James Baggett was born in North Carolina in about 1756. Originally a resident of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, Baggett later resided in Anson and Johnston counties. He served as a private in the militia during the American Revolution, during which time he might have served alongside the Bryan family, many of whom served as officers in the Johnston County Militia. In 1780 Baggett testified in the murder trial of Lewis Bryan, where Bryan's enslaved person Jenney was found guilty of poisoning her enslaver. Baggett later moved to Montgomery County, Tennessee, where he died on June 29, 1838.