LOGSDON: The US Beginning

According to findthedata.org, there are only 10,057 people in the US with the last name Logsdon.  That's .035% of the population of the United States.  Currently, according to Britishsurname.co.uk, there are only 107 persons with the surname Logsdon living in Britain.  I am proud of my Logsdon lineage.  We are unique.

Growing up in Indianapolis, we only knew of one other family with the Logsdon last name.  Traveling through Hardin County, KY, my brother happened to stop for a bite to eat.  His waitresses' last name was Logsdon.  He was amazed, "You're a Logsdon!  So am I!"  She said, "Don't get too excited Logsdons are like Smiths in this part of the country."

There are several candidates for our English, WILLIAM LOGSDON, the immigrant.  All of these candidates hale from the same general region north of London.  In my research, I've seen that there was only a handful of Logsdon families in England in the 1600s.  This handful of families were probably all related.  We may never know EXACTLY which family our William came from.  My choice, and some would disagree who are more learned than I,  is a young lad of 10, registered in the St. John's parish of Bedford, son of James and Jane Logsdon.  Our immigrant of 1673, WILLIAM LOGSDON, haled from Bedfordshire, England.  Bedford lies 60 miles north of London.  

"The first documented reference to the Logsdon family in America is found in the Hall of Records, Patent of Land Records, Annapolis, Maryland, Volume 18, page 34, as follows:

January 7, 1674, Captain Samuel Smith of Virginia proved his right to three hundred acres of land, by Hanna, his wife, and Attorney, for transporting Robert Dewsberry, William Belcher, Thomas Humphries, WILLIAM LOGSDON, George Young, Josiah Blackwell and William Golden to this Province to inhabit.

It appears that WILLIAM LOGSDON came to America having been transported by Captain Samuel Smith of Virginia in 1673.  William was probably an indentured man, and as such, probably served his four years and was possibly released from his indentureship in 1677 or 1678.  He probably would have lived on Samuel Smith's land in Northumberland County on the mouth of the Potomac River in Kings Neck.

From the rent rolls (similar to a tax list) of Baltimore County, it is determined that rent was paid on a tract of land, BROTHERLY LOVE, August 28, 1687 or possibly 1697.  WILLIAM LOGSDON and his heirs owned this land.

BROTHERLY LOVE is located near the boundary line between York and Adams Counties in Pennsylvania, just north of Westminster, on the south side of Susquehanna River and before the settlement of the boundary dispute with William Penn, was in Maryland.

Liber DD-5, page 430, dated May 12, 1707.  By virtue of assignment of 100 acres warrant consigned by Gregory Davis of Baltimore County on the 19th day of April last, unto WILLIAM LOGSDON of said County, part of a warrant for 200 acres granted said Gregory Davis, on the 17th day of April last.  I, John Israel, Deputy Surveyer under Mr. Clement Hill, Jr. have laid out to aforesaid WILLIAM LOGSDON that tract and parcel of land called BEDFORD, lying in Baltimore County on the north side of the Potomac River, and on the north side of the Middle Branch thereof, beginning....etc. etc.....100 acres to be Beholden to the Manor of Baltimore.

Bedford is in present day Carroll County, probably about 8 miles southeast of Westminster, directly on the route to Baltimore, through Owings Mills and Pikesville.

In 1709, William brings a suit against Thomas Gwynn, chargin breech of agreement to build a forty foot tobacco shed.  It appears that WILLIAM LOGSDON was a "planter" and tobacco was his principal crop.

IL-A, No. A, page 338, dated 1722.  WILLIAM LOGSDON buys tract LOGSDON ADDITION, adjoining tract called BEDFORD.

LiberIS-H, page 338, dated September 19, 1726.  WILLIAM LOGSDON of Baltimore County deeds to his beloved daughter, ANN DURBIN, tract of land called PLEASENT GREEN being part of the tract called LOGSDON ADDITION lying on the north side of the Potapsco River...etc.etc...92 and 1/2 acres with all the houses, outhouses, barns, stables, tobacco houses, orchards, fences, etc. etc...to be hers and her lawful heirs, begotten and born of her body and after the death of her husband SAMUEL DURBIN, the land to return freely and quiety to the heirs of WILLIAM LOGSDON.  Signed by his mark:  WILLIAM LOGSDON.  Then came HONOR LOGSDON, his wife, and released her dower rights in the property.  This establishes WILLIAM AND HONOR's marriage to have been prior to 1706.

 An interesting family story handed down through generations of LOGSDONS states that HONOR O'FLYNN was a beautiful Irish girl who was taken captive from the Coast of Ireland to America.  Another account by Betty Jewell Carson says HONOR was kidnapped from Ireland, County Derry or Kerry and brought with a shipload of young girls gathered from the Irish Coast and brought over to be wives of the settlers.  HONOR O'FLYNN married WILLIAM LOGSDON in 1702 by missionary priest from Fort Tobacco, Maryland.  


In 1742, after the death of William, BROTHERLY LOVE is sold by his sons, John, William and Edward, planters of Prince George County.  The reference to Prince George County is explained that Frederick was not formed until 1748, and the then Prince George County extended clear to the Pennsylvania line,"  from the genealogical research of William Jesse Durbin.

There is some speculation, that WILLIAM the immigrant's SON, may have been the husband of HONORA.  

"Another source indicates that the William who married Honora O'Flynn was in fact the son of William the immigrant due to the fact that 1. He would have waited a long time to marry, despite the gender imbalance of more males to females in America at that time, 2. a record of Williams trip to America, 3. the land Captain Smith was to receive was 300 acres in Somerset County, Maryland, 4. William Laxtone was recorded as entitled to 50 acres for coming to America, 5. the will of William Langsden in 1709, with mention of his wife Izabell and son William existed. It is this William, it is suggested, that moved to Baltimore and married Honora O'Flynn. None of this has been proven," from geni.com.

Whatever the case, I truly believe our Logsdons haled from the Bedford, England area.

William Logsdon named his tract of land BEDFORD, as an homage to his birthplace.  Record books at the St. John Parish in Bedford, England, confirm that there was a Logsdon family baptized and married within St. John's Parish within the right time frame.  St. John's is currently known as St. John's St. Leonard's when two parishes combined.  

St. John's St. Leonard's Parish, Bedford, England.

Circa 1220, North Recessed Door of St. John's.
(This and the next few photos are from my 2010 trip to Bedford, UK.)

Interior, St. John's.  Oldest part of the church is the front under the stained glass windows. (which are hidden by the powerpoint screen!)

Oldest part of the interior of the church are these seats,
on the wall perpendicular to the stained glass.

Impressive midieval stained glass in St. John's.

Above:  The yard surrounding St. John's Parish in Bedford, England, is a cemetery.  Our LOGSDON forebears are buried in this ground.  Unfortunately, records of burial location for individuals in this cemetery from the 1400-1500's have been lost.