John D. Wagg Papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Special Collections, University Libraries (0434)
Newman Library
Virginia Tech
P.O. Box 90001
560 Drillfield Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001
Contact for questions and access:
Phone: (540) 231-6308
Fax: (540) 231-3694
Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials. Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.

Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], John D. Wagg Papers, Ms1992-048, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Summary

Extent:
0.4 Cubic Feet 1 box
Creator:
Wagg, John D., 1835-1866
Abstract:
The John D. Wagg Papers, 1849-1894, documents the career and religious thoughts of Methodist preacher John D. Wagg and his fellow preachers, as well as the lives of his daughter Bettie Wagg, their family, and their friends. The collection contains correspondence, diaries and notebooks, sermons, church documents, and miscellaneous writings.
Language:
The materials in the collection are in English.
Preferred citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], John D. Wagg Papers, Ms1992-048, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

The John D. Wagg Papers, 1849-1894, contain correspondence, diaries and notebooks, church documents, and miscellaneous poems and essays. Correspondence comprises letters to Wagg from ministers, family, and friends, 1858-1866, and letters between Bettie Wagg and her grandfather James Wagg and friends,1869-1894. Church documents include Wagg's credentials and a list of members and map of the Hillsville circuit. The diaries and notebooks include notes for and copies of sermons as well as information about church. There are also miscellanous poems and essays by Wagg and his wife Lavinia and daughter Bettie.

Includes two handwritten copies.

Includes typewritten transcription

Includes short notes from "Mattie" and Lula [Umberger?].

Includes lock of hair and sheet with family data.

Compiled by J. M. McTeer and J. D. Wagg, this book includes names of church members.

Biographical / historical:

John D. Wagg, son of minister James Wagg, was born in Jefferson, North Carolina, on July 8, 1835. Although he initially studied medicine in 1854 at Jefferson Academy, Wagg eventually entered the ministry. On July 17, 1858, the Holston Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South authorized and licensed him as a preacher. The Holston Conference, in the mid-nineteenth century, encompassed most of western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and southwestern Virginia.

Wagg's first appointments were in the Virginia counties of Giles, Russell, and Wise, where he labored as a circuit preacher. By 1859, however, he was reassigned to Hillsville, Virginia, where he married Lavinia "Vin" Anderson on May 13, 1862.

Wagg subsequently assumed ministerial duties in Asheville, North Carolina, in late 1862. His only child, Martha Elizabeth "Bettie" Wagg, was born there at the home of lawyer Joshua Roberts on March 6, 1863. On August 6, 1864, his wife Lavinia died.

In late 1864, John D. Wagg relocated to Bristol, Virginia, although he continued to deliver occasional sermons in Asheville. Wagg was superannuated by the Methodist Episcopal Church South in 1865 because of tuberculosis. He died in 1866.

Bettie Wagg attended Martha Washington College in Abingdon, Virginia, in the mid-1880s. She died on March 20, 1898, and is buried along with her father John D. Wagg in Hillsville, Virginia.

Acquisition information:
The John D. Wagg Papers were purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in November 1992 and August 2011.
Processing information:

The processing, arrangement, and description of the John D. Wagg Papers commenced and was completed in January 1993. Additional processing, arrangement, and description was completed in September 2020.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged by material type.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard