John Judson Bagley was born on July 24, 1832, and died on July 27, 1881. He was a politician from the state of Michigan and served as the 16th governor of Michigan.
Early life in New York and Michigan
Bagley was born in Medina, New York, to John and Mary M. (Smith) Bagley. He grew up in Lockport, New York. At the age of eight, he moved with his family to Constantine, Michigan. When he was thirteen, he moved again, this time to another part of the state—Owosso, Michigan.
In 1847, Bagley moved to Detroit, Michigan, as an apprentice and began his career working in a small chewing tobacco shop owned by Isaac Miller. After seven years, Bagley purchased Miller’s business and renamed it the Mayflower Tobacco Company. He turned the store into a leading company that competed with other tobacco brands in Detroit, where tobacco was a major industry at the time. Bagley was a Freemason and a member of Charity Lodge No. 94 in Detroit, Michigan.
Politics in Michigan
In 1855, he was elected to the Detroit Board of Education. He held this position for three years and helped found the Republican Party during that time. He also served as an alderman in Detroit. On January 16, 1855, he married Frances E. Newbury in Dubuque, Iowa. She was the daughter of Rev. Samuel Newbury, a pioneer missionary in Michigan. Together, they had six children.
Bagley served on the Detroit Common Council from 1860 to 1861. He was also a member of the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners from 1865 to 1872. He helped organize the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Company and was its president from 1867 to 1872. During this time, he was the chairman of the Michigan Republican Party from 1868 to 1870.
Bagley served as Governor of Michigan from 1873 to 1877. He supported the creation of a state commission to regulate railroads, addressed issues related to juvenile delinquency, and led efforts to establish the state Board of Health and the state Fish Commission. Bagley was a Unitarian and strongly supported prohibition. He helped pass a law that taxed the sale of alcohol.
Retirement and death
Bagley died in San Francisco from tuberculosis, three days after his 49th birthday. He was buried in Woodmere Cemetery in Detroit.
In 2019, a statue that was once thought to be lost was found in storage at the Detroit Institute of Arts.