William F. Bailey

As printed in 1910

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 History of Henry County, Illinois (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.