How reliable are the records that maintain that an eleven year old
lad left the safety and security of his England home to venture forth to
an unknown future in a faraway land?  This question has troubled researchers
for years.  Some of them have solved the problem by inventing another
senior Logsdon of about 60 years of age, then also giving him a son named
William of about 28 years of age, then having him be the one to marry
Honora O'Flynn.  Unfortunately, after a careful look at the Maryland
records, there is only one William Logsden mentioned in the 1680 to 1704
period.  Others have been suggested, such as a William Langsden of
Somerset County, Maryland. After checking in the book "The settlers of old
Somerset County, Maryland" we found that William Langsden died in 1745, 
also leaving a will naming his survivors. All of which he located still in
Somerset County.  Then we came to the facts.  When all else is ruled out,
what remains must be our answer.

1. Only one William Logsden is listed on any early Maryland tax rolls.

2. William named his estate here in America, Bedford, after his home in
   England. (Not Melchbourne, Roxton or Eaton Socon)

3. At age 10, in the 1600's, a young man was deemed "of working age" and
   could be indentured out as an apprentice or laborer.

4. After looking at the waterway system, the rive Ouse flows through
   Bedford and then directly into the Thames river, which in turn flows
   to the ocean and to a river port.  This journey would take only a few
   days.

5. William's father, James, was a rope maker, and could have and probably
   did have connections to the boatmen on the river.

6. Reviewing the records of St. John's parish of Bedford, home church of
   the James Logsden family, we find no mention of a William, son of James,
   being married or otherwise, but his other children are mentioned.

7. Then there is the terrible plague that gripped the area in the 1600-1700
   era.  Is it any wonder that a father would want to send his son as far
   away as possible?

8. After reviewing the other William Logsden's of that time, in and around
   Bedford, all have been ruled out, with the exception of one William who
   was born in 1639, who married in 1668.  Unless his young wife died, and
   there is no record of this event, the William who came to America was
   single, and accompanied by other men.

9. It is my view that a William from, say, the town of Roxton, would not
   have named his home here in America, "Bedford".


     We shall probably never prove who our ancestor William was, but I'll
put my money on young William of Bedford.

                                               Tracy Logsdon
                                               Cowden, IL 11-01-1998

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