans in New York and New England were largely loyalist and the families of James and John were staunchly patriot. 

¹⁸James Bagley of Westmoreland Revisited

¹⁹The absence of other heirs is interesting. Some researchers identify Mary Dikeman, the wife of  Cornelius Dikeman as Mary Bagley. See Judd, Peter Haring,  Four Amercian Ancestries. p.748. Other researchers have suggested Josiah and William Bagley of Manhattan are the children of Josiah Bagley and Anna Lockwood. See A Wildly Speculative Reconstruction of the Descendants of Josiah Bagley and Ann Lockwood of Fairfield, Connecticut. None of the heirs of either Mary Dikeman or Josiah Bagley are listed.

20Berkshire, Massachusetts land records. 

James Bagley of Westmoreland Revisited

This an update to  James Bagley of Westmoreland County Connecticut

In 1780, a James Bagley from Wyoming  sent a petition to Congress requesting a discharge from the Connecticut Rangers.₁ The document looks like it might be an original rather than a copy. The following sentences are important for family historians:

The Humble Petition of James Bagley an Inhabitant of wioming Now a Solder in Capt Simon Spalding Company stationed at this time at wioming to the Honorable Congress of United States of America  

...I enlisted Expecting that I might be able In Sum measure to carry on bisness at Home Not withstanding in this I was mistaken & deceived. I have an aged Father & mother & Nine Children which land In Neade of Daly assistance & also wife & one child of my one...

[Original spelling, punctuation added for clarity.] 

This petition tells us the man in Wyoming is fairly young - he has a wife and a single child. He is the primary support for his father's family. His father's family is fairly large. His father is "aged". 

James Bagley of Nobletown purchased a partial share of the Susquehanna Company in 1773.₂ James and his wife had two children baptized in Nobletown, Elias and Bethia.₃ In 1780, Elias would have been 9; Bethia, 7. The man living in Wyoming only has one child. James of Nobletown had at least two. We can conclude the man in Wyoming is not the father of Elias and Bethia. The man might be the son of James in Nobletown.

If James of Nobletown is the father of James of Wyoming, we should be able to test whether he matches the description given in the petition. There a couple possibilities for the father:

• James is the husband of Bethia Monroe born about 1704 in Fairfield, Connecticut. 
• James is the son of James and Bethia Monroe 

Which seems reasonable depends on how we interpret the term "aged". The husband of Bethia would be about 76 in 1780. Bethia Monroe was baptized in 1711. If she was born that year she could comfortably be a mother in 1728.  Her son would be at most about 50 in 1780. Does 50 qualify as aged?

On April 12, 1773, James Bagley of Nobletown took out a loan with Stephen Hogaboom of Claverack.₄ Stephen Hogaboom's lawyer filed a suit in Dutchess county to collect on January 31, 1786. This might mean James Bagley was still in New York in 1786. If so, this would be the husband of Sarah. In 1797, Jesse Bagley filed a deed that is witnessed by James and Sarah Bagley.₅ This might be Jesse's father and mother, his brother and mother, or his brother and sister-in-law. 

Military records might give us a clue to the age of James of Nobletown. James Bagly was granted land by New York for service in the Albany Ninth Militia.₆ Compiled service records indicate James likely received the land because he was a prisoner of war in Albany on Aug 1, 1776.₇ James Bagley was on the Pittston tax roles in Aug. 1776.₈ James is first listed in the rolls for the rangers on 18 February 1777.₉ The younger man was likely in Wyoming at that time. The James Bagley in the Albany Ninth is probably James Bagley of Nobletown. If he was serving in the militia, he would have been between the ages of 16 and 60. It is then unlikely James is the husband of Bethia and is possibly their son born after 1728. James may have also suffered ill effects from his incarceration explaining why he was being supported by his son.

¹ "United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHK-Q3PJ-6KWY?view=fullText : May 4, 2025), image 173 of 607; .

² Bixby, Willard Goldthwaite. A genealogy of the descendants of Joseph Bixby. (New York City: W. G. Bixby), 1914. 79. 

³ Great Barrington, Mass. St. James' Church. St. James' Church records. p. 58. 

Kelly, Arthur C M. Remarkable records of Rev. Gideon Bostwick, 1770-1793, Great Barrington, Massachusetts. (Kinship : Rhinebeck, NY, 1988.).  

Records of St. James Church, Great Barrington, Massachusetts 1770-1793 : records of the Rev. Gideon Bostwick. 200. 209.

