Background
He was born Louisa County, Virginia in 1794, the son of Capt. James Bagby and Mary Jones of Gloucester County.
He was born Louisa County, Virginia in 1794, the son of Capt. James Bagby and Mary Jones of Gloucester County.
Well educated for the times and enjoying the prestige of a fine Virginia name, he was induced by the unfavorable economic conditions in his home state to migrate westward as a young man.
Traveling on foot, with all of his worldly goods in a pack on his back, he reached Alabama in 1818 and settled at Claiborne, in Monroe County, a distributing point for immigrants and at that time one of the most important towns in Alabama, where he found a number of fellow Virginians, read law, and was admitted to the bar in 1819.
With a penchant for politics he entered the lower house of the state legislature in 1821 and made so favorable an impression on his colleagues that, on reëlection in 1822, he was chosen speaker, the youngest man ever to hold that office in Alabama. While continuing his legal career, Bagby was again in the House in 1824, in the state Senate in 1825, and in the House again in 1834, 1835, and 1836, serving once more as speaker in the latter year. Although he was originally a National Republican and a supporter of John Quincy Adams, a change in his political faith appeared in 1831 when he opposed the proposal to commit Alabama to the support of a national bank. When Jackson issued his proclamation against nullification in 1832 Bagby came to his support and henceforth was a Jackson Democrat.
As a result of his adherence to the Jackson cause he was nominated by the Democrats in 1837 for the governorship and elected over S. W. Oliver, Whig, of Conecuh County, by 21, 800 to 17, 663. Two years later he was reëlected practically without opposition. In a series of able state papers, he urged readjustment and reform in the financial system of Alabama which was suffering from the panic of 1837 and from an inefficient and corrupt banking system.
On the expiration of his term as governor (1841), Bagby was elected to the United States Senate to fill an unexpired term and in 1842 was reelected for a full term. Here his support of the movement for the annexation of Texas created some dissatisfaction among the Democrats of Alabama, but he successfully met the opposition to his course. He opposed Tyler's aspirations for a Democratic nomination for the presidency, and, on Polk's election, became a strong administration man. Polk rewarded him in the summer of 1848 with an appointment as minister to Russia, where he served acceptably but without particular distinction from June 16, 1848, to May 14, 1849, resigning when party control changed in national politics.
On his return to Alabama, he served on the committee to codify the laws of the state, his last public duty. In 1856 he removed to Mobile, where he died in 1858 during an epidemic of yellow fever. His public career was seriously marred by his utter carelessness and inefficiency in his personal financial affairs and he was constantly in great financial difficulties.
Bagby secured the establishment of chancery courts, forced the creation of a penitentiary system, and brought about a satisfactory settlement of the irritating boundary dispute with Georgia. He advocated the improvement of river navigation, lent his support to the Bestor movement for a good system of public schools, and consistently urged support for higher education. He secured the passage of a law providing for the general ticket system of electing representatives in Congress, which scheme he advocated later in the federal Senate.
He was twice married, first to Emily Steele, of Georgia, second (1828) to Anne Elizabeth Connell, of South Carolina.