The Name and Family of BAUGH


A Baugh Family History

The Name and Family of BAUGH

Original author and date unknown

The name of BAUGH is said to be of Scotch derivation and to mean "bad or indifferent". Some writers maintain that it was first used as a nickname, having reference to the character of its original bearer, but others hold to the opinion that it was taken by its first bearers from their residence in a place of that name. It is found on ancient records in the various forms of Bawe, Baw, Bawff, Bawf, Baffe, Bauffe, Bauff, Bauf, Baff, Baughe, Baugh, and others, of which the last is the spelling most generally accepted in America today.

Families bearing this name were to be found at early dates in various parts of Scotland and England, including the Counties of Gloucester, Oxford, Worcester, Northampton, Essex, Salop (Shropshire), and Wilts, as well as in the city and vicinity of London. Those fami1ies were, for the most part, of the landed gentry and yeomanry of the British Isles.

One of the ear1iest lines of the family in Great Britain is that descended from Edward Baugh, of Twining, in Gloucestershire, daughter of John Stratford, and was the father by her of Rowland, Thomas, Robert, William, Anne, and another daughter, whose Christian name is not known. Of these, the first son, Rowland, was the father by his wife Mary, daughter of John Crooker, of Edward, Margarett or Margaret, Mary, Allice or Alice, Rowland, Thomas, Stephen, Richard, John, and William.

Edward, eldest of the last-mentioned brothers, married Constance, daughter of Thomas Folliott or Folett, of Worcestershire, and was the father by her of Mary, Alice, and possibly of other children as well.

Rowland, son of the before-mentioned Rowland and Mary, made his home in Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire and married Judith, daughter of Richard Allison or Allanson. The issue of this marriage were Richard, Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, Anne, Rowland, and Edward. Of these, Richard resided at Twining, in Gloucestershire, and left issue there by his wife Alice, daughter of John Roberts, of three daughters, Judith, Mary, and Elizabeth; Rowland died unmarried; and Edward settled at Rumford, County Essex, and was the father about the middle of the seventeenth century of Edward, Richard, John, Anne, Margaret, and another daughter, whose name is not certain.

Thomas, son of the before-mentioned Rowland and Mary, married Dorothy, daughter of John Gower, of Worcestershire, and left several children, but their names are not in evidence.

John, son of the before-mentioned Rowland and Mary, had issue by his wife Ellenor or Eleanor, daughter of Thomas Copley, of Thomas, Rowland, and three daughters, whose names are not known.

William [----indecipherable----] of the before-mentioned Rowland and Mary, married Mary Wakeman, who gave him four children, Edward, William, John, and Anne.

Thomas Baugh, second son of the first Edward Baugh, of Gloucestershire, and younger brother of Rowland, of that place, made his home at Pensam, in Worcestershire, where he left issue by his wife Elizabeth of Edward, Thomas, Jane, Mary, Dorothy, Elizabeth, and Margaret.

Edward, elder son of Thomas and Elizabeth, married Mary, daughter of Leonard Jeffreys, and had issue by her of Thomas, Mary, Edmund, Elizabeth, and Grace, of whom the son Edmund was the father by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Phillip Parsons, of Thomas, Richard, Edward, Mary, Anne, Susan, Elizabeth, and several other children, who died young.

Thomas, younger son of Thomas and Elizabeth, married Anne, daughter of Richard Atwood, had issue by her of Elizabeth, Thomas, and John. Of these, Thomas was the father by his wife, Elizabeth Lench, of John, William, Edward, George, and Penelope; while John was twice married, first to Esther, daughter of Peter Canon, of London, and later to Mary, daughter of Edward Baugh, of Gloucestershire, but probably had no issue.

Robert Baugh, son of the first Edward of Gloucestershire, remained in that county and married Alice, daughter of Richard Yerworth, and was the father by her of Richard, Rowland, and Elinor; and William, son of the first Edward of Gloucestershire, left issue by his wife Jane of two children, Margaret and John.

About the middle of the sixteenth century one John Baugh was living in Shropshire, England. By his wife Joane, daughter of John Dale, he was the father of Thomas, William, Richard, and possibly others. Of these, the first son, Thomas, married Dorothey, daughter of George Parkes, and had issue by her of Henry, William, and Thomas, of whom the first had issue in the early seventeenth century by his wife Alice, daughter of Francis Holland, of at least five children, Thomas, John, Rowland, Marye, and Margarett.

