Reconstructing the family of Deacon Micheal Peffer/Pfeffer of New York.

On 15 July 1709, Miggel Peffer, a wife and two children sailed with the Fifth Party of "poor Palantines" to leave Holland for England. Michael Peffer and his wife, Anna Maria, are listed as Palantines that remained in New York in a 1710 census. Catherine the widow of Michael and their son Michael received assistance between 1710 and 1712 in New York. On the first payment they received funds for two adults. On the last payment they received payment for two adults and one child under 10. Michael and Anna Maria Pfester had a son Johannes baptized in New York in 1711 by Johannes Kocherthal.  Michael and Anna Maria Pfeffer had a son, Johannes Marcus, baptized in New York City in 1713 in the Collegiate Church. Michael Peffer registered as a  freeman laborer in 1715, Michael and Anna Maria Pfeffer and their three children are listed as successful immigrants in New York City in the Simmendinger List published around 1717. Three more children are recorded in the baptismal records of Collegiate Church. Michel Pfeffer, a deacon in the Collegiate Church died and was buried in 1727. Anna Maria Hofman the widow of Michael Peffer married Christianus Stouwer in 1729. Christian Stouber and his wife Anna Maria or Maria sponsor baptisms in Collegiate Church for various families through 1754.

These records, mostly available online as secondary sources, transcriptions, and translations seem to chronicle a single family. Interpreting these records to reconstruct the family has lead researchers to various conclusions. 

The Hossloch/Leeheim Reconstruction

 

Johan Michael Pfeffer married Anna Maria Hoffman in Hossloch, Pfalz, 29 July 1703. Two daughters of this couple may have been baptized in Leeheim in 1707 and 1709. (Lutheran Church Records) Leeheim is roughly 50 miles downstream from Hossloch. Each is in the correct general area for the refugees that moved to England. Johannes, Michael and Anna Maria's first child recorded in the new world, was baptized 1 May 1711 in New York City. (The Kocherthal Records) The witnesses were Johannes Planck and Anna Kunigunda Wannenmacherin. Anna Kunigunda is likely Anna Kunigunda Kornmann, the wife of Johan Deitrich Wannenmacher. Their marriage record from 29 November 1710 lists both from Leeheim. (The Kocherthal Records) This raised the possibility the Peffers and Wannenmachers were neighbors in Europe.

• In this reconstruction John Michael, Anna Maria and their two daughters went to England in 1709. Michael's mother Catherine traveled to England separately, either as a widow or with her husband who died in transit. Catherine did not travel in the ships that have records. Michael and Anna Maria's daughters died in transit. 
• Or Michael, Catherine and their son Michael and daughter-in-law Anna Maria are the four people who left for England in 1709. The two daughters died before their parents and grand parents left. Michael, the father, died in transit.

Both of these options appear to be contradicted by the New York Subsistence List as reported by Knittle. In 1710 Catherine, widow of Michael and son, Michael received provisions for two adults. In 1712, they received provisions for two adults and one child under 10. 

New York Marriage Reconstruction

 

Michael and Anna Maria may have married shortly before Johannes birth in New York.

• Anna Maria Hofman and Michael Peffer immigrated to New York separately: Michael with Micheal, Catherine and an unidentified sibling. Anna Maria with one of the Hoffman families. 
• Or Anna Maria Hofman is descended from an earlier German immigration and was born in New York or New Jersey. 

Michael, the father, would have died in transit; Catherine died sometime in 1710 - the first provision for Catherine and her son Michael, the last provision for Michael, Anna Maria and Johannes; Michael and Anna Maria are listed in the 1710 census. The unidentified sibling may have died in transit or shortly after arriving in the new world, or may show up as one of the witnesses in the baptismal records. For example, Michael Pfester [sic] is listed as a witness for Johannes and Maria Magaretha Planck's son's baptism. The families are clearly connected. We don't know if this is simply being part of the same community, or if they were neighbors in the old world, or if they have a family connection. Michael's unidentified sibling may be among the witnesses and sponsors in Church records.

Two Families Reconstruction

Michael Pfeffer, the son of Catherine and Michael Pfeffer, may not be the person who married Anna Maria Hofman. This might be a way to reconcile the contradictions in the other two models.

