John Leon BAGLEY

The following bio was taken from pages 98-99of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Gloria Riley

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

The ancestors of John Leon Bagley, or Johnny Bagley as he is better known, moved to Texas in the late 1800s. His grandparents on his mother’s side moved to Texas from Tennessee and settled in Caddo Mills, in Hunt County. John and Lula Bagley, his father’s parents, moved to Texas from Georgia and settled in Quinlan, which is also in Hunt County.

The Mintons and the Bagleys both reared large families. One of the Minton girls, Lottie, married John Leroy Bagley in 1920. Lottie taught school in Quinlan until she and Leroy moved to Fort Worth. While in Fort Worth, Leroy worked and went to pharmacy school. After becoming a licensed pharmacist, they moved to Cleburne and then in 1935 on to Henderson where he managed Hughes Drug Store.

In 1924 while in Fort Worth, John Leon Bagley, the only son of Leroy and Lottie, was born, He began school in Cleburne and completed high school in Henderson. Johnny began his college career at Kilgore Junior College and then attended the University of Texas. In 1942 he joined the United States Navy. During his service in the Navy he was sent to the University of Oklahoma for training. He liked the campus, so upon completing his service in the Navy, he returned to the University of Oklahoma, where he completed his degree in pharmacy.

After graduating, he returned to Henderson to work at Haden-Boucher Drug and Allen Drug. In 1953 he opened Bagley’s Pharmacy in partnership with his father, Leroy Bagley.

In 1950 Johnny married Nelwyn Joyce Leath. They have three children. Their oldest, Betty Ann, teaches and is married to Terrence Lynn Tyson. Cathy Lou, their second child, works at Bagley’s Pharmacy and is married to Daniel Morris Webster. Their youngest, Bill David, works at Preston Insurance and is married to Joanne Harris Forester. At the present time Johnny and Nelwyn have five grandchildren. They are John and Abbey Tyson, Melissa and Sally Webster, and Charles Bagley.

Johnny and Nelwyn attend First United Methodist Church, and Johnny is a member of the Kiwanis Club. Both work at Bagley’s Pharmacy and Johnny also keeps busy with his registered Polled Hereford cattle.

Written by Johnny Bagley