Person Page - 584

     Alva Sue Barger was born circa 1941 in Pikesville, Tennessee.¹ As of 22 December 1954,her married name was Bagwell. She married Floyd Edward "Arkie" Bagwell, son of Emmett Gilmore Bagwell and Ruby Inez Chism, on 22 December 1954.¹ Alva Sue Barger and Floyd Edward "Arkie" Bagwell lived in 1958 in Homer, Michigan.¹ Alva Sue Barger died on 28 May 1960 in Battle Creek, Michigan.¹

     Ida Mae Reed was born in 1939. As of 13 January 1962,her married name was Bagwell. She married Floyd Edward "Arkie" Bagwell, son of Emmett Gilmore Bagwell and Ruby Inez Chism, on 13 January 1962. Ida Mae Reed died on 28 April 1985. She was buried at West Clarendon Cemetery, Clarendon, Clahoun County, Michigan.

     Vickie Sue Bagwell is the daughter of Floyd Edward "Arkie" Bagwell and Alva Sue Barger.¹ Vickie Sue Bagwell married (?) Grogan after 1978.

     Brenda Kay Bagwell is the daughter of Floyd Edward "Arkie" Bagwell and Alva Sue Barger.¹ Brenda Kay Bagwell married (?) Lawrence after 1978.

     Patsy Lynn Bagwell is the daughter of Floyd Edward "Arkie" Bagwell and Alva Sue Barger.¹ Patsy Lynn Bagwell married (?) Malicki after 1978.

     Carl E. Bagwell is the son of Floyd Edward "Arkie" Bagwell and Ida Mae Reed. Carl E. Bagwell married Tamra Sue Waller on 3 October 1987 at Albion, Michigan.

     Ruby Inez Chism was born on 29 September 1916 in Mississippi. As of 18 September 1933,her married name was Bagwell. She married Emmett Gilmore Bagwell, son of James Wiley Bagwell and Elizabeth Frances Edwards, on 18 September 1933 at Osceola, Arkansas. Ruby Inez Chism died on 5 March 1998 in Borgess Medical Center, Kalamazoo, Michigan, at age 81. She was buried on 7 March 1998 at Fort Custer National Cemetery, Augusta, Kalamazoo County, Michigan.

     Rufus Bagwell was born in 1904. He was the son of Robert L. "Bob" Bagwell and Bettie Lanthrip. Rufus Bagwell died in 1921. He was buried at Enon Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Ackerman, Choctaw County, Mississippi.

     Bertis Ruth Bagwell was born in 1904 in Ackerman, Choctaw County, Mississippi. She was the daughter of Robert L. "Bob" Bagwell and Bettie Lanthrip.

     John Tommie Bagwell was born on 12 January 1912 in Choctaw County, Mississippi. He was the son of Robert L. "Bob" Bagwell and Bettie Lanthrip. He was a Technician fourth grade (TEC4), Howitzer, Company 665, Tank Destroyer Battalion in the US Army during World War II. John Tommie Bagwell died on 24 October 1969 in Ackerman, Choctaw County, Mississippi, at age 57. He was buried at Enon Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Ackerman, Choctaw County, Mississippi.

     Lillian A. Miller was born on 18 November 1918.¹ As of after 1935,her married name was Bagwell.¹ She married William Henry Bagwell, son of George Plez Bagwell and Racilla Robinson, after 1935.¹ Lillian A. Miller died on 10 September 1994 at age 75.¹ She was buried at Olive Branch Cemetery, Portsmouth, Portsmouth City, Virginia.¹

     Margaret (?) married William Henry Bagwell, son of George Plez Bagwell and Racilla Robinson, before 1952.

     Allen Frederick Bagwell was born on 3 June 1952 in Massachusetts.¹ He was the son of William Henry Bagwell and Margaret (?)¹ Allen Frederick Bagwell married Joyce Opal Norton on 12 July 1971 at Raleigh, North Carolina. Allen Frederick Bagwell and Joyce Opal Norton were divorced on 8 October 1975 at Virginia; and granted to the wife on grounds of desertion. Allen Frederick Bagwell died on 25 May 2017 at age 64.¹ He was buried on 5 June 2017 at Olive Branch Cemetery, Portsmouth, Portsmouth City, Virginia.¹

     Kay Bagwell is the daughter of William Henry Bagwell and Margaret (?) Kay Bagwell married (?) Madewell after 1965.

