Bio of BAGLEY, George Colt (b.1851), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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GEORGE COLT BAGLEY - Vol II, pg 54-58
The constant growth and expansion of a business which he established in a small
way made George Colt Bagley, in the course of years, one of the most extensive
and prominent grain merchants of the entire northwest. His contribution to the
growth and development of the country was, therefore, real and valuable, and
many an enterprising town in this section of the country has been built up about
the grain elevators which he established. He thus contributed in valuable
measure to the world's work until his life's labors were ended in death, on
August 20, 1918. His life story is that of New England birth and training
grafted onto western enterprise and opportunity-a combination that produces the
strongest and best in American citizenship.

George Colt Bagley was born March 1, 1851, in Stewartstown, New Hampshire, and
his ancestral line can be traced back to the year 1233, A. D. From the best
authority it is learned that the family name of Bagley had its origin from the
town of Baguley, which is situated about seven miles south of Manchester, in
Cheshire, England, on low ground on the banks of the Mersey river. History
records that William de Bagley (for so the name was then spelled) was mayor of
Stockport, Chester, England, from 1382 to 1384. The family was early established
in New England, the birth of Samuel Bagley occurring at Weymouth, Massachusetts,
September 7, 1658. The line comes down in successive generations through James,
John, Samuel, Samuel (II), Benjamin and Dudley Shelden Bagley to George C.
Bagley. The father was born September 10, 1818, in the mill village of
Brookfield, Vermont, and in the early days was a singing school teacher. Later
he turned his attention to farming at Stewartstown, New Hampshire devoting eight
years to the cultivation and development of the homestead farm, upon which all
of his children were born. In 1855 he sold that property and with his family
went to Brookfield, Vermont. He had previously figured prominently in connection
with political activity in the old Granite state, representing his district for
two terms in the New Hampshire legislature, beginning in 1850. In March, 1856.
he removed to Wisconsin, settling on a farm in the town of Wauwatosa, near
Milwaukee, where he remained for eight years. In 1864 he acquired a half
interest in the Wauwatosa mill and operated it for about three years, at the end
of which period, in 1867, he entered the employ of G. B. A. Kern, a prominent
Milwaukee miller, as superintendent of all the buying stations connected with
his mills. He occupied that responsible position until 1874, when he purchased
several of the elevators which he had superintended along the line of the
Milwaukee and one other railroad. His eldest son joined him in the business of
buying grain and about a year later the other son also became a partner in the
undertaking. The father remained an active factor in the grain trade until 1888,
when he retired from business and came to Minneapolis, making his home with his
son, George C. Bagley, until his death, which occurred December 15, 1906.

George Colt Bagley spent the first four years of his life in the old Granite
state and afterward resided with his parents for a year in Brookfield, Vermont.
With the removal of the family to Wisconsin he was reared as a farm boy for
about eight years, at the end of which time the family home was established in
the city of Milwaukee, where he attended the fourth ward school until the spring
of 1866, when at the age of fifteen years he started out to provide for his own
support. He worked for brief periods in several positions until June, 1867, at
which time he accepted a position in the office of Crampton & Dodge, insurance
men, with whom he remained until April 30, 1872. On the following day he started
with George H. Chase for Colorado, where he engaged in mining, prospecting and
other work until June, 1875, when he returned to Wisconsin and became identified
with the business of grain buying as a partner of his father and brother. On the
15th of June, 1875, he removed to Plymouth, Wisconsin, where his father and
younger sister Alice were keeping house, and a little later he located at New
Holstein, Wisconsin, where he took charge of one of the elevators belonging to
the firm of D. S. Bagley & Sons. After a few months he transferred his
headquarters to Chilton, Wisconsin, where he acted as bookkeeper for the firm
that was then engaged in the operation of about eight grain stations on that
line of railroad. About September, 1876, however, he was obliged, owing to his
father's illness, to return to Plymouth to take his father's place in the
management of the business.

