Professor Henry Howard Bagg

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Prof. Henry H. Bagg Jr., Son of Dr. Henry H. Bagg, and Husband of Ida Elvira Pettibone

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BIOGRAPHY OF HENRY HOWARD BAGG

Henry Howard Bagg was born on June 30, 1853, son of Dr. Henry Howard Bagg MD and Fanny Greene Bagg of Wauconda, Illinois. Little is known about his early childhood except he often spoke of having lived on a large estate with a lake and canoe and a pony on which he would explore the streams and woods of Northern Illinois. His father was a country doctor and his mother was a leader and teacher in a girls seminary. She was gifted in art and music and encouraged her son in his artistic endeavors.

In 1869 Bagg began his formal studies with a Professor Woodruff in Aurora, Illinois. The 1870 census finds Henry Howard Bagg still in Aurora living with his mother, two aunts, Betsy Greene and Lucy Greene Cole, and Lucys husband, William Cole. Bagg was 17 at the time.

Shortly before 1880 Bagg married Ida Elvira Pettibone of Lanesborough, Massachusetts, the same community in which both his mother and father was born. Bagg had already finished his training from Professor Woodruff and is listed in the census as a "Landscape Painter." Records indicate that during that year he accepted a position as an art instructor at the Jennings Seminary, a private preparatory school in Aurora. Their son Lawrence was born in 1883. In 1885, Bagg exhibited the oil painting, "White Oaks in October," in the Chicago Exposition of that year.

In 1888, the Bagg family moved to Lincoln, Nebraska. It was here on August 19, 1889 that his daughter Olive Leland was born. According to his daughter, his parents had passed away and left an inheritance whic Henry invested in a piano business, but his partner left town with the money leaving Henry a sadder and wiser man. After this disaster, Henry opened a studio of Kings Grocery at 12th and N Streets and began giving private lessons, which later developed into regular classes.

In 1895 Henry was able to secure a position as drawing and painting instructor in Peru State Normal College in Peru, Nebraska. He moved his family to Peru and held the position until 1900 when he returned to Lincoln. Bagg opened a studio and taught private lessons as well as tutorials at Cotner College in Bethany, which is now incorporated into the city of Lincoln.

While in Lincoln, Bagg produced numerous paintings for area churches. The Havelock Christian, East Lincoln Christian, and Tabernacle Christian Churches each have Bagg paintings. One of the most popular of these images is of the Jordan River. The origin of the images was taken from a postcard sent to Professor Bagg by Harvey Harmon, who visited the Jordan River while serving as chaplain in World War I. Bagg painted this image in different sizes for the churches.

In 1903 he accepted a position as instructor of drawing and painting at Nebraska Wesleyan University. The 1907 Catalog lists Henry Howard Bagg as director of the newly formed Department of Art in the newly completed C.C. White Building. Art instruction was given four days per week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nine-week courses were offered. Tuition was listed at $2.50 for drawing classes and $10.00 for painting classes.

Bagg continued to teach private tutorials in his own studio as well as conduct classes at Nebraska Wesleyan. He was active traveler in the summer months, spending many summers in Estes Park, Colorado, and making painting excursions to Illinois, Iowa, and Wyoming. On one of his sketching trips to Wyoming, he stayed at the T.E. Ranch of Buffalo Bill Cody. Several of Professor Bagg's works were collected by Cody and remain in the possession of the Cody family and the Cody Center of Cody, Wyoming. Many of his studies of the American bison were done at this time, resulting in several paintings with images of buffalo. One of them, "Reminiscences of the Plains," once hung in the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce offices and according to a 1921 interview in the Lincoln Star Bagg considered it to be his"Master Piece." William Jennings Bryan, noted political figure and resident of Lincoln, also collected and exhibited Professor Bagg's works at his estate "Fairview," then south of Lincoln.

In late 1918 the Baggs moved to Boulder, Colorado, to be nearer to their daughter's family and the mountains Henry loved to paint. During this time he contracted with the Thomas D. Murphy Calendar Company of Red Oak, Iowa, to produce 26 paintings a year for their calendars. In all, 45 works by Bagg were recorded as eventually being used by the company.

In 1920 the Baggs returned to Lincoln and Henry open a studio in their home. Between 1924 and 1926, he conducted art classes at the Bethany Meat Market. On January 4, 1927,his wife died. His granddaughter, Francis Dye Hebbard, took on the task of cooking and cleaning for him. Henry Howard Bagg died on July 21, 1928, and was buried in Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln.

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