See also
1 Cora C. BAILEY1,2 (c. 1868- ) [4828]. Born c. 1868.1
From the Orion Weekly Review.
August 1891 - "Miss Cora Bailey, of Mahopac, has been engaged as one of the teachers in the Orion High School."
From the Oakland County Press.
February 16, 1894 - "School commenced last week [Mahopac] with Cora Bailey as teacher."
March 29, 1902 - "Miss Cora Bailey returned to her school in Manchester after having been here [Pontiac] for a week."
Excerpt from An Account of Oakland County edited by Lillian Drake Avery, 1925.
"The Florence Avenue school, located on the corner of Florence and Willow avenues, has four teachers including the principal, Cora C. Bailey.".
2 Wallace BAILEY3 (1842- ) [4621]. Born 3 Jun 1842.2,3 Marr Sarah C. CASE 4 Jan 1866, Oakland, MI.4
From Portrait and Biographical Album of Oakland County, Michigan, 1891.
"WALLACE BAILEY. This name will be recognized by many readers as that of a farmer and stock-raiser located in Orion Township, where he and his brothers own four hundred acres of fine land. Mr. Bailey devotes his time entirely to agricultural affairs and, having been reared on a farm and had much to do with it's management when he was quite young, he is a master of his calling. He has a fine large dwelling with attractive surroundings and a full supply of farm buildings, so that he is well equipped for the carrying on of his work and lives in much comfort. He is a native of this county, born in Independence Township, June 3, 1842, and all his interests have centered here.
In Tioga County, Pa., in 1816, Wilson Bailey, the father of our subject was born. He came to this state about 1831, when the county was full of wild game, and the part in which he settled showed a vestige of improvement. He was one of the first to locate land in Independence Township and the deed signed by Gen Jackson is still in the possession of Mrs. Bailey. He walked from Detroit to his destination, there being no railroads or stage lines. The customary log home was built, a clearing made and some simple improvements, and after a few years Mr. Bailey returned to the Keystone State for his parents, having located 80 acres of land for them. As time passed he placed his farm in good condition and in 1856 bought 600 acres on section 19, Orion Township, which has since become known as the Steam Mill Farm. He entered into partnership with F.C. Myrick, for the manufacture of pine lumber, but the partnership was soon dissolved. A mill had been built by Mr. Myrick which run seven saws, and a large amount of lumber was made. Mr. Bailey was a thorough businessman and at the time of his demise was engaged in various enterprises. He had limited means when he came West but was successful in accumulating property. He was a life long member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the faith of which he died May 26, 1862.
The mother of our subject was known in her maidenhood as Miss Rachel Riker. She was born in Chemung County, N.Y., in 1817, and is still living; she has belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years and her character is one that reflects credit upon her Christian profession. She is the mother of six children, but one has crossed the river of death. Wallace is the eldest of the family and was born in a log house built by his father in Independence Township. He attended the district school, which was held in the primitive building with homemade furniture, and became well versed in such branches as were then taught. After his father's death the management of the estate largely devolved upon him and he remained at the old home until his marriage. The property was kept together and the youngest brother became of age.
In 1965 Mr. Bailey was married to Sarah C. Case, a native of Sussex County, N.J., born in 1847. Her parents came to this State about 1855, and she completed her studies and youthful training here. To Mr. and Mrs. Bailey three children have been born, named respectively, Cora C., Mamie E. and Gracie M. They have had good privileges and careful home training and the first-born is now successfully engaged in teaching. In 1868 Mr. Bailey removed to Orion Township where he has since lived. He votes the Republican ticket and has been a Mason nearly thirty years. He and his wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which they have good standing, as they have throughout the community."
From Pontiac, MI newspapers.
1880-01-21 - "Wallace Bailey is making considerable improvements on his farm west of here [Mahopac]."
1880-03-24 - "Wallace Bailey buried his infant child one day last week."
29 Jan 1892 - "Maud Burlingham, of Pontiac, visited at Wallace Bailey's a few days last week.".
4 Wilson BAILEY5 (1816-1862) [4585]. Born 17 Mar 1816, Sullivan Twp., Tioga County, PA.5 Marr Rachel RIKER 18 Jan 1840.6 Died 26 May 1862, Orion Twp., MI.2,5 Buried Sashabaw Cemetery.7
8 Robert Wilson BAILEY8 (1797-1868) [3549]. Born 27 Apr 1797, Brookline, MA.5,8 Marr Malinda HOTCHKISS 1815, Tioga Co., PA.8 Died 3 Sep 1868, Independence Twp, Oakland Co., MI.8 Buried Sashabaw Cemetery.9
Robert was listed as the head of a family on the 1820 Census in Sullivan Township, Tioga County, Pennsylvania. Malinda and Robert had two girls and two boys all under ten in the household.
