LACEY Family of Delaware from 1703 Family Sketches: William Baggs Lacey (~1740 - 1773)

 LACEY Family of Delaware from 1703    

Family Sketches: William Baggs Lacey (~1740 - 1773)

                                        William Baggs³ (Robert², John¹) Lacey

William Baggs³ (or Boggs) Lacey, son of Robert² Lacey, was born about 1740. He died before 27 February 1773 when letters of Administration were granted to his wife Betty Lacey. [1] He married Elizabeth (Betty) Harris, daughter of Abraham Harris and Director Dickenson, born 22 May 1754 in Maryland. [2] Elizabeth Harris Lacey married (2) Stephen Mitchell about 1783. [3] She is mentioned in her father’s will as Elizabeth Mitchell (will of Abraham Harris, Sussex Co. Wills Liber E-5 p. 197. 26 June 1798).

 

William Baggs³ Lacey and his wife Betty had one child:

            i.  Director⁴ (born before 1774). Her grandfather Abraham HARRIS was appointed guardian in 1779. [4]  Director⁴ Lacey was lame and unable to take care of herself. [5] No further records.

Upon his father’s death in 1753, William Baggs³ Lacey received 200 acres of land called “Crucked Tract." [5] The name “Baggs” is undoubtedly a family name. According to the inventory of Robert² Lacey’s estate on 12 March 1754 (Orphans’ Court Liber 3 1751-1760, folio 51) William Bagg [sic] Lacey received payment “on present from his uncle Bagg." [7]

The name Bagg[s] or Bogg[s] appears connected with the PARKER family of Virginia. Evidence comes from a will of John Parker of Accomack County, Virginia, 1 January 1755 where he mentions a daughter Ann Lacey (likely wife of John³ Lacey) and another daughter Rachel Bogs (or Bags). [Accomack Wills 1752-1757, p. 261]. There is also a Baggs family in nearby Maryland. Alternatively, the name could refer to the Bagwell family, also in Maryland and Sussex County, Delaware.

After William Baggs³ Lacey’s death, his widow, Betty Lacey and administratrix of his estate, on 28 May 1774, petitioned the Orphans Court of Sussex County to sell his land “being in the County afsd containing by estimation two hundred acres be the same more or less called & known by the name of the ‘Crooked Tract’.” Her claim was that “the said intestate  died considerably indebted to sundry persons for the discharge inventory of the said personal estate and also by the List of  debts due and owing by the said intestate herewith which so far as has already come to your Petitioner’s knowledge.” Betty Lacey wanted a ruling to sell the land “for the payment of the said intestate’s debts and also for the support and maintenance of the said intestate’s child and your Petion^r. [8]

From the original documents, Betty Lacey signed her own name. The Court granted the Order and for Betty Lacey to report the sale of the land to the Court.

As shown in the Orphans Court proceedings of 7 May 1783, Betty Lacey evidently did sell the land called “Cruked Tract” for £50.[9] The land was likely sold to William Baggs³

Lacey’s brother, John³ Lacey, because in 1776 that land was surveyed as part of the estate of John³ Lacey:

On 19 March 1776, 100 acres of land of John³ Lacey was surveyed on the south side of the head of Indian River between Morris’s Mill and the old Cow Bridge including improvements. [10]  This land was re-surveyed 20 March 1776 at the request of John³ Lacey because of an error in the survey of 19 March 1776: Warrants Book C, p. 515-517. [11]

This land is called “Crooked Tract,” which is the same name as the land bequeathed to William Baggs³ Lacey (his brother) by Robert² Lacey by his will of 1753. John³ Lacey, brother of William Baggs³ Lacey, may have ended up with some of Crooked Tract land after William Baggs³ Lacey died in 1774 when his wife Betty wanted to sell lands to pay his debts.

