Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/185

BAILEY.BAILEY. BAILEY, Theodorus, naval officer, was born at Chateaugay, N. Y., April 12, 1805, nephew of Theodorus Bailey, senator, and a grandson of John Bailey, the first man to hoist the revolutionary flag in New York. At the age of thirteen he joined the navy as midshipman and served on the coast of Africa, in the Pacific and the West Indies. He was promoted lieutenant March 3, 1837, and in 1833-'36 he made a cruise around the world in the Vincennes, later making a similar cruise in the Constellation. He was given command of the Lexington in 1846, serving on the Mexican and Californian coasts, where he blockaded and captured San Blas and did other excellent service. He was promoted commander in 1849, and in 1855 with the St. Mary's joined the Pacific squadron, being promoted captain on December 15 of the same year. He reached Panama during the troubles there and quelled them successfully. In 1861 he was ordered to join Farragut at the mouth of the Mississippi river, and was given command of the Colorado. The frigate was found to be too heavy to cross the bar, and many of the guns and officers were transferred to lighter vessels. Captain Bailey obtained command of the leading division in the passage of the forts below New Orleans sailing to that city in the Cayuga with Lieut. George H. Perkins; and was sent to the city of New Orleans by Admiral Farragut to demand from the mayor an unconditional surrender. He was received by an armed and angry mob, and his mission was quoted as "one of the most gallant acts performed during the whole war." He was chosen by Farragut as the bearer of the despatches and reports to the government at Washington announcing the victory, and was promoted commodore July 16, 1862. In June, 1862, he was placed in command of the East Gulf squadron, as acting rear-admiral, and as such rendered important service in the blockade of Florida, stopping the illicit trade that was being carried on with the West Indian ports, and capturing about 150 blockade runners. In 1866 he was promoted rear-admiral, commanding the Portsmouth, N. H., navy yard from 1865 to 1867. He was retired Oct. 10, 1866, and died in Washington, D. C, Feb. 10, 1877. BAILEY, Wesley, reformer, was born at Fayetteville, Onondaga county, N. Y., in 1808. son of Elijah Bailey, who for some years preached and edited a religious paper in that town. When a young man he assisted in editing his father's paper, and prepared himself for the ministry, to which he was subsequently ordained. In 1845 he was induced by a number of the prominent abolitionists of Utica to remove to that city and establish a newspaper devoted to the cause in which they were enlisted. This resulted in the Liberty Press, which soon won recognition throughout the country as a leading organ of the liberty party of that day. After the political campaign of 1848 in which the journal vigorously supported the Van Buren Free-Soil ticket, Mr. Bailey changed the name of his paper to that of Teetotaler, and entered earnestly into the support of the total abstinence movement. He served for several terms as the chief executive officer of the order of the sons of temperance, then a powerful organization, and was one of the founders of the Republican party. In 1856 he was a candidate on the Fremont state ticket for state prison inspector. In 1860 he removed to Decorah, Iowa, and in company with one of his sons, A. K. Bailey, established the Republican, a successful paper. Another son, E. Prentiss Bailey, afterwards became editor of the Utica, N. Y., Observer. Wesley Bailey died Feb. 26, 1889. BAILEY, William H., lawyer, was born in North Carolina, Jan. 22, 1831. He was admitted to the bar in January, 1852, and in 1856 was elected attorney-general of North Carolina. In connection with his practice, he taught a law school, until the breaking out of the civil war, when he joined the Confederate army, and was present at the battle of Great Bethel Church. Va., which he claims, as the first Confederate victory, had more effect in prolonging hostilities than any other event. During the war he was acting assistant adjutant-general, judge advocate, and was also appointed receiver under the Confederate government. He was county solicitor at different periods of his life. In 1882 he was elected a representative to the legislature of North Carolina and served as chairman of the judiciary committee. He was also one of the code commissioners of the state. He removed late in life to Houston, Texas, where his son edited the Houston Daily Herald. The degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by Rutherford college, N. C. Mr. Bailey gained a local fame as a humorist in verse. He also wrote several law-books. "The Conflict of Judicial Decisions"; "Onus Probandi"; " Self-Taught Law"; and "The Detective Faculty," and edited "The Fifth North Carolina Digest," and many articles legal, historical, and biographical for the magazines and newspapers.