• In this reconstruction John Michael, Anna Maria and their two daughters went to England in 1709. Michael and Anna Maria's daughters died in transit. Michael and Ann Maria are not listed in the subsistence lists.
  
• Catherine and her son Michael traveled separately to London and are not in the ships lists. They show up in the subsistence lists. Catherine dies between the first subsistence list and the last. Michael marries and has a child. They are not listed in any other New York records possibly moving out of New York to another colony.

There are no concurrent records indicating two men, for example, the same name listed on census records from two different locations or the same name listed twice.

Notes and Sources

Primary sources are in the provincial records of  New York, the records of Rev. Joshua Kocherthal, the records of the British Colonial Office and the records of the Collegiate Church. I have been working with secondary sources that transcribe and/or translate the original Dutch, German, and English records. These sources are:

• Knittle, Walter Allen. Early eighteenth century Palatine emigration; a British government redemptioner project to manufacture naval stores. (Dorrance and Co. : Philadelphia), 1937. (https://archive.org/details/earlyeighteenthc00knit/mode/2up)
  
•  MacWethy, Lou D. The Book of Names, Especially Relating to the Early Palatines and the First Settlers in the Mohawk Valley. (Enterprise and News : St. Johnsonville, NY), 1933. (http://threerivershms.com/names.htm)
• O'Callaghan,Edmund Bailey. "List of the Palatins Remaining at New York, 1710", The Documentary History of the State of New-York. (Secretary of State : Albany), 1850. 563.
• Pelletreau, William H."Abstracts of Unrecorded Wills Prior to 1790 on File in the Surrogate's Office, City [i.e. County] of New York, 1665-1800," Collections of The New-York Historical Society, 35 (1902) 85-6.
• Dutch Reformed Church Records from New York and New Jersey. Holland Society of New York, New York, New York.  (available from Ancestry)
  

A History of Documents: Richard Bagley and Esther Puffer

There are three published sources that are publicly available that propose variations on the premise Richard Bagley and/or Esther Puffer are the parents of Edward Bagley:

Samuel Allin (1756-1841) Revolutionary War soldier of North Carolina and Kentucky: A record of his many descendants 1756 -1960. (ca 1960) - https://archive.org/details/samuelallin1756100alle/page/n0

Some Descendants of Richard Bagley and of his son Edward Bagley of New Brunswick and Salt Lake. (1973) - https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?from=fhd&dps_pid=IE223049

A lasting legacy : the Bagley family history since 1628. (1997) - https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?from=fhd&dps_pid=IE71740

Around 1960, the family history, Samuel Allin (1756-1841) Revolutionary War soldier of North Carolina and Kentucky: A record of his many descendants 1756 -1960, was published. It is well sourced. On page 227 there is an unsourced chart that connects Edward Bagley of  New Brunswick and Salt Lake through his father to Orlando Bagley back to Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism. The chart lists dates that match the family of  Richard Bagley of Amesbury. Edward's birthdate is given as 18 February 1815. This is the earliest document I can find that associates Edward Bagley with Richard Bagley of Amesbury and the first time any one proposed a maiden name for his mother. On this chart the name for Edward's mother is given as Esther Peffer. The following information is a pair of articles from Progressive Men in Southern Idaho, copied by Adihela H. Bagley. The rest of the information is largely drawn from family records of John Bagley and Hawley Bagley.

Norton Russell Bagley published a series of manuscripts about the Bagley family - Some Descendants of Richard Bagley and of his son Edward Bagley of New Brunswick and Salt Lake. (1973) and Some Descendants of Orlando Bagley, Vol 1-3. (1973, revised ca 1990)₁ Based on the introduction, research was conducted mostly by contacting individuals and asking for family relations. Norton stated in Descendants of Richard Bagley there was no Richard Bagley had dates that would match the father of Edward Bagley and identified Samuel Bagley of New Brunswick without identifying a relationship with Richard. He identified Amos Puffer's daughter Esther Puffer as the married wife of Richard Bagley and referenced the Puffer genealogy by Charles Nutt for dates.₂ He gives Edward the birth date of 18 Feb 1815, notes the opinion of John Bagley that his father was born in New York, and notes other accounts put him in Hartford, Connecticut.