 On 4 August 1779, Abraham Harris, guardian of Director⁴ Lacey, daughter of William Baggs³ Lacey,  asks the Orphans Court to appoint three freeholders to value the land of Director⁴ Lacey (presumably she inherited land when her father died). They valued the land at 40 pounds and noted that there were no structures on the land. Apparently, this land is not the same as the 200-acre “Crooked Tract” parcel that William Baggs³ Lacey inherited from his father. [12]

On 15 June 1783, Stephen Mitchell and his wife Betty (late Betty Lacey) administrators of the estate of William Baggs³ Lacey sell 100 acres of land for £99 called Hogg Quarter in Broadkill Hundred, granted by various conveyances to “Wm Baggs Lacey who died leaving a widow (now Betty Mitchell, adminx) & 1 lame child called Director.” The Orphans Court permits them to sell land (the small part of the whole tract) for maintenance of crippled child & settlement of debts, excepting 1/3 for the widow’s dower. [13]

References 

[1] Delaware, Sussex County, probate records : estate case files, 1680-1925, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2778558 : accessed 7 July 2021), Folder RG4840.009, William Baggs Lacey, (dec’d) 1773-1783; Delaware, Sussex County, probate records; Case files, Kunsman, John M. - Lank, Levin, RG4545.009, roll 140, 1680-1925; Delaware. Orphans Court, Sussex County, Delaware Public Archives. [Original]; DGS: 104373237; images 221-230.

[2] Coventry parish, Somerset, Maryland computer printout; births or christenings, 1736-1828, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/464995 : accessed 27 August 2021) Betty Harris Birth, 22 May 1754; Coventry Parish Births 1736-1828, image 351.

[3] Delaware, Sussex County, probate records : estate case files, 1700-1956, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2778558 : accessed 7 July 2021), Folder RG4840.009, William Baggs Lacey, (dec’d) 1774-1784, #6; Delaware, Sussex County, probate records; Case files, Colic, A. - Lafferty, Wm., ca. 1 Jan 1700–31 Dec 1956; Delaware. Orphans Court, Sussex County, Delaware Public Archives. [Original]; DGS: 104017941; images 522-523. Stephen Mitchell and his wife, the late Bettty Lacey widow of William Baggs Lacey petition the Orphans Court to sell land of Wm Baggs Lacey.

[4] Sussex County, Delaware, Orphans' Court records, Liber B #2, p. 283, 290, 368. On 3 August 1779 Abraham Harris was appointed guardian to "Pircilla Lacey," daughter of Wm Baggs Lacey. Her name is also referred to as "Director" or “Directa,” which was the name of Betty Harris' mother.

 [5] Sussex County, Delaware Deed Book N #13 p. 9. In a deed dated 15 June 1783, Stephen Mitchell and Betty his wife (late Betty LACEY) adminrs of Wm Baggs LACEY, states that Wm Baggs Lacey died intestate and left widow Betty and one lame child named Director.

 [6] Sussex County, Delaware Register of Wills, Will of Robert Lacey, Liber B, folios 59-61, “I Give and bequeath unto my Son William Baggs Lacey a Parcel of Land Called Crucked Tract being Two Hundred Acres more or less.”

 [7] Skinner, V.L. Abstracts of the Proceedings of the Orphans' Court of Sussex County, Delaware, Libers 1,2,3,4,A; 1708-1709; 1728-1777, Willow Bend Books, Westminster, MD, 2000., p.75. Orig, Liber 3, folio 51.

[8] Delaware, Sussex County, probate records : estate case files, 1700-1956, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2778558 : accessed 7 July 2021), Folder RG4840.009, William Baggs Lacey, (dec’d) 1774-1784, #6; Delaware, Sussex County, probate records; Case files, Kollock, A. - Lafferty, Wm., ca. 1 Jan 1700–31 Dec 1956; Delaware. Orphans Court, Sussex County, Delaware Public Archives. [Original]; images 518-519.

