Dear Sister,
My health is not good subject to bilious colic. Augusta wrote me
about relatives in Galveston. I do wish you would come and go to see
them. Your aunt must be very old. I would like to know where bouts
they live in Galveston. Is Dr. Dunklin a practicing MD and are the
Smiths still in the Mercantile business? We are both old ladies now
and have raised a large family of children. It would look hard for
us not to meet once more. I thought I was the only one of the
Bailey's left in the world. I often remarked they were all gone but
me.
Your affectionate Sister, Nancy Thomas
SOURCES:
Correspondence with many Bailey researchers with special thanks to sisters,
Mrs Jo DUNN and Mrs Martha TAYLOR of Alabama, who generously shared
their Alabama Bailey research.
Letter of Bailey researcher, Will F. FRANKE, 29 Jun 1949 “…The records that I have seem to indicate that her first husband
was Thomas Bailey by whom she was the mother of William Bailey,
Thomas Bailey, Brittain Bailey and Susan Bailey who married
Needham Lee.”….Brittain also came here, (Shelby Co, AL) but
early removed to Texas and settled land on the Brazos river in that
state. Thomas and William Bailey each had a son named Brittain.
Brittain, son of Thomas Bailey and Zilpha Lee, married Nancy Bailey,
daughter of his uncle William Bailey and wife Winifred Bailey, and
followed his uncle Brittain Bailey to Texas. …”
Records of Shelby Co, AL
Marriage Records from index (early marriage records weregiven to Will Franke)
BAILY, BRITTAIN to NANCY BAILY – 17 Jan 1821
(return dated 18th) by N. LEE, J.C.C (this is nephew
and niece of Brit)
Criminal Records (received May 1998 from Mrs Martha Taylor)
Indictment, Confession and Trial of James B. Bailey on charges of
counterfeiting.
FTM CD 5, 1st Edition, Mississippi Marriages, WARREN Co
Elizabeth BAILEY married David PHARR 8 Dec 1821
Capital Crime: the story of the romp through and East and Old Southwest by
counterfeiter Tom Davis and his gang of scoundrels in the early 19th century,
presented at the Alabama Studies Symposium, August 1, 1997 by
Miriam Rogers FOWLER. (received May 1998 from Mrs Martha Taylor)
p.16
“…The Bailey’s testimony is even more interesting. On November
5th, 1822, James B. Bailey blamed Brittain Bailey (This Brittain
was Thomas Bailey’s son, there are at least four Brittain Bailey
the immediate family) for giving him five Ten Dollar Bills on the
Bank of Nashville that proved to be bad money. Then James B.
Bailey, like Smith Randall, made a startling confession. He began
his narrative in 1815. He said that ‘Zilphy’ Bailey (Zilpha Lee
Bailey was Needham Lee Sr’s sister, and Thomas Bailey’s wife)
passed a counterfeit $100 bill (which bank he couldn’t remember),
to Neel & Simpson in the County. He said that he told Thomas L.
Bailey (son of Winifred Lee Bailey and William Bailey) that the
bill was counterfeit before it was passed. He further said that in
1819, Thomas L. Bailey told him he heard Thomas Bailey (uncle
of Thomas L. and brother-in-law of Needham Lee) say that he had
some quantity of counterfeit money in his possession. In 1820 or
1821 he said that Thomas B. told Thomas L. Bailey that he had a
quantity of counterfeit money of some of the Tennessee Banks. He
stated that William T. Wallace (in whose house the first courts of
Shelby County had been held) had a considerable quality of counter-
feit money, and told him if ‘you stand in need of any money I have
plenty for you, as we have always been friendly.’ Again, he said that
he had gotten the money from Brittain Bailey and Brittain Bailey’s
wife (Nancy Bailey, William Bailey’s daughter). He also confessed
that Brittain Bailey had loaned Ezekiel Henry (the sheriff) a ten
dollar bill from the Nashville Bank. He went on to say Brittain
Bailey had gotten money from his father Thomas Bailey, and that
he knew that it was counterfeit when he got it. Then he added that
Thomas Bailey, Brittain’s father, got the money from John Goodman.
