Connections: Bagwell & Beyond

Bagwell & Beyond chart thumbnail

Previously, I wrote about the connection between the Scoggins and Bagwell families. I also wrote about a connection to the Ogletree family that made a more-than-a-decade-long friend into a step-cousin! But since I love to sniff out those crazy and interesting connections everywhere, the story doesn’t end there. In a different branch of my step-cousin Terry’s tree, I noticed one of his grandmothers was a Bagwell. I knew about the other Bagwells in my tree, and saw that Terry’s Bagwell ancestors were also from Georgia. If it were a name like Jones or Smith, I wouldn’t think too much of it–those names are much too common. Bagwell, however, is not an everyday surname.

I traced the lines, moving along the tree branches, looking for a connection. It turns out that Terry’s Bagwell line goes back to a gentleman named Daniel Bagwell. Daniel Bagwell was born in Ireland and died in Wake County, North Carolina, in about 1802 (Ancestry.com, Sons). My friend Terry descends through Daniel’s son John Daniel Bagwell (1761-1855). My great grand aunt Addie Bagwell (from my previous Bagwell post) descends through John Daniel’s brother William Bagwell (1757-1848).

John Daniel Bagwell (1761-1855) was a Revolutionary War patriot born in North Carolina. He died in Gwinnett County, Georgia (Ancestroy.com, Sons). John’s son Henson also came to Georgia and was counted there in Gwinnett County by 1830. By 1850, he was in Hall County. He died in about 1887 (Bagwell). Henson’s son Wiley (1861-?) migrated to Alabama, and Terry’s line ultimately descends there.

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Connections: Ogletree, Phillips, and Hackney Families

Most of my posts here on Jordan’s Journey have centered around the Armuchee Valley area of Walker and Chattooga Counties. This is because three out of four of my grandparents are deeply rooted there (it’s also where I grew up). My other grandfather–Earl Jordan–is rooted in Whitfield County and has a slightly different history. I have not touched as much on these lines because I don’t know as much about them–and the interesting connections don’t come up as often since those lines are more segregated from the other three major branches of my tree.

But there are still some exciting connections to explore. So, I’m going to look at one of those today.

If I follow the Jordan line back a few generations, James William Jordan married Mary Jane Evans (my 2nd great grandparents). Mary Jane’s mother was Charity Hackney, my 3rd great-grandmother and daughter of Joseph P. Hackney and Mary “Polly” Phillips (my 4th great-grandparents). Mary “Polly” was the daughter of William Phillips and Piety (maiden surname unknown).

Now, we’ve moved beyond Whitfield County into Wilkes County. This is where William Phillips died in about 1795. He was only 24 at the time. His and Piety’s daughter Mary “Polly” would have been just a baby at the time of his death. Piety and John Ogletree–apparently a family friend and possibly neighbor–were named as the administrators of the William Phillips estate. Sometime after her husband’s death, Piety even married John Ogletree, making John step-father to Mary “Polly”. Given that Polly was just a baby then, she would have had no memory of her biological father (Davidson; Kiser).

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