 [9] Delaware, Sussex County, Orphans Court Records from 1784-1797, Volume D&E, RG4840, 7 May 1783, Volume D. p. 88, CD, Delaware Genealogical Society, Wilmington, Delaware, 2004; citing Delaware State Archives, Dover, Delaware. Original documents in Delaware, Sussex County, probate records : estate case files, 1700-1956, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2778558 : accessed 7 July 2021), Folder RG4840.009, William Baggs Lacey, (dec’d) 1774-1784, #6; Delaware, Sussex County, probate records; Case files, Colic, A. - Lafferty, Wm., ca. 1 Jan 1700–31 Dec 1956; Delaware. Orphans Court, Sussex County, Delaware Public Archives. [Original]; DGS: 104017941; images 522-523.

 [10] Land warrants and surveys of Sussex County, Delaware, books A1-W6, browsable images (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/50154 : accessed 4 August 2021), Survey of John Lacey Land, 19 March 1776, Book L1-32, p.517-518.  

 [11] Ibid. This land was re-surveyed 20 March 1776 at the request of John Lacey because of an error in the survey of 19 March 1776: Warrants Book C, p. 515-517. 

 [12] Delaware, Sussex County, Orphans Court Records from 1784-1797, Volume B, RG4840, 3 August 1779, p. 283, 290, 368, CD, Delaware Genealogical Society, Wilimington, Delaware, 2004; citing Delaware State Archives, Dover, Delaware.

 [13] Sussex County, Delaware Deed records, 1693-1886, browsable images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/296734 : accessed 1 August 2021) Stephen Mitchell and Betty Lacey Mitchell to Robert Watson McCalley, Deed Book N #13, pp. 93. The court deed record image is unreadable but is abstracted in Elaine Hastings Mason & F. Edward Wright, Land records of Sussex County, Delaware 1782-1789, Deed Book N No. 13 (Willow Bend Books, Westminster, Maryland, 2002), p. 13.

 

    

LACEY Family of Delaware from 1703 Family Sketches: Parker Lacey (~1740 - ?)

 LACEY Family of Delaware from 1703  

Family Sketches: Parker Lacey (~1740 - ?)

                                            Parker³ (Robert² John¹) Lacey

 

There are few records for Parker³ Lacey in the Sussex County records. The name Parker could be a family name, so speculation is that the maiden name of Parker Lacey’s mother, Bridget, was indeed Parker.  The name could also be a reference to Anderson Parker who married his grandmother, Sarah (Burton) Lacey Prettyman in 1731 and her third husband [1] Anderson Parker was apparently a close acquaintance of Robert² Lacey, as Robert² Lacey stipulates in his will that his son Robert³ Lacey is to learn a trade from Anderson Parker. [2]

 

Parker³ Lacey was probably born about 1740 based on his possible age at the time of the 1753 will of his father, Robert² Lacey, where he inherited the land called “Mount Joy." [3]

However, the will stipulated that if Parker died without a male heir the land would be returned to son his Robert³ Lacey. Evidently, Parker³ Lacey was either married and had no male children or he was not yet married at the time of his father’s death. However, there are no known marriage records or children of Parker³ Lacey.

Parker³ Lacey later sold “Mount Joy. [4] On 2 November 1756, he Parker Lacey sells 160 3/4 acres of land called ‘Mount Joy,’ which he received from his father, Robert² Lacey in his will of 1753, for £30 to Joseph Warrington. Witnesses are Paul and Thomas Waples. There are apparently no other land transactions of Parker³ Lacey in Sussex County.

 

Parker³ Lacey does appear in the Orphan’s Court Liber 3 1751-1760 (11 March 1755) folio 78 on the settlement of accounts of Henry Lingo. [5] Parker³ Lacey appears on the 1782 Tax List for Indian River & Angola Hundred and is assessed £3 and on the Indian River Hundred, Sussex County, Tax List of 1785. [6] He does not appear in the 1790 census or in any other records after 1785 in Delaware. There are no probate records, so possibly he left the Sussex County area.

 

A Parker Lacey appears in the 1790 census in Pitt County, North Carolina with 3 white males and 1 white female. A Parker Lacey also appears in the 1800 census for Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina with 11 persons, but the age of the oldest male (26-44) does not correspond to the likely age of Parker Lacey of Sussex County.

 

References

[1] Hatcher, Patricia, Law. Were the Daughters of Robert Burton of Sussex County, Delaware, Really the Daughters of Comfort (Bagwell) Leatherbury? TAG, October 2000, pp250-266.