Thomas Bailey got this money from Goodman as base money, so
says Brittain Bailey. James B. further stated Thomas Bailey told
Brittain Bailey that he had Counterfeit money in the amount of two
or three hundred dollars and Thomas Bailey’s wife had one fifty
dollar bill on the United States Bank which she took out of Bailey’s
pocket book. ..”
p.17
“… On November 18th, they broke out of the St Clair jail…”
p.18
“… Brittain Bailey, about 5 feet 10 inches high, dark hair, sandy
complexion, whiskers, slim made, 23 or 24 years old; James B. Bailey,
near 5 feet 8 inches high, tawny complexion, 23 or 24 years old – both
the Bailey’s are natives of Hawkins County, Tennessee, and make in
that in that direction …”
BAILEY, T.H., Bailey-Britton History and Genealogy, Kingsport, TN, 1962
p.179 and 180 (based on Will F. FRANKE’s 1949 letter)
Records of the Brazoria County, TX, courthouse in Angleton, Texas
Probate records:
James B. Bailey; deceased, case no. 17, filed 21 Jan 1833;
will dated 4 Oct 1832
Gaines Bailey; deceased, case no. 71, filed 28 Jan 1833
Smith Bailey; deceased, case no. 73, filed 23 Jul 1833
Criminal records:
Thomas S Hinds and wife, Mary, versus Cornelius Smith;
record reflects Mary, daughter of Cornelius Smith, was
previously married to Smith Bailey, deceased; Smith had
minor heir, Lucinda Bailey.
Marriage records:
Claiborne Rector to Mrs Elizabeth Milburn, 10 Aug 1841
GOLSON, Josephine, Bailey’s Light, p. 4
“…Dot was Bailey’s second wife and the sister of his first wife. He
had six children by the first wife, whose name was Edith, and Dot had
a babe in arms when they started on their long journey to Texas…”
GOLSON, Edward M., Frontier Times Magazine, “The Polley Family of Texas,”
Vol 22 No.11 August 1945
Mentions “…the Baileys of. Dunain, Scotland; Kenneth Bailey; Ann Elizabeth,
wife of John Irvine; Baillie's Island; James Brit-on Bailey, a grandson of
Kenneth Bailey
Victorian Lady on the Texas Frontier, The Journal of Ann Raney Coleman
Edited by C. Richard King
p.73 “…After Mr. B(ailey) sold his place, he went to Brazoria to open a hotel
and lived but a short time. He made a will which was a singular one. He
was buried standing upright with his face to the west, and his gun in his
arms, ready for a march. This was done and he requested to be buried
upon the place that formerly belonged to him, which was done, in a
pecan grove close to the house...”
HOLLEY, Mary Austin, Texas – Originally pub 1836, reproduced 1990
“…B_____ was a Kentuckian, and went to Texas in the early history of
the colony, and located himself on a lovely but solitary spot, when there
was scarcely a settlement of the Brazos. Here, with his wife and children,
he resided and was getting things snug and comfortable around him,
when evil-tongued rumor dragged him from his retreat. Word came to
Gen. Austin that B_____ had been a convict in the Penitentiary of
Kentucky. He, bound for the good character of the colonist, sent forth an
order immediately, as was his custom in such cases, for B_____ to decamp
within three days, on pain of summary punishment. Another refugee, the
infamous Desha, of Kentucky, averted the punishment of the law by
committing suicide. B_____ replied that, true, he had been in the
Penitentiary, and also he had been in the Legislature of Kentucky, where
he opposed the manufacture of so many banks, by which he and so many
others had been ruined; upon which he had been tempted to the crime of
forgery, or to do that on a small scale, which they had been doing on a
great one. He had paid the forfeit – had stolen off to his present retreat to
lead an honest and a solitary life, far from the world, which he desired
neither to injure or to serve – and now he wished to be let alone.
Upon this, Gen. Austin paid him a visit, and was to well pleased
with the conversation and improving condition of the old man and his
family, that he left him to live and die in peace.