Martha Bagley Halverson published A lasting legacy : the Bagley family history since 1628 in 1997. On page 39, she recounts the family story about Richard and Edward Bagley. She identifies Richard Bagley as Richard of Amesbury, states he was a sea captain, and identifies Esther Puffer - with the dates of Amos' daughter - as the mother of Edward Bagley. She gives Edward the birthdate of 18 February 1815. Halverson states "Their son, Edward, told his own children that his father was Richard Bagley and his mother was Esther Puffer." No sources are offered for this statement; this book is written in the style of an inspiring history. From the bibliography, Halverson lists the journals of John Bagley and Hawley Bagley and interviews with family members. Halverson states there was no marriage between Richard and Esther, which disagrees with Some Descendants of Richard Bagley.

Halverson used Norton Russell Bagley as a source, and is recounting the same family as Samuel Allin - the family of John Allen Bagley and Hawley Bagley - but does not include Samuel Allin in the bibliography. Halverson probably had access to most of the primary sources cited in Samuel Allin - the personal records of John Allen Bagley and Hawley Bagley, and did not feel a need to cite Samuel Allin, and may not have used it directly.

There is little consistent agreement between these accounts. The authors of these three works clearly agree on the assertion Edward Bagley was born in 1815. They are split on the birth place between Hartford and New York. There are no direct sources listed to check these claims.  Sources created during Edward's life time place his birth was either 1807 or 1810. The place given is "Old Hartford", Connecticut, or CT.  Early records of Edward's activities in New Brunswick favor an earlier birthdate.₃ Edward's children reported different locations for their father's birthplace: most reported Connecticut or New York in census records, though some listed other places.

Only two of the works claim Richard Bagley is Richard of Amesbury. Both use this to illustrate the claim of a family connection to Joseph Smith. Halverson relates the family story that Edward went with his father to New Brunswick in search of lumber. Edward's earlier birth puts Richard in question, and at least for Halverson, the mobility of a sea captain is necessary to account for how Richard and Esther met. Richard Bagley of Amesbury's probate records identifying him as a plater instead of sea captain raise additional questions that Halverson and the author of Samuel Allin correctly identified Edward's father. Halverson's correct statements about Richard's marriages and the admission there was no documented marriage indicates she was aware of the lack of external supporting records.

Only two of the works claim Esther Puffer, daughter of Amos Puffer, is the mother of Edward Bagley. The one that does not is the earliest Samuel Allin. It is likely the identification of Esther Bagley with the daughter of Amos Puffer came after 1960. Halverson claims there was no marriage, contradicting statements in Some Descendants of Richard Bagley. For Halverson, the assertion is dependent on the later birthdate in family records for Edward Bagley and Esther being present in Connecticut at the time of his birth. The other authors do not address the issue, making it likely Halverson was aware of questions regarding the relationship, while Norton Russell and the author of the chart in Samuel Allin were not.

Summary:

• Three published works propose a relationship between Edward Bagley and Richard Bagley of Amesbury and/or Esther Puffer of Jamaica
• Two document the relationship between Edward and Richard to illustrate a connection between Edward Bagley and Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism
• None of the authors for various reasons gave sources for the claims
• In cases where sources were cited, the sources do not establish a clear relationship between Edward Bagley and either individual named as his parents

Updated 4 April 2019 to correct typos and grammatical errors.

¹In the three volumes of Some Descendants of Orlando Bagley,  Norton Russell Bagley documented other family lines - the first two dedicated to documenting the lines that could be tied to Orlando and the third volume to those which could not.
²Nutt does not contain any reference to a marriage between Esther Puffer and Richard Bagley.
³Edward first bought land from John Grant in 1832 and is a witness for George Grant's marriage in 1833. These are activities that are usually activities that require a legal majority to be valid. This means Edward would have needed to pass for 21 in 1832. See Legal Age | Bob;s Genealogy Cabinet (http://www.genfiles.com/articles/legal-age/) for a general discussion of the age of majority in the British colonies including additional resources.