It was but a few weeks afterward-on the 29th of November, 1876-that Mr. Bagley
was united in marriage to Miss Cornelia E. Mead, who was born March 8, 1855, a
daughter of Milan and Salina (Wixom) Mead. The young couple immediately began
keeping house in Plymouth but in 1877 removed to Eden, Fond du Lac county, where
the firm had purchased a grain elevator, Mr. Bagley devoting his attention to
grain buying at that place until September, 1884, when with his family he went
to Canton, South Dakota, where he purchased a grain elevator and also acquired
one at Inwood, Iowa. He continued to reside at Canton until the following June,
when he brought his family to Minneapolis, and in the following spring erected
his residence at No. 2645 Park avenue.
In 1885 Mr. Bagley formed a partnership with S. S. Cargill under the firm style
of Bagley & Cargill and built nine elevators on the H. D. division of the
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad in South Dakota, together with a terminal
elevator and twenty-nine stations in Minneapolis. Mr. Bagley was able to enter
thus extensively into the grain trade here through the financial assistance of a
very dear friend, Robert Eliot of Milwaukee, who without security furnished him
the necessary money to build the elevators. Success attended the venture from
the beginning and, therefore, he was not long in repaying the loan. He purchased
a half interest in the six elevators owned by Mr. Cargill in southern Minnesota
and northern Iowa and had so prospered in the conduct of the business that in
1889 he was able to purchase Mr. Cargill's interest in the firm and for one year
operated his elevators alone. In 1890 he incorporated the business under the
name of George C. Bagley & Company and extended the scope of his activity by
building still other elevators. His commercial connections from that time
forward constantly broadened in scope and importance and it was not long before
he was recognized as one of the foremost grain men of the northwest. In 1899 he
bought a large interest in the Atlantic Elevator Company and assumed the
management thereof, so continuing until his death. In 1895 he organized the
Royal Elevator Company, which built elevators along the Soo Line in North
Dakota, and he also continued as president of that corporation until his life's
labors were ended. A further forward step in the expansion of his business was
made in 1905, when he organized the Homestead Elevator Company and purchased
twenty-nine elevators on the Soo Line in Minnesota, to which he added by
building fifteen more, so that his name became known from town to town
throughout the great grain belt of the northwest. In 1910 the Homestead Elevator
Company was absorbed by the Atlantic Elevator Company, of which Mr. Bagley
continued as president. Another element of his notable business activity was the
organization in 1901 of a partnership under the name of Whallon-Case & Company
for the conduct of a brokerage and loan business, the partners in the
undertaking being Charles M. Case, George B. Case, J. F. Whallon and George C.
Bagley. A seat on the New York Stock Exchange was purchased in the name of Mr.
Bagley and in 1907 a consolidation with another firm conducting a similar
business was effected under the style of Piper, Johnson & Case. This partnership
relation was maintained until June 1, 1912, at which time Mr. Bagley sold his
interest. In 1902 he bought a third interest in the Sabine Canal Company,
operating an irrigating canal at Vinton, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, in
connection with the cultivation of rice. In 1909 he organized the Calcasieu Land
& Rice Company and purchased five sections of land in that parish. This land is
utilized principally for rice production and also for the raising of live stock
and the cultivation of pecan and orange groves. In addition to all of his other
interests Mr. Bagley was a director of the Minneapolis Fire & Marine Insurance
Company. Opportunity was always to him a call to action. He made immediate
response to the call and he never stopped short of the attainment of his
objective. He was the president of the Kellogg Commission Company, the Calcasieu
Land & Rice Company and the Sabine Canal Company and also one of the directors
of the First National Bank of Minneapolis.

To Mr. and Mrs. Bagley were born two sons: Dudley Selden, who died October 29,
1895; and Ralph Colt, who passed away on the 19th of May, 1919. The death of Mr.
Bagley occurred in 1918. He had long been interested in progressive measures in
relation to Minneapolis and was a member of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce
and the Duluth Board of Trade. He was also regent of the Longfellow Memorial
Association and was a popular and influential member of the Minneapolis,
Minikahda, Lafayette and Automobile Clubs and he belonged as well to the Society
of Colonial Wars. He had every reason to be proud of his American and his
English ancestry and his own life was cast in harmony therewith. He measured up
to the high standards of American manhood and citizenship and was numbered among
the contributors to the growth, the prosperity and greatness of the northwest.