The cholera in 1832 finished his course. He died in Brazoria
where it cannot be said he lies interred, for he was buried erect and in
full dress, with his rifle on his shoulder, according to his desire.”
SMITHWICK, Noah, Evolution of a State or Recollections of Old Texas Days,
Compiled by his daughter, Nanna Smithwick Donaldson 1900, 1983 Edition
Chapter III, p.21
“Among others that I recall as residents of the incipient town were my host
and hostess, Mr. and Mrs. Farr, the latter a daughter of Capt. Brit Bailey
(Mrs. Farr subsequently married David Milburn, at one time alcalde of San
Felipe); Joseph H. Polley, also a son-in-law of Capt. Bailey's;…”
Chapter V, p.50
A noted member of Austin's colony was Captain James B. Bailey, better
known as "Brit", Bailey, his arrival even antedating that of Austin himself.
But as up to that period foreigners could not procure title to land, Bailey had
only a squatter's claim. Still he felt that the priority of his claim should be
respected; therefore he rose in rebellion when notified that his claim was
within the limits of Austin's grant and that in order to secure it he would have
to comply with the regulations governing the real colonists. A compromise was
effected, however, and Captain Bailey lived and died on his original claim. When
he was in his last sickness, realizing that the end was near, he said to his wife:
"I have never stooped to any man, and when I am in my grave I don't
want it said, 'There lies old Brit Bailey.' Bury me so that the world must say,
‘There stands Bailey.' And bury me with my face to the setting sun. I have been
all my life traveling westward and I want to face that way when I die."
His widow, in compliance with his request, had a deep hole dug like a
well, into which the coffin was lowered, feet first, facing the setting sun…”
BODDIE, Mary Delaney, Thunder on the Brazos, pub 1978, p.36
Gaines Bailey died May 1832
FOSTER, Catherine Munson, “Bailey’s Light,” GHOSTS ALONG THE BRAZOS,
1977, p.7
“Brit’s house reflected his eccentricity, too. He built in on the highest
point of his land, a place called Bennett’s Ridge; he built it of wood and
painted it bright red….”
CREIGHTON, James A., A Narrative History of BRAZORIA COUNTY, 1986, p.7
“Another citizen of Brazoria County who arrived prior to 1822 was
James Britton (Brit) Bailey. He was also a veteran of the War of 1812, and
when he came to Texas he brought with him his wife and six children. He
was the first to raise a pole cabin on the prairie now name for him (Bailey’s
Prairie…”
Family files, Old 300 files & Plantation files found at the Brazoria
County Historical Museum, Angleton Texas
SURNAMES: Bailey, Milburn, Polley, Smith
Records of the Texas General Land Office:
Certificate #733 – Nancy Baily, heir of Briton (Brittain) Baily,
27 Sep 1837 issued by Brazoria County
Board of Land Commissioners
Certificate #374 – Dorothy Baily,
1 Mar 1839 issued by Brazoria County Board
of Land Commissioners
The New Handbook of Texas Online
“SMITH, Meriwether Woodson”; article reflects:
“…Elizabeth Bailey, widow of Gaines Bailey…”
“SHREVE, John Milton”; article reflects:
“… he was married to Sarah Bailey in August 1836. Mrs
Shreve died in June 1837…”
“BAILEY, James Briton” - shown above
WHITE, Gifford, Character Certificates in the General Land Office of Texas, 1985, p.6
Gaines Bailey, p.60
Secretary of State – The Georgia Archives, Georgia’s Virtual Vault Online,
Scanned images of the will of Kenneth BAILLIE. written 7 Jul 1766;
Heirs listed:
Elizabeth - wife
Kenneth – oldest son
Robert Carnibe – son
Alexander – son
Jean – daughter and wife of Andrew Darling
Ann Elizabeth – daughter and wife of John Irvine, Surgeon
WILLIAMS, Villamae, Stephen F Austin’s Register of Families, 1996, p.60
Gaines Bailey
“1790-1930 Federal Censuses Images,”
(Digital scans of original records in the
National Archives, Washington, DC, and online
through Ancestry.com )
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