Special Note: This month’s article is by guest author, Orlan Smith
Previously I told how two sides of my family the Sargent and Smith who lived in the Boston area in the 1630s came together over three hundred years later in Aroostook County Maine.
The Sargents moved up through New Hampshire to central Maine to Bridgewater. The Smith side moved up along the coast to Woolwich then Grand Manan Island to New Brunswick, Canada. Then one of the Smith my grandfather moved to Presque Isle where my dad met my mother from Bridgewater to make the connection again.
That was about the old times, now I want to talk about something very interesting about my family today and a new connection I did not see coming.
Last year my nephew asked me if I could find some information on his father’s side namely the Bagley family from Mapleton. Last spring I had time and with the help of a friend, we started to take the Bagley’s back in time. I was surprised that they have been in the county since the 1830s and came up from the Orono area.
It did not take long before we arrived back in the Boston area in 1650 when the name Orlando Bagley Jr. came up a light lit up in my head. My nephew’s 13th great, grandfather married Sarah Sargent daughter of William Sargent my 10th great, grandfather. As I told my nephew and his daughter I am not only your uncle I am also your cousin too.
If that was not enough there is more. The Bagleys are related to the Hughes family in Mapleton. My brother is married to one of the Hughes from Mapleton so I looked into that family and found Gretchen’s fourth great grandmother Martha Smith was a sister to James Smith from Woolwich, Me. or Aaron’s Aunt.
When I called my brother and told him how we are cousins to the Bagley’s he found that interesting. Then I told him what I found about the Hughes family, I said look at your wife and say hello to your cousin. They got a big laugh over that. Who said genealogy is dull and boring.
