The PAGAN Family

sometime spelled Pegan, Pegans, Piggens etc

     This is hopefully going to be a series if I find the time. I would like to shine a spotlight on various family groups because this family is seriously a pain to research!  I'm hoping there are other researchers out there that can shed some light on a few of these families. The genealogies available online are incomplete and hard to find. To be fair it isn't really anyone's fault because we have so little to pull from. They spent their early years in America either squatting or renting and didn't leave a big footprint. I'm going to start with John Pagan. Ok, so there are lots of those...so let's get into this specific one shall we?

     John Pagan was supposedly born August 1, 1771 in Glasgow, Scotland. This is according to one source and I will talk a little about the other one later. This one seems to be the most legitimate because it appears to be taken from a bible record. I can also find some actual real records that make this version a little more likely.  Anyway, he was a shipping merchant that operated under the dba "Sloan and Pagan" out of the Cheasapeake Bay area. He seems to have operated out of Novia Scotia, Philadelphia and Norfolk and maybe Maryland.

     My working theory is that he was the son of John Pagan, merchant of Greenock, Scotland, and his wife Mary McDonald. This is conjecture based on his business dealings in Nova Scotia and Philadelphia. His father brought Scottish immigrants to Nova Scotia in 1773 on the ship Hector. His two brothers: Robert and Thomas moved to Pictou. Be careful not to confuse this Robert and Thomas with the Robert and Thomas who were in New Brunswick. These were his first cousins and children of William Pagan and Margaret Maxwell, who moved to Canada along with brothers William Pagan and John Pagan of Quebec. The John of this narrative is documented on two occasions to be away from Norfolk Virginia. One was at the baptism of his daughter Mary Ann Smith Pagan in 1798 where it notes that he was away in Nova Scotia. Another is in 1802 when he rented out his house for a short amount of time because his family was going to be gone for three or four months. It doesn't say where he is going on this record. 

     I need to mention that there is a baptism in Glascow on August 9, 1772 for a John Pagan son of John Pagan and Mary McDonald. The baptism just says that he was born on the 8th. There are a number of things that can be attributed to the births not matching: It may have been recorded incorrectly in the bible, it may have been incorrectly transcribed from the bible. the baptism may have taken place at a later time. The only thing that matches from the transcription to the baptism is August being the month of birth. It would be wonderful to know who has the bible because it could just be completely fabricated.

     John Pagan married Mary Ann Russell on February 25, 1797. This record is online but it doesn't have any other details on it. The researcher that originally had the bible record made a note that the marriage was performed by the Rev Ashbell Green. According to researchers. Mary Ann Russell was born on April 4, 1771.

     John and Mary set up housekeeping in Portsmouth, Virginia. Mary must have travelled with him or spent time with relatives because at one point when he was away he rented out his home on a temporary basis.

     John and Mary had a daughter named Mary Ann Smith Pagan on February 9, 1798. The researcher records the baptism by Rev James Whitehead and godparents as James Donaldson and an Aunt named Sarah McCutcheon.

    Here's where we add a couple of source records that seem to back up this version.  Take notice of how Mary Ann Smith Pagan was given Smith as one of her middle names. A Sarah Smith married Capt James McCutcheon on November 21, 1793 in Philadelphia Pa. That same James McCutcheon died on January 21, 1797 and Sarah was appointed to administer his estate.

     Researchers have a child named Christie Russell Pagan born October 28, 1800 and died July 31 1801 but I have no other information to provide on that child at this time.

John Pagan died on July 25, 1803. I assume he died in Norfolk because his obituary is listed in one of the local papers but I have been unable to find probate records for him in Norfolk. 

     Mary Ann Russell Pagan must have moved back to Philadelphia to live with relatives after he died. She died in Philadelphia on February 10, 1805. Her obituary states that she left two small children as orphans. 

The genealogist that have this information on the bible seem to think that Mary Ann Smith Pagan moved back to Glasgow, married Archibald Deans on June 17, 1823 and died there on February 6, 1855. I have traced that Mary Pagan and in the 1851 census it does state that she was born in America. She named her 2nd son John Pagan Deans and her first daughter Mary Pagan Deans. Doing research in Scotland stinks. There is really only one site to get records, called Scotland People. The search function is terrible and you have to buy credits. None of this really matters though because all of the records for Mary Ann Smith Pagan are devoid of anything relating to her parents.

    It may be worthwhile to mention that in early 1823 the last surviving daughters of William Pagan and Margaret Maxwell were planning what to do with the estate left to them by their parents and unmarried siblings. One legacy was left to a "Maria Pagan" granddaughter of their late uncle John Pagan of Greenock.  Is this Mary Ann Smith Pagan Deans?

     There are other researchers from the Palmer Family that have an entirely different Mary Pagan as a daughter of John Pagan and Mary Ann Russell. This Mary Pagan was born on May 26, 1801, and died January 6, 1891, in Gallia County Ohio. She married William J. Palmer and John Cheney. She's unlikely to be their daughter if a bible record exists for John and Mary. First, she was born three years later. Second, after finding the obituaries for John and Mary it calls the Palmer research into question because their working theory was that John Pagan died in Gallia in 1819. Now. there really is also no evidence to support John Pagan and Mary Russell being in Ohio. 

      Where to go from here?  I would like to find the guardian records for their children. Were they taken by their godparents or maybe shipped back to Scotland to grandparents? I'm hoping that someone who reads this has a copy of that bible that can clear this mystery up once and for all.