9 Malinda HOTCHKISS8 (1800-1876) [3550]. Born 9 May 1800, Argyle, Washington Co., NY.8 Died 20 Feb 1876, Brandon Twp., Oakland Co., MI.8 Buried Sashabaw Cemetery.10
From the Oakland County Pioneer Clippings 1873 - 1876.
"Seventy-fifth Anniversary of Mrs. Malinda Bailey:
I have noticed a number of articles that were written by the pioneers of this county. Being a pioneer myself, seventy-five years old today, I will try and give a brief account of my early days; the place of my happy childhood hours and to the present time. I was born in the year 1800, in the town of Argyle, Washington County, New York, on the east side of North River, one mile from old Fort Edward.
Not wishing to take up too much room in the columns of your valuable paper, but in order to make my account interesting I wish to say something about my parentage. My father was of English descent. His grandfather was one of the Pilgrims that landed at Plymouth Rock on the 23rd of December 1620. My mother was of French descent. Her father came from France in the latter part of 1776 or the former part of 1777 and enlisted as a soldier during the contest between the colonies and England and served under General Lafayette. My father was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1758 and went into the service when but a boy in years and remained during the principal part of the war until he, with some of his fellow soldiers, was taken prisoners. As a soldier of our revolution, he fought gallantly for our liberty; was a prisoner in the prison ship and sugar house in New York and suffered all the horrors of their dismal and lonesome places, but his sorrows are o'er and he has gone to the reward of his services. His sleep is now the calm sleep of the patriot and the soldier; his country owed him the cheer of gratitude. He was a prisoner for nine long months and was frozen from his feet to his knees. Although he lived to a good old age, as he was 96 years old when he died.
My grandfather on my mother's side was in the service also. My grandmother was left alone with a family of four at the time Burgoyne was marching through the country with his forces of soldiers and Indians, murdering, burning and destroying all before them. Even some of his Indian allies got disgusted with him, or at least a great many of them did and deserted. Then one of their number went to warn the people of approaching danger, as the able-bodied men were mostly in the service.
Fort Edward, as I have before mentioned, was filled with aged men, women and children. So that many, for the want of room, were compelled to remain outside of the fort. When the Indian came to tell them of their danger, a great many went to a large pine and spruce swamp for greater safety and among them, my grandmother with her four children, my mother being the eldest, aged 14 years. I should have stated before that those families took what provisions and things they could conveniently (take) with them and remained there several days. In the meantime, Burgoyne was defeated and surrendered his army. Again they repaired to their respective homes. The Indian that came to notify them of their danger afterwards lived and died in that town, beloved by all who knew him.
After peace was declared, my father married Miss Lucy Carey, my mother, and settled there, where they remained for a number of years, but finally sold out and went to Pennsylvania in an early day and there lived the remainder of his days in the town of Tioga, Tioga County.
As I have been saying things that have been handed down to me, I will now try and say something about myself and family.
I was married to Mr. Robert Bailey in the year 1815, in the 15th year of my age. We settled in Rutland Twp., Tioga County, Pennsylvania, where we lived a number of years. From there we moved to the town of Southport, Chemung County, New York, two miles from Elmira where we resided until the year 1835 when the Michigan emigration excitement broke out and we made up our minds, as our family was mostly sons then as it was almost impossible to get land there for them, to come to Michigan in the hopes that they would settle around us. Accordingly, on the 20th day of May 1835, we started from Southport with teams and went to a place called Horseheads, seven miles above Elmira where General Sullivan lost his pack horse; this place derives its name by the affair. There we went on board of a scow boat to the head of Seneca Lake where we went on board of the steamer, "Seneca", that towed seventeen ca**** boats to Geneva where we were again three days on the road from Horseheads to Montezuma, where we went onto the grand canal line boat to Buffalo and then we took passage on the steamer "Daniel Webster". There were about 500 passengers on board. The lake was very calm and he had a splendid time. We arrived in Detroit the 4th of June where we met some old acquaintances and friends and stayed overnight with them and they conveyed us with their teams on the morning of the 5th to Royal Oak, a distance of 12 miles, over the muddiest roads that I ever traveled on before or since to my memory. The wagon would sink to the axletree in the mud in any spot. The men were obliged to pry the wagons out of many of the sinkholes. We were all day coming from Detroit to Royal Oak, where we again met some old friends living where we concluded to stop awhile. As we had not located any land yet, we stopped at this place near as I can remember about two weeks and during that time my husband with some others started out (in the then) almost densely wooded wilderness in search of our future home and made up his mind to locate on the land that I now live on. Accordingly as before, our friends moved us to the neighborhood that I now live in; again we had a bad road from Royal Oak to Pontiac.