[2] Sussex County, Delaware Register of Wills, Will of Robert Lacey, Liber B, folios 59-61. “…and also I devise that he may be Bound Out to Anderson Parker to Learn his Trade…”

[3] Sussex County, Delaware Register of Wills, Will of Robert Lacey, Liber B, folios 59-61. “….I give an bequeath to my Son Parker Lacey a Certain parcell of Land Called Mount Joy Divided from the above said John Laceys Land by the before cited Old Indian River road to him his Heirs….if he Should Dye without Male Heir, the Land to return to my Son Rob^t Lacey…”.

[4]  Sussex County, Delaware Deed records, 1693-1886, browsable images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/296734 : accessed 1 August 2021) Parker Lacey to Joseph Warrington, 2 November 1756, Deed Book I, #9, pp. 137.

[5] Skinner, V.L. Abstracts of the Proceedings of the Orphans' Court of Sussex County, Delaware, Libers 1,2,3,4,A; 1708-1709; 1728-1777, Willow Bend Books, Westminster, MD, 2000., p.81.; Orig Liber 3, folio 78, 1755.

[6] Ralph D. Nelson, Jr., et al., eds. Delaware - 1782 Tax Assessment and Census List, 2nd ed., Delaware Genealogical Society, 2002.; Sussex Co., Indian River & Angola Hundred; assessed £3; J. Thomas Scharf, “History of Delaware, 1609-1888, (Philadelphia, L.J. Richards and Co: 1888), Volume 2, Tax List of 1785, Indian River Hundred, Sussex County, p. 1271.

 

 

 

My Favorite Find: The Probate of Bernard Brady of Greenwich, Connecticut, 1894

 

My Favorite Find: The Probate of Bernard Brady of Greenwich, Connecticut, 1894

 

My mom’s cousin had a family Bible, which was owned by her grandmother, Mary Doris McDonagh. In it, she just recorded deaths in the family. On entry was the death of a Bernard Brady: “Bernard Brady died April 8^th, 1894.” [1]  

 

 

My mom and I did not know who he was, but assumed that he was related to her Doris family. Many years later, when records became digitized, I came across a probate record on Ancestry for a Bernard Brady of Greenwich in 1894. I had almost forgotten about him. He died intestate and had no children; the whole probate packet was digitized and what a treasure!  Not only were we wrong that he was of the Doris family (he was of the McDonagh family), but his probate listed a number of family members that we had no idea about and even provided where his sister was still living in Ireland. [2]

 

The probate record for Bernard Brady provided confirmation and identity of various relatives of the McDonough family living in Greenwich indicating that a number of related families travelled to, and settled in, Greenwich since before 1860. The probate record identified not only McDonough relationships (and providing the residence in Ireland of the family), but also allied and collateral families: Duffy, Smith, Doran, McGlynn, O’Donnell, and others.  The probate record identifies Bernard Brady as the brother of Eliza Brady (my g.g..grandmother), wife of John McDonough (my g.g.grandfather)  and mother of Frank (my g.grandfather), James, John (not mentioned in the probate), and Annie McDonough and that Eliza was still living in Ballinalee, Co. Longford, Ireland at the time of the probate. No children of Bernard Brady are recorded in the probate record corroborating the census enumerations that Bernard and Bridget did not have any children (or at least none that survived).

 

Probate of Bernard Brady of Greenwich, CT

An analysis of the various names in the Doris Bible revealed much circumstantial evidence of the Irish origins of the McDonough and Doris families. However, it wasn’t until the discovery of the probate record of Bernard Brady (his death written in the Doris Bible record has having died 8 April 1894) that confirmed the Irish origin of the McDonough family and the connection between various collateral families. The Estate of Bernard Brady dated 8 September 1894, Volume 16, page 352, probated in Hartford, CT (Probate Estate Files, 1881-1915; Connecticut State Library, Hartford, CT) clearly identifies the relationships of the Duffy, Brady, McGlynn, Smith, O’Donnell and McDonough families.

