The collection includes personal papers, writings and sermons.
Bagby’s personal papers include correspondence, family history, and printed material. Of the five pieces of correspondence, two letters are to Bagby, the remainder are to family members regarding the death of Bagby. The will of Bagby’s father is included in the family history.
Bagby’s writings include a typescript “Memories of Harry Ashby Bagby,” that describes Bagby’s youth, his days at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ky., meeting his wife, the loss of his first child, his pastorates, and his wife’s death. A second copy of this typescript has some edits and a final page not included in the first copy.
The second typescript written by Bagby recounts stories told by his father, George F. Bagby, when he was a boy on his father’s (John C. Bagby [1791-1880]) plantation, Bunker Hill, in King and Queen County, Virginia. Bagby refers to his father as his “Confederate Dad” who served three years as an officer in the “Little Confederacy.” There are multiple copies of a number of the stories, some with various edits. The typescripts in the first folder are the only ones with what appear to be chapter numbers, some written in ink, then different numbers in pencil.
The sermons (1887-1936) include handwritten and typescripts, with dates and churches recorded on the back of a majority of the sermons.
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