One William Baugh, who was a descendant of this last-mentioned line of the family, was married in 1728 to Agnes, daughter of Thomas Botevyle or Botfield, a descendant of the noted family of that name in Shropshire and Wiltshire. Their children were Mary, Margaret, Agnes, William, Beriah, Richard, Thomas, and Joseph.

Although it is not definitely known in every case from which of the many branches of the family in the British Isles the first emigrants of the name to America traced their descent, it is generally believed that most, if not all, of the Baughs in this country derive from a common European ancestor of a remote period.

The first of the family in America was Thomas Baugh, who was living in West and Shirley Hundred, Henrico County, Va., as early as 1623, if not before. No definite records have been found, however, concerning his immediate family or descendants.

Sometime before 1638 two brothers, John and William Baugh, resided in Henrico County, Va. It is probable that they were closely related to the before-mentioned immigrant Thomas. Of these, John Baugh, "planter", served as a burgess in 1641 and in 1644, but the names of his children, if any, are not known.

William Baugh, brother of the immigrant John, was a justice of Henrico County as early as 1656, and frequently thereafter. He was the father of William, John, James, and possibly of others, from whom it is believed are descended the greatest number of the Baugh families of the United States.

The elder William Baugh mentioned in his will, dated 1687, and in various deeds, of earlier dates, his grandchildren, John, Katherine, Mary, Priscilla, and William, of whom the last three were children of William Jr.

One Richard Baugh, who was born in Chesterfield County, Va., about 1733, and probably before is another descendant of the before-mentioned Henrico County family of the name, although the exact connection is not in evidence. He married Margaret Jones and was the father by her of Dorothy, Jane, Elizabeth, Richard, and Archibald.

The progeny of these and later branches of the family in America have spread to nearly every part of the country and have contributed as much to the rise and expansion of the nation as their forbears did to its founding. They have been described by students of the family history as a keen-minded, resourceful, intellectual, and courageous race, possessed in many cases of considerable literary ability.

Among those of the name who fought in the War of the Revolution were Privates William and Alexander Baugh, Ensign Robert Baugh, and Captain Richard Baugh, of Virginia, as well as possibly other from the various States of that period.

Rowland or Roland, Thomas, John, Edward, Richard, Joseph, Robert, James, Henry, and William are some of the Christian names most favored by the family and its male progeny.

A few [---indecipherable---] many members of the family who have distinguished themselves in America in more recent times are:
Daniel Baugh (b. 1836), of Pennsylvania, manufacturer and financier.
Reuban P. Baugh (b. 1928), American editor.
Frederick Henry Baugh (b. 1879), of Maryland, economist and author.
Albert Croll Baugh (b. 1891), of New York, editor and compiler.
Ruth Emily Baugh (b. 1889), of California, editor.
Herbert J. Baugh (early twentieth century) of Illinois, poet.
Lila Baugh (early twentieth century), of Illinois, educator and author.
The coat of arms of the ancient and honorable Scotch and English family of Baugh is that described as follows (Burke, General Armory, 1884):
Arms.-"Gules, a fesse (or fess) vair between three mullets argent."
Crest.-"On a ducal coronet or, a talbot sejant sable."

BIBILIOGRAPHY
    Lower. Patronymica Britannica, Dictionary of Family Names. 1860.
    Metcalfe. Visitations of Worcestershire. 1883.
    Phillipps. Visitations of Oxford. 184-.
    Harleian Society. Gloucestershire Visitations. 1895.
    Harleian Society. Oxfordshire Visitations. 1871.
    Harleian Society. Visitation of Worcester. 1888.
    Harleian Society. Shropshire Visitation. 1889.
    Botfield. Stemmata Botevilliana. 1856.
    William and Mary Quarterly. Vol. 24. 1915-1916.
    Tyler. Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. Vol. 1. 1915.
    Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Vols. 7, 13, and 19. 1899-1900, 1905-1906, and 1911.
    Fothergill. Peter Jones and Richard Jones Genealogy. 1924.
    Heitman. Officers of the Continental Army. 1914.
    Virginia Revolutionary Soldiers. 1912. Supplement. 1913.
    Herringshaw. American Biography. Vol. 1. 1909.
    Burke. General Armory. 1884.
[Source: this is a transcription by V. Capels from a poor-quality photocopy of an 8-page, double-space type-written document with "Baugh" and crest title page, the author and date of publication being unknown; copy obtained from the Bullock family.]




Posted March 25, 2003