     William H. Bagwell Jr. is the son of William Henry Bagwell and Margaret (?)

     Larry Bagwell is the son of William Henry Bagwell and Margaret (?)

     Amy Bagwell is the daughter of Allen Frederick Bagwell and Joyce Opal Norton.

     Allen Frederick Bagwell Jr. is the son of Allen Frederick Bagwell and Joyce Opal Norton.

     (?) Madewell married Kay Bagwell, daughter of William Henry Bagwell and Margaret (?), after 1965.

     Farrice Bagwell was born on 20 October 1900 in Louisiana. He was the son of Arthur Dee Bagwell and Birdie Mae "Bertie" Harrison. Farrice Bagwell married Jean Lorretta Murphy after 1922. He served in the US Navy. Farrice Bagwell lived in 1940 in San Diego, San Diego County, California. He died in December 1986 in Oak Grove, West Carroll Parish, Louisiana, at age 86.

     Cleo Bagwell was born on 24 August 1902. She was the daughter of Arthur Dee Bagwell and Birdie Mae "Bertie" Harrison. As of after 1918,her married name was Mitchell. Cleo Bagwell married Abbott Morris Mitchell after 1918. Cleo Bagwell died on 12 December 1981 at age 79. She was buried at Jonestown Cemetery, Coahoma County, Mississippi.

     Abbott Morris Mitchell was born in 1886. He married Cleo Bagwell, daughter of Arthur Dee Bagwell and Birdie Mae "Bertie" Harrison, after 1918. Abbott Morris Mitchell died in 1965.

     Annie Lee Bagwell was born on 21 January 1907 in Oak Grove, West Carroll Parish, Louisiana. She was the daughter of Arthur Dee Bagwell and Birdie Mae "Bertie" Harrison. As of after 1928,her married name was Kennedy. Annie Lee Bagwell married Alfred Leroy Kennedy after 1928. Annie Lee Bagwell died on 9 December 1957 at age 50. She was buried at Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Mausoleum, Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana.

     Alfred Leroy Kennedy was born in 1911. He married Annie Lee Bagwell, daughter of Arthur Dee Bagwell and Birdie Mae "Bertie" Harrison, after 1928. Alfred Leroy Kennedy died in 1995.

     Jean Lorretta Murphy was born on 25 September 1902 in Rhode Island. As of before 1920,her married name was Pennoyer. She married Melvin Pennoyer before 1920. As of after 1922,her married name was Bagwell. Jean Lorretta Murphy married Farrice Bagwell, son of Arthur Dee Bagwell and Birdie Mae "Bertie" Harrison, after 1922. Jean Lorretta Murphy died on 9 September 1958 at age 55. She was buried at Oak Grove Cemetery, Oak Grove, West Carroll Parish, Louisiana.

     Edward Donald Bagwell is the son of Melvin Pennoyer and Jean Lorretta Murphy. Edward Donald Bagwell married Mary G. Rodger on 16 May 1944 at Maine.

     Melvin Pennoyer married Jean Lorretta Murphy before 1920.

     Mary G. Rodger married Edward Donald Bagwell, son of Melvin Pennoyer and Jean Lorretta Murphy, on 16 May 1944 at Maine.

     Harrison Garey Bagwell was born on 6 December 1913 in Georgetown, Louisiana.¹ He was the son of Arthur Dee Bagwell and Birdie Mae "Bertie" Harrison. Harrison Garey Bagwell married June Sue Ross on 13 June 1936 at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Harrison Garey Bagwell died on 2 December 1973 in Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at age 59

Harrison Garey Bagwell, Sr. (December 6, 1913 – December 2, 1973) was an attorney in his native Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who was the Republican nominee for governor of Louisiana in 1952. Bagwell was only the second Republican to have sought the governorship of Louisiana since 1924.

Bagwell was a son of Arthur D. Bagwell (1878-1955), a native of Lincoln Parish, and the former Birdie Mae Harrison (1878-1961), a native of Houma in Terrebonne Parish. The couple died in Oak Grove in West Carroll Parish and is interred there at Oak Grove Cemetery.

Bagwell graduated from Louisiana State University and the Louisiana State University Law Center. In 1936, Bagwell married the former June Sue Ross (1915-1971). The couple had seven children.

