The below article was reprinted from the December 2021 edition of the Lewis County Historical Society publication “Shakin’ & Diggin'” (Volume 41 No. 4) having been originally sourced from an unattributed article in the Lewis County Herald newspaper (date unknown.)
An ancient tombstone has been unearthed near Quincy in a very unusual manner. Mr. Jim Vance, who lives on the farm of Mrs. Kathryn Ort Clark, near Quincy, was fishing on the river bank a few weeks ago when a large section of the riverbank gave way. Mr. Vance later observed that the earth slide had uncovered an old tombstone which had been buried under about 6 feet of soil.
The inscription on the stone read: Robert Bagby, Sr, died in 1827, in his 45th year.
It is strange that this tombstone was so near the riverbank because the Old Bagby graveyard, where many members of this family are buried, is beside the little barn which Mr. Dewey Taulbee built across the road from the Ort farm.
Location of the Bagby Cemetery in Quincy, Kentucky
The following gravestones are still to be found in the above-mentioned graveyard:
Willis Bagby, died May 7, 1849, age 47.
Mary, wife of Willis Bagby, died July 10, 1849, age 47 years and 16 days.
JL Bagby, died September 13, 1850, age 25 years and 8 months.
Meca Jane, consort of Robert Bagby, died April 17, 1837, age 21(on this same tombstone is another name which begins with Lewis Marshall, but the stone is broken and illegible.)
Matthew, son of John and CS McAllister1, died June 19, 1849, age 18 days.
Daniel B Stow, died August 8, 1841 (age broken off)
There are probably several other tombstones in this graveyard covered over by weeds and dirt. These are all that we could find.
The Bagby family settled very early in Lewis County and they married into the Truitt’s, Veaches, Thompsons and McAllisters. Most of their landholdings were between St. Paul and Quincy. They acquired their lands from Thomas Marshall, or from people who had recently purchased land from the Marshalls.
The Robert Bagby, whose tombstone was located on the riverbank, made his last will in Lewis County on October 21, 1827, and was probated April 21, 1828. It is recorded in the Lewis County Will Book B, page 266. In his will, he mentions his wife, Fanny, and the following children: Lewis Bagby, Willis Bagby, Robert Bagby Jr., William Bagby, John Bagby, Nancy Bagby (who married Alexander Thompson) and two other daughters whose names are not given.
These two unnamed daughters were Francis Bagby, who married William Bilderback in 1829, and Mary Bagby, who married John T Scott in 1842. After Robert Bagby Sr. died his widow, Francis Bagby, married William Marshall on January 6, 1830, in Lewis County. Willis Bagby, who is buried on the Taulbee farm, married Mary “Polly” Thompson on April 8, 1824, in Lewis County. She was the daughter of John Thompson, a pioneer settler of the Quincy area.
These Bagby’s had tankards on Rock Creek and Briery Creek, and had a number of small flat boats and rick boats.
Robert Bagby Sr. mentions a schoolhouse on his farm, which is obviously one of the earliest schools of the Quincy area.
This Bagby family later became very prominent and Carter County and around the city of Grayson. Some of the family moved to Lexington.
One descendent who has done a great deal of research on the family is Mrs. Mildred Truitt.