I will now say something about Pontiac at that time. As we stopped there to refresh ourselves and teams, it did not look at that time as though it would make the place it is at the present time. There were no public or private buildings then of any consequence. There were two small stores - one kept by Schuyler Hodges and the other by Mr. Chamberlain. There were two taverns - one was kept by Mr. Fuller and the other by the late Solomon Clone; they were old, rackety taverns, by no means hotels. I believe that this is all that I can say about Pontiac, unless I should say something about the mud that was nearly a foot deep and by no means fit for a person to walk across the street or at least many of the present time that live in Pontiac would not like to try it. Again we left Pontiac and came on the turnpike as far north and west as what is now called and known as the Williams' property. There we turned to the right and came up by Silver Lake north of Sashabaw Plains where three or four families were living. Then we came on north in the neighborhood that I now live and stopped and stayed at John Daines overnight and not wishing to be any trouble to others, my husband thought that he would look around and find some temporary home until he could erect one upon our own land. When he happen to run across a man who had the care of a lot of land having the body of a log house built upon it, which he told us we could move into if we could get in it as there was neither door or window in it. Accordingly they cut a place for a door and Mr. Issac Coon lent us some boards for a loose floor and then we moved into it and done our baking principally out-of-doors, as there was no chimney or fireplace in the house. Mr. George Miller now owns the farm where this house used to stand.
We soon commenced to make some improvements on our own land and to fix to build a house which did not get finished until sometime in October when we moved in. The winter following was very mild and we thought we had come to a state that was free from cold weather. As this last winter has been, there is a great contrast between it and the ones of 1935-36. The winter of 1875 has been the coldest I ever experienced, provisions at that time (1835-1836) were very scarce as hardly enough had been raised to supply the settlers. Flour was twelve dollars a barrel and other thing equally as high, although we never suffered any to speak of for the want of necessaries of life. There was game of almost every description that ever roamed the Michigan wild woods. There was also plenty of fish in the creeks and lakes for which this part of the county is quite famous and which was a great help to the settlers. My husband, being quite a hand to hunting, he could kill a deer at almost any time that he wished. At that time one could frequently see from fifteen to twenty in droves. They were in good order and so they supplied us with tallow as well as meat. One could go out after dark and hear the howling of the wolves in almost every direction. Their howls made it very hideous. The first winter that we lived in our place, my husband caught seventeen for which he received twelve dollars per head bounty money. Our nearest neighbor north of us was Jacob VanWagoner, who lived eight miles distant.
Our family consists of five sons and two daughters, all settled within the boundary of four miles with the exception of one, who took a notion to travel and see more of the world before he settled down. He went to California fourteen years since where he made a fortune of about thirty thousand dollars, but now resides in Pennsylvania. Our two eldest sons, William and Wilson, settled on each side of us, but we have not escaped affliction and have been called upon to mourn the loss of our two oldest children. Wilson died in 1862, aged 46 years; Mrs. Tubbs died in 1865, aged 51 years. My husband died in 1868, aged 71 years. I still live on the old homestead and am blessed with many comforts of life that many are deprived of with a measure of heath and strength for one of my age. I have 34 grandchildren and 29 great-grandchildren; but I feel as though I am living on borrowed time. How much longer?"
Obituary in the Pontiac Bill Poster, March 1, 1876.
"It is our painful duty this week to announce the death of an another aged pioneer, which is that of Mrs. Malinda Bailey, who died at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Louisa Kingsley, Sunday evening, the 20th inst, in the 70th year of her age. Mrs. B. was born in the year 1800, in the town of Argile, Washington county, N.Y., one mile from old Fort Edward, and was married to Robert Bailey in 1815, and immigrated to the town of Independence in 1835, where in 1868, Robert Bailey died. They lived to see their four sons and two daughters settled around them, enjoying the many comforts of life. Mrs. B. was a member of