One of the Bagwell daughters, Bonnie Bagwell Messer (born September 1954) a registered Republican voter in Pointe Coupee Parish, recalls how her father treated the neighborhood children at their home in University Acres each Halloween to hot dogs, chili, and Kool-Aid. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Bagwell's death, Messer said, "Our house was THE place to go, and he fed everyone. It has been forty years since his last Halloween at our house ... I hope all our neighbors who trick-or-treated at our house will remember him this Halloween and the love he had for Halloween and them."

Harrison Garey "Gary" Bagwell, Jr. (1937-1985), served in the United States Navy aboard the transport ship, U.S.S. Caddo Parish during the Vietnam War. His letters describe the Viet Cong, military operations, and the people and landscape of South Vietnam and Taiwan. His papers are in the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections of the LSU Archives. There is also a special feature in the archive from the New Orleans Item on the Louisiana Republican Party in 1952.

In the gubernatorial general election held on April 22, 1952, Bagwell polled 4,958 votes (4 percent) of the vote statewide in a low-turnout contest against the Democrat Robert F. Kennon, a judge from Minden, who received 118,723 (96 percent). Bagwell reached double digits in only three parishes, St. James (13 percent), Iberia (12.5 percent), and his own East Baton Rouge (11.8 percent). In three parishes, Concordia, DeSoto, and Tensas, Bagwell received no votes. Bagwell was the first Republican candidate for governor since 1928, when Etienne J. Caire, a businessman from Edgard in St. John the Baptist Parish, polled 4 percent of the vote, the same as Bagwell, in Caire's race against Huey Pierce Long, Jr. Bagwell's gubernatorial showing was far below that just four years earlier of Clem S. Clarke, a Shreveport oilman who in 1948 polled just over 100,000 votes in a United States Senate campaign against Russell B. Long. Clarke was the first member of the GOP to seek a Senate seat from Louisiana under the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. By 2015, Republicans for the first time held both Senate seats from Louisiana.

Bagwell said that his primary goal in running for governor was to establish a viable two-party system in Louisiana; he contended that the state Republican party was being deliberately held back by its traditional leaders so that they could maintain their control over the party organization. As the representative from Louisiana's 6th congressional district, Bagwell was a delegate to the 1952 Republican National Convention, which met in Chicago and nominated Dwight Eisenhower, with Richard M. Nixon for vice president. Bagwell assisted John Minor Wisdom in making the case for seating the pro-Eisenhower delegation rather than the pro-Taft delegation favored by the entrenched state party leadership; their success was instrumental in securing the nomination for Eisenhower. Governor Kennon subsequently endorsed the Eisenhower-Nixon ticket, which though successful nationally, lost the Louisiana electoral vote that year at a time when the state was solidly Democratic in orientation, but would by the 21st century become predominantly Republican.

Bagwell sought a federal judgeship but was not selected by the Eisenhower administration. Along with then incoming state party chairman LeRoy Smallenberger of Shreveport, Bagwell was an alternate delegate to the 1960 Republican National Convention, which also met in Chicago and nominated the Nixon-Lodge ticket. George W. Reese, Jr., a New Orleans lawyer, who carried the Republican banner against U.S. Senator Allen J. Ellender that year, was a delegate to the Chicago convention, along with another Shreveport Republican figure, Tom Stagg.

After the 1964 presidential election saw Barry Goldwater become the first Republican to carry the Deep South while losing nearly everywhere else, Bagwell called for an "overhaul" of the party leadership, arguing that more moderate policies were necessary for party success. The more conservative party leaders, including Floyd O. Crawford, the defeated Republican candidate for U.S. representative from Louisiana's 6th congressional district, and Morton Blackwell, a still active Republican party official in the state of Virginia, criticized Bagwell for his comments: They "seem to come from another world and another era" and suggested that "if Bagwell wishes to be a liberal, then he should become a Democrat."

Bagwell died in 1973 four days before his 60th birthday. He and his wife, who predeceased him by two years, are interred at Resthaven Gardens of Memory in Baton Rouge. Bagwell's papers, dated 1941 to 1969, which cover his Republican Party activities, are, like those of his son, available through the LSU Archives.¹ He was buried at Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Mausoleum, Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana.¹

     June Sue Ross was born on 10 June 1915 in Louisiana.¹ As of 13 June 1936,her married name was Bagwell. She married Harrison Garey Bagwell, son of Arthur Dee Bagwell and Birdie Mae "Bertie" Harrison, on 13 June 1936 at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. June Sue Ross died on 29 March 1971 at age 55.¹ She was buried at Resthaven Gardens of Memory and Mausoleum, Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana.¹