Rev. Paul Bagley was born 10 Oct. 1835 in Churchville, Md. Although trained as a lawyer, he spent much of his life working as an itinerant evangelist, missionary, and street preacher for the Disciples of Christ. As a young man, he spent seven years wandering in China as a missionary and colporteur. He also visited Japan. He returned from the Far East in 1867. While in China, Bagley made the acquaintance of Anson Burlingame, the noted American diplomat, and later U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward. Perhaps through their influence, Bagley was selected for what proved to be an unsuccessful "mission of peace" to England in 1869 in hopes of securing the release of the famous "Fenian prisoners". Afterwards he returned home to once again take up his "wanderings" for God. His travels took him to California in 1871 and to Arkansas early the next year. Here he preached for some time in and near Little Rock. By the spring of 1872 he was in DeWitt in Arkansas County, where he met and and quickly married Helen Johnson, daughter of Edward Johnson. Within a few years he settled on a farm near Mablevale in southwestern Pulaski County, where he and his wife became the parents of the following children: Edward Orick, Nellie Virginia, Helen May, William Lambert, Henry Stewart, Pearl, and Rose. Throughout the remainder of his life Bagley continued to travel to lecture in churches, public halls, and on street corners. He visited nearly every state and part of Canada. He had just returned from one such tour when he died suddenly on 11 Oct. 1901 at Little Rock. Bagley was a frequent newspaper correspondent, always sending accounts of his latest adventures to local and out of state newspapers.
From the description of Bagley family papers, 1869-1901. (Arkansas History Commission). WorldCat record id: 233536105
