George William Bagby

Born on August 13, 1828, in Buckingham County, Virginia, George William Bagby studied at Delaware College and then earned a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1849. He was licensed as a physician, but writing drew him more strongly than medicine, and he soon turned toward newspapers, magazines, and literary journalism.

Bagby helped found the Lynchburg Express in the 1850s and later worked in Washington, D.C., as a correspondent for southern newspapers. He published essays in widely read magazines, and his humorous "Mozis Addums" letters brought him early attention. During the Civil War, he edited the Southern Literary Messenger, using it to support secession and the Confederate cause.

After the war, Bagby struggled to support himself through humor writing alone, but he continued to write essays that kept his name alive. He later served as assistant to the secretary of the commonwealth of Virginia, a role that also made him state librarian. He is especially remembered for "The Old Virginia Gentleman" and for other essays that mix wit, nostalgia, and sharp observation. Bagby died on November 29, 1883.