 

Bernard Brady of Greenwich, CT, died 8 April 1894 (confirming the date in the Doris Bible) at or about age 68 and having a real estate valued at approximately $1,200 and personal property valued at approximately $200.

The probate record attests that “according to her [i.e. widow Bridget Brown Brady] best belief and knowledge, the below named are the only persons interested in said estate and in the settlement thereof, viz:” [highlighted notes are annotations of the record].

• “Bridget Brady, widow of Greenwich”, Connecticut. [In 1894, Bridget is Bridget Brown, 2^nd wife of Bernard. His first wife was Bridget Doran, having died 7 April 1881 in Greenwich]. The Doran family is mentioned in the Doris Bible and the extended Doran family were neighbors of the McDonough’s in Greenwich and Bernard Brady.
• “Annie McSweeney, Niece” [Annie McDonough, sister of Frank McDonough, married to Eugene McSweeney]
• “Francis McDonough” [husband of Mary Doris and my g.grandfather]
• “James McDonough “[brother of Frank McDonough. Note: there is no mention of brother John McDonough that was mentioned in the Doris Bible].

 

[Note: the record says the following about the above three: “children of Eliza Brady. Eliza Brady living and wife of John McDonough, Balinilee [sic], County Longford, Ireland”]

[Note: The record parenthetically states: “Children of John Duffy & Mary Brady his wife, Sister of deceased”.] These are all first cousins to Frank McDonough.

• “Bridget Duffy” [later wife of Peter Donohue]
• “Sarah Smith wife of W.J. Smith” [Sarah Jane Duffy, sister of Bridget]
• “Mary Duffy wife of [not mentioned] named [sic?] in Scotland” [wife of John McGlynn: note this family was known to have been residing in Scotland prior to 1896].
• “Edward Duffy married and living in England” [since 1881, was living in Lancashire, England; his son Lawrence Joseph Duffy, born 1889 in England, came to the U.S. and lived with his Aunt Bridget Duffy Donohue].
• “Annie Duffy named in Edgerton, Ireland” [married to Bernard Masterson, deceased and living with the McGlynn family in Greenwich].
• “Jane Duffy “Deceased” in Ireland”
• “Patrick Duffy married and living in England”
• “Michael Duffy married and living in England”

 

The probate further attests to the administration and distribution of settlement to:

“1^st: Bridget Brady, widow of deceased”

“2^nd: John Doherty – Son of Ellen O’Donnell, who was a daughter of Bridget Brady O’Donnell, a sister of the deceased”

“3^rd: John O’Donnell…………..Children of Michael O’Donnell, son of Bridget Brady

        James O’Donnell                O’Donnell, a sister of the deceased

        Mary O’Donnell

        Lizzie O’Donnell

        Bridget O”Donnell”

“4^th: James McDonough ……………Children of Eliza Brady, a sister of the deceased

       Annie McDonough McSweeney”        

“5^th: Sarah Duffy Smith…………Child of Mary Brady Duffy, a sister of the deceased”

“6^th: Bartholomew Brady……     Brother of deceased supposed to be dead leaving          issue some  where [sic] in this Country, there [sic] whereabouts  of same are not known, and they have never been heard from.”

 

In conclusion, the probate record of Bernard Brady, brother of Eliza Brady McDonough (and uncle of Frank McDonough) clearly establishes the relationship between the Brady, Smith, and Duffy families mentioned in the Mary Doris Bible and confirms the origin of the McDonough family as in Clonbroney Parish, County Longford, Ireland

References

[1] The Holy Bible. New York: Thomas Kelly, 1880. ‘Deaths,” Bernard Brady (1894); copy privately held by Gene R. Major (Original in Ruttkamp/O’Connor family).

[2] Connecticut Wills and Probate Records, 1609-1999,” database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9049/ : accessed 1 January 2020), Estate Files, Barnes-Brown, E.; Estate of Bernard Brady, 8 September 1894, Volume 16, page 352; citied in Probate Estate Files, 1881-1915; Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut.