Henry Bogardus, Shirt-tail Cousin

In some of the letters Sarah Wisner Camfield mentions Mr and Mrs B and in other letters Mr and Mrs Bogardus. They seem to be both friends and landlords. I believe they are more “shirt-tail cousins” rather than just friends met along the way.

Sarah Ann Wisner was the daughter of William Wisner and Elizabeth Badgley.

Elizabeth Badgley was the daughter of Anthony Badgley and Mary Elizabeth Bookhout. Anthony and Elizabeth had 11 children and I have not been able to trace them all, however their second child, Mary (1776-1868), married Hendrick Bogardus, often referred to as Henry. Both the Badgley and Bogardus families started out in Dutchess County, NY, moved on to Albany County, NY and finally settled in Dewitt, Onondaga County, NY.

I don’t believe that Henry and Mary Badgley Bogardus never had any children of their own based on an abstract of Mary’s pension application I found at NY Finger Lakes Genealogy

BOGARDUS, Henry; ONONDAGA CO. NY; lived Fishkill when he enlisted; 18 Mar 1838, Mary Bogardus of DE WITT ONONDAGA CO. NY; age 66; widow of Henry Bogardus; married 8 Jan 1793 by Rev. Mr. Bassett in Albany; before married both lived Bethlehem Albany Co.; husband of Dutch origin; formerly written Hendrick; he died DeWitt 24 June 1841; Henry B. Bogardus lived with them, nephew of Henry Sr.; bible records Hendrick Bogardus born 11 Dec 1763; Mary Badgley born 10 Oct 1776; married 28 July 1793; David Merrill born 25 Jan 1779; Abiah Badgley born 3 Apr 1787; David Merrill and Abiah Badgley married 15 Mar 1804; Daniel Dudley Merrill born 22 Feb 1806; Martin Merrill born 31 Mar 1808; Daniel Dudley Merrill died 27 Dec 1812. Born Fishkill Dutchess Co.11 Dec 1763; moved to Albany Co. after the war; from there to Schoharie; and then to Manlius; lived there 27 yrs. Enlisted 1777.

Their bible records do not record any children of their own. Abiah Badgley was another daughter of Anthony and Mary Elizabeth Badgley. Mary is shown living with Henry P Bogardus in Dewitt on both the 1850 and 1860 censuses. The family group shown on the 1850 census is as follows:

Henry P Bogardus 56 NY
Elizabeth 54 MA
Polly (Mary) 73 NY
Henry 25 NY
Ira 23 NY
Eugene B 13 NY
Irene 14 NY
Rosemond 11 NY
Elizabeth Chapin 20 VT


On the 1860 & 1870 census for Noble, Branch, MI I find:
Henry Bogardus, born abt 1825 NY
Mary B. Bogardus, born abt 1825 ME
no children are shown
In 1880 they are found in Coldwater, Branch, MI

Various trees I’ve found conflict so I won’t repeat the information that I’ve found here. But based on what I have found I believe that the Mr and Mrs Bogardus mentioned in the letters are almost, not exactly, relatives of Sarah Ann Wisner Camfield, he being the grand-nephew of her aunt’s husband.