BAGBY-L Archives
Archiver > BAGBY > 2002-11 > 1036682101
From:
Subject: [BAGBY] Edmund Bagby of Gwinnett Co. & Albert of Pulaski Co., GA
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2002 10:15:01 EST
In my earlier post regarding Edmund Bagby (1787-1843) of Wilkes & Surry
Counties, NC and Gwinnett County, Georgia, who married Ann Martin in 1808 in
Wilkes County, NC, I stated:
I have no idea where John Bagby came up with the name of Edmund for his son
and heir. It may have been from his wife's side, as the name is otherwise
rare among Bagbys.
Sherri has, in her most recent post, noted that William Simms Bagby of
Campbell County, Virginia, named a son Edmond Johnson Bagby. I was, of
course, aware of this individual. However, he was born about 1815, assuming
normal spacing and that the children in this family are given in order of age
on Sherri's website. Certainly he was born no earlier than 1803, when his
parents were married. Thus, the subject Edmund Bagby (1787-1843) could not
possibly have been named for Edmond Johnson Bagby.
The same goes for Edmond W. Bagby, born about 1820, son of John & Mary Bagby.
This particular John Bagby was just a year older than the subject Edmund
Bagby who married Anne Martin. They were undoubtedly first cousins and very
close. As I mentioned in an earlier post, on the 1810 census of Surry
county, NC, Edmund, as a newlywed, is living immediately next door to this
John's father William "Davis" Bagby. Thus, it is not surprising that John
Bagby (b. 1786) named a son for his cousin Edmund Bagby -- not the other way
around.
Going back to the William Simms Bagby family, Sherri observes as follows:
Albert Gaiten Bagby who was born unknown, but died in Hawkinsville, Georgia.
He is a brother to Edmond Johnson Bagby which also makes him a son of William
Semmes Bagby and Elizabeth Johnson.
Edmond Johnson Bagby had another brother named Benjamin Bagby.
The subject Edmund Bagby (1787-1843) also had a son Benjamin. From that, she
concludes that Edmund Bagby might not have been a son of Rev. war veteran
John Bagby (1757-1837).
My question is -- WHY?
We have abundant evidence relating to the people Edmund Bagby (1787-1843) was
actually close to. It can be of comparatively no significance whatsoever
that an Edmond Bagby in the next generation happened to have a brother who
went to a completely different part of Georgia. (Hawkinsville is well over a
hundred miles from Gwinnett County where Edmund and his father John Bagby
lived and died.)
As for the brother Benjamin, that's surely attributable to sheer coincidence.
There are a total of 21 given names among the children of William Simms
Bagby and Elizabeth Johnson. It's no great wonder that two of the 21 happen
to match two of the given names in the Gwinnett County family.
As I had noted, Benjamin Bagby of Gwinnett County, Georgia clearly was named
for his maternal grandfather Benjamin Martin. It is not reasonable to reject
the idea that Anne (Martin) Bagby chose not to honor her son by giving him
her father's name, and instead conjure that Benjamin might have been named
for -- at the closest -- a third cousin back in Virginia who probably had not
even been born yet.
In short, Edmund's parentage is very clear. What is not clear at all is who
his grandfather Bagby way. Perhaps what Sherri is really suggesting is that
William Bagby (1750-1806), the father of William Simms Bagby -- and the one I
call "Will Begbie" from his marriage record in 1770 to Drusilla Sims / Semmes
-- may have been a close relative of John Bagby (1757-1837) and his brother
William "Davis" Bagby (c. 1759-c.1819). If so, I would not disagree. Will
Begbie and Drusilla were both from Hanover County, Virginia at the time of
their marriage, and we know from the pension application of John Bagby
(1757-1837) that he was born in that county as well.
If John and William "Davis" Bagby were, say, first cousins of Will Begbie,
it's conceivable that they could have kept up an acquaintance even though
they lived in separate states from at least the start of the revolution. In
this regard, I note that the very unusual given name of Abner Bagby is found
only in the line of William "Davis" Bagby (namely his oldest son from his
second marriage), and, evidently, as a son of the elusive Matthew Simms Bagby
(another son of Will Begbie & Drusilla) of Campbell & Prince Edward Counties,
Virginia.
While it is clear from the Cumberland County deed records that Will Begbie's
father was Robert Bagby Sr., we have very few clues about the father of
William "Davis" Bagby and John Bagby. At this moment, I feel that probably
the best of these few shreds is the family tradition in the line of Abner
Bagby of Surry/Yadkin Co., NC, reported by Susan Gall, that the father of
William "Davis" Bagby was one Isaac Bagby -- coupled with the NC archive
record that an Isaac Bagby died in the Revolution and an award of land was
made to his heirs on that account.
In short, I'm holding open the possiblity that this Isaac Bagby was not only
the father of John and William "Davis" Bagby, but that he was also an older
brother of Will Begbie.
Barry Wood
This thread: