The Bailey Families of Henry County, Illinois

WILLIAM F. BAILEY.

The life record of William F. Bailey is a credit to the city of his adoption for Galva found in him a progressive merchant, whose methods are reliable and whose enterprise has given to the city one of its chief mercantile establishments, for he is now at the head of the Bailey Dry Goods Company, owners of a well appointed dry-goods and department store. He was born in Circleville, Ohio, June 14, 1844, his parents being William D. and EUza (Smith) Bailey, natives of Pennsylvania and Maryland respectively. The latter was a daughter of a sea captain, who died, however, when Mrs. Bailey was an infant. He represented one of the oldest American families, being a descendant of Captain John Smith.

William D. Bailey was a printer by trade and for fifty-three years was identified with that business. He established the Des Moines Register, but afterward, returned to Pennsylvania, residing successively in Harrisburg, Williamsport and Wellsboro, after which he took up his above at Bellefonte, where he died when about sixty-three years of age. His wife long survived him and passed away at the age of eighty-four years. They attended the Episcopal church, but Mr. Bailey was not strongly sectarian, being on the contrary a liberal supporter of church work and maintained a seat in every church in town. During the Civil war he went to the front on an emergency call about the time of the battle of Gettysburg. In community affairs he was prominent, serving as registrar and recorder of Tioga county, Pennsylvania, for six years. In antebellum days he was a stanch abolitionist, joined the republican party on its formation to prevent the further extension of slavery and was elected to office on the first republican ticket that was placed in the field in his district. He was a warm personal friend of Horace Greeley and frequently entertained him and others prominent in the political history of the country at his home. Unto him and his wife were born seven children, two sons and five daughters, namely: William F., of this review; Frances, who died at the age of twenty-one years; Mrs. Mary Elmore, a widow; Adelaide, the wife of W. B. Rankin of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania; Newton S., a United Brethren minister at Bellefonte; and one who died in infancy.

WiHiam F. Bailey was reared in Pennsylvania, the family home being established in Harrisburg when he was but six weeks old. There he remained to the age of four years when a removal was made to Wellsboro, where he resided until he reached the age of seventeen. Just before he reached the age of seventeen he offered his services to the government in response to the need for troops to serve in the Union Army. He joined Company H, Sixth Pennsylvania Reserves, a regiment whose history is unique and creditable. They were the first troops rushed into Washington following the first battle of Bull Run, Mr. Bailey enlisted on the 22d of April, 1861, and served continuously until April 27, 1865; or for more than four years. He joined the army as a private and was promoted through successive grades to the rank of first lieutenant. He was wounded in the shoulder at the battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, December 13, 1862, and again on the 30th of May, 1864, at the battle of Bethesda Church when bullets pierced his foot and his leg. He took part in the battles of Drainsville, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, the ten days' fight in the wilderness, the second battle of Bull Run, Spottsylvania Courthouse, North Ann River and many others of importance together with numerous skirmishes, and after being captured was incarcerated in Libby Prison at Andersonville and at Florence. Few can show as extended military record or one which indicates more strenuous service.

After the war Mr. Bailey studied in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for six months and then went to Atchison, Kansas, where he remained for a year and a half, engaged in the dry-goods business. He next went to New York city, where he lived for three and a half years and during that period was married in Brooklyn, New York. While in the metropolis he acted as buyer for a syndicate owning a dry-goods store. Later he went to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he remained for several years and for three years was proprietor of a store at Rebersburg. At Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, he engaged in the publication of a newspaper for a year and in May, 1879, became a resident of Illinois, at which time he located in Galesburg, there conducting a dry-goods business until 1895, when ill health caused him to seek a change of climate and he went to North Carolina. On the 1 2th of December, 1898, he came to Galva, where he opened a dry-goods store, which has since been conducted under the name of the Bailey Dry Goods Company. This establishment occupies a large double store room and a number of sales people are employed. The company maintains a high standard in the personnel of the store, in the line of goods carried and in the service rendered to the public and its patronage has continually increased as the result of the reliable business methods of the house and the earnest efforts puts forth to please the patrons.

On the 3d of December, 1868, Mr. Bailey was married to Miss Henrietta Graves, a daughter of Major William Graves. Mrs. Bailey was born amid the far-famed lakes of Killarney and leaving the Emerald isle when a maiden of thirteen summers came to America and was reared in Brooklyn, New York. She traces her ancestry back to the Earl of Vincent and even back to William the

Conqueror. Her parents were natives of England and her father, who served in the war of 1812, was wounded in the knee at the battle of New Orleans. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey have but one daughter, Marcella Henrietta. The parents are members of the Episcopal church, in the work of which they take active and helpful part, Mr. Bailey frequently leading the church services.

His political endorsement is given to the republican party and while residing in Galesburg, he served for one term as alderman. He holds membership in Galva post, G. A. R., and in all his Hfe he has been as loyal to the duties of citizenship and to the interests of the country at large as when he followed the old flag on southern battle fields. While he is one of the more recent additions to the business circles of Galva, he is today regarded as one of the city's most enterprising and progressive merchants and his record is a valuable asset in her commercial history.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

ROBERT E. BAILEY.

One of the citizens of Atkinson, Illinois, with whom time has dealt very lightly is Robert E. Bailey, who carries his sixty-six years as many another man carries fifty and is more active in his movements. Save for a slight difficulty in hearing time has left little mark upon him. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1844, he comes from sturdy Scotch-Irish stock. His parents, Thomas and Christina (Irquoihart) Bailey, were born in Edinburgh, Scotland, some ninety years ago and came to America shortly after their marriage. They settled first in Providence, where Dr. Bailey followed the medical profession, and then lived in Brooklyn and in other places on Long Island. A number of years ago, while on a visit to a son, he passed away, and his wife is also deceased. Five children, three sons and two daughters constituted the family born to Dr. and Mrs. Bailey; James, who lives in Wisconsin; Charles A., who lives on Long Island; Emma, the wife of William Walker, a resident of Brooklyn, New York; Virginia, also of Brooklyn; and Robert E., of this review.

Robert E. Bailey received his education in the schools of Brooklyn, New York, and then entered a produce commission house in New York city. He remained with the firm for six years and then determined to start in the poultry business for himself. With this purpose in view he came west, locating in Meadville, Missouri, where during a period of twenty years he carried on business successfully, finding a ready market for his poultry and his eggs. Despite the good fortunes that had attended him in this business, he gave it up about thirty years ago to take up work as a painter and paper-hanger, which was his occupation in 1892 when he came to Atkinson and opened his shop on State street. In the seventeen years that he has been connected with commercial life here he has done much and good work, work which like the man that accomplished it has withstood the ravages of time.

In 1877 Mr. Bailey married Miss Clara Milar. She was born in Ohio in 1854 and was a daughter of R. W. and Rebecca (Kinsley) Milar. The father was a carpenter during his lifetime, but has been dead for some years as has his wife. Mrs. Bailey, who also departed this life on the loth of August, 1908, and was buried in Geneseo cemetery two days later, was a devoted wife, a kind neighbor, and beloved by all who knew her. Shortly after her marriage she joined the Baptist church with her husband and was ever afterward a conscientious adherent of that faith. Among the members of the Eastern Star, to which she belonged she made stanch friends who unite with her husband in morning her loss. She became the mother of one child, now deceased. The home which \lr. Bailey occupies, a very pretty residence on State street, was one of the first houses built in Atkinson and was erected by Mrs. Bailey's father, so that it held many associations for both husband and wife. In politics Mr. Bailey is a good republican, finding his ideals of government best expressed in the platform of that party, but he takes no active part in either political or public matters.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

HUGH WALLACE BAILEY, M. D. V.

Dr. Hugh Wallace Bailey, a veterinary surgeon of Orion, has become recognized as a man of ability in his chosen calling, who through the exercise of his native talents has become very successful in the practice of his profession. One of Illinois' native sons, he was born near Coal Valley, Rock Island county, on the 26th of January, 1872, and is a son of James and Margaret (Warnock) Bailey. Both parents were born in County Down, Ireland, and came to America with their parents in the year 1849. The Bailey and Warnock families sailed on the same vessel from the old country, landing in New York after a voyage of eleven weeks, and then together went to Bufifalo by way of the Erie canal and thence to Chicago by the lakes. From that city they traveled overland to Rock Island county, where the homes of both families were established, and where the grandfathers of our subject, Robert Bailey and John Warnock, were both engaged in the occupation of farming. In the Warnock family were six sons and two daughters, while the Bailey family consisted of three sons and one daughter who grew to maturity and twin daughters who passed away in infancy.

James Bailey, the father of Dr. Bailey, also engaged in farming in Rock Island county, in which line of activity he was very successful, becoming a large landowner. He and his father-in-law, John Warnock, were the first to introduce into that county thoroughbred Durham cattle, and both became very extensive breeders, their stock becoming widely known throughout the district, being in great demand for breeding purposes. They were both republicans in politics and were very active and prominent in community affairs, especially Mr. Warnock, who was supervisor of Rural township for many years. Mr. Bailey was a prominent and faithful member of the United Presbyterian church, in which he served as elder for a number of years, and was also an active worker in the Sunday school, being a man of excellent character and high and honorable principles, who enjoyed the unqualified respect and regard of all who were associated with him in business or private life. He passed away on the 16th of August, 1897, his remains being interred in the Homestead church cemetery near his old home. His widow still survives and is a most estimable lady, greatly admired and loved by all who know her. In their family were eight children, all of whom still survive, namely: Mary E., at home; Anna, principal of a school at Moline, Illinois; William W., practicing medicine at LeClaire, Iowa; Jennie, who married Rolland Metzler and makes her home on the old home farm in Rock Island county; John W., who is married and carries on farming near Coal Valley; Hugh Wallace, of this review; Ella, the wife of Roy Ferguson, a prominent farmer of Western township; and Bessie, a teacher in the Henry county schools.

No event of special importance came to vary the routine of life for Hugh Wallace Bailey during the period of his boyhood and youth, which was spent in Rock Island county, amid the scenes and environments of rural life. He spent his time in the usual manner of the country lads of that day, acquiring his early education in the district schools near his home. He remained under the parental roof, giving his father the benefit of his assistance in the work of the home farm, until he attained his majority, when he started out in business life on his own account as a farmer. He was married when about twenty-five years of age, after which he purchased a farm in Rural township. Rock Island county, and there carried on general farming for a number of years. He also became an extensive raiser and breeder of thoroughbred Hereford cattle, in which he was eminently successful. He was thus engaged until 1906 when, thinking a professional life would be more congenial if not more profitable, he went to Chicago, where he became a student in the McKilHp Veterinary College. During the periods of vacation he established himself in his profession in Orion, Henry county, and immediately upon his graduation, which occurred in March, 1909, took up a permanent location in this city and has since been engaged in the practice of his chosen calling here. He maintains a hospital for the treatment of all kinds of animal diseases and although he has been here but a short time, he has already built up a large practice among the farmers and stockmen of the community in Henry, Mercer, and Rock Island counties, which is constantly growing in volume and importance. He makes a specialty of animal dentistry and in this line has been very successful, his reputation as a careful, capable and efficient practitioner extending over a wide territory.

On the 25th of August, 1897, Dr. Bailey was united in marriage to Miss Jennie S. Wilson, a daughter of John A. and Jennie (Scott) Wilson, of Rock Island county, Illinois, both parents being natives of the Prairie state. The father is a son of Judge Wilson, who for many years was judge of Rock Island county and a most benevolent gentleman, befriending the wives and widows of the soldiers during the time of the Civil war. John A. Wilson was for a number of years an extensive and successful farmer of Rock Island county, also carrying on stock-raising on a very large scale. He was well known in public circles, being a very prominent and influential factor in community affairs. A democrat in politics, he was supervisor of Rural township for a longer time than any other man. He and his wife still survive and make their home on their ranch near Emmet, Nebraska. They are the parents of four daughters and two sons, Jennie Saria, the wife of Dr. Bailey, being the only member of the family living in Henry county. The entire Wilson family are musical in their taste, Mrs. Wilson being a very accomplished musician, while a daughter, Alma E., is an instructor of music in the Leonard-Wilson School of Music in Chicago and also a vocal teacher in the Cosmopolitan School of Music & Dramatic Art in that city. Unto Dr. and Mrs. Bailey have been born three daughters, Elta M., Jennie Lucille and Helen W., all of whom are yet in school. They all seem to inherit considerable musical ability from their mother, who is very proficient in that art, and they will be given thorough advanced training in both music and literature.

Dr. Bailey and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, the latter being very active in the work of both the church and Sunday school. Fraternally he belongs to Valley Lodge, No. 547, A. F. & A. M., at Coal Valley, and also to the Modern Woodmen of America. In politics he supports both parties, doing all in his power to further the best interests of the community but has never desired nor held public office himself. He has not, however, been remiss in his duties of citizenship, but on the other hand has been actively and helpfully interested in community affairs, always keeping thoroughly posted in all matters of public moment. He is very strong in his advocacy of all measures which are calculated to conserve and promote the public welfare and his influence at all times is on the side of progress, advancement and reform. Early trained to habits of industry and diligence, those qualities have been manifest throughout his entire business career and have been salient elements in the gratifying measure of success which he today enjoys. He also inherited from his parents their high ideals of life and his record has ever been in harmony with those things which go to make up honorable and upright manhood, so that he ranks foremost among Orion's representative and valued citizens.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.