⁴"Dutchess, New York, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9H1-V4VW?view=fullText : May 5, 2025), image 676 of 1435; New York. County Court (Dutchess County).

⁵"Luzerne, Pennsylvania, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSX1-XQFM-2?view=fullText : May 5, 2025), image 44 of 599; .

⁶NewYork Controller's Office. New York in the Revolution as colony and state. (Albany, N.Y. : J.B. Lyon Co),1904. p. 230

⁷Fold3, US, Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783 (https://www.fold3.com/publication/470/us-revolutionary-war-service-records-1775-1783 : accessed May 4, 2025), database and images, https://www.fold3.com/publication/470/us-revolutionary-war-service-records-1775-1783

Fold3, US, Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (https://www.fold3.com/publication/469/us-revolutionary-war-rolls-1775-1783 : accessed May 4, 2025), database and images, https://www.fold3.com/publication/469/us-revolutionary-war-rolls-1775-1783

⁸Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Proceedings and collections. (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) p.215. 

⁹"United States, Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2DG-D9N9 : Fri Apr 25 15:59:36 UTC 2025), Entry for James Bagley, 18 Feb 1777.

Polly Murray, the woman, the myth, the legend

In the Bushnell genealogy, the records for the Bagleys from Nobletown are listed with a a note that Bushell Murray's grand daughter indicated Bushnell had a half brother named James Bagley.₁ Several family trees on Ancestry posited Bushnell was the child of Jermiah Bushnell and Mary or Polly Murray. Searches in Berkshire and Columbia county turned up Polly Murry (1790-1848). 

Polly was colorful. In 1813, she sued John M. Hulburt and his guardian for child support for her son born 18 Aug. 1812.₂ John Mason Hulbert (1793-1851) was the son of Jonah Hulburt (1753 - 1801)and Jerusha Shepherd (1766 - 1822). In 1813, Jerusha had her hands full. Jonah had died intestate in 1801. While administering his will, Jerusha married John Burghardt.₃ John died about the time Polly sued John M. Hulbert.₄ John Burghart's family challenged the will which passed his estate exclusively to Jerusha and her children.₅ Polly won her lawsuit. John and Jersha appealed. I have not found records of the appeal. I expect the court either refused the appeal, or Polly again won.

 In 1836, James E Bagley sold property to pay off the debts he and his brother/lawyer Oliver Bagley had incurred.₆ Among the debts listed is one James had with Polly Murray.  James E. Bagley had a son named James Edward Bagley. James was born in 1825. When he married in 1849 his parents are listed as James and Mary Bagley.₇

 Polly Murry died in Austerlitz in 1848.₈ Her brother, John Murray bequeathed  money to "the heirs of my deceased sister Polly Murray". There are no distribution papers for the estate so we don't know if the heirs included both the family of Bushnell and James. However, if we believe Bushnell's granddaughter. Bushnell Murry and James E. Bagley a probably the sons of Polly Murry.

¹George Eleazer,. Bushnell family genealogy : ancestry and posterity of Francis Bushnell, 1580-1646, of Horsham, England and Guilford, Connecticut, including genealogical notes of other Bushnell families, whose connections with this branch of the family tree have not been determined. (Santa Monica, Calif.: unknown),1949. p 696.

²"Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSRS-JS85-P?view=fullText : Apr 5, 2025), image 64 of 620; 

³"Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHMP-8WT : Fri Mar 08 12:37:05 UTC 2024), Entry for John 2nd Burghardt and Jerusha Hurlbert, 28 March 1802.

⁴"Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSD7-L91M-8?view=fullText : Apr 18, 2025), image 553 of 576; Massachusetts. Probate Court (Berkshire County).

⁵"Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9YR-RXS5?view=fullText : Apr 18, 2025), image 544 of 572; 

⁶"New York, Land Records, 1630-1975," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9W7-MXLL?cc=2078654&wc=M7HR-929%3A358136801%2C358385601 : [REFERENCE-ERROR]), Columbia > Deeds 1835-1837 vol Y1-Y2 > image 133 of 510; multiple county courthouses, New York. 

⁷"Massachusetts, State Vital Records, 1638-1927", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N4W5-58K : Thu May 23 00:41:56 UTC 2024), Entry for James E. Bayley and Jane L. Carter, 7 Mar 1849.

⁸"Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSXS-C9Q7-Q?view=fullText : Apr 19, 2025), image 905 of 1147; Massachusetts. Probate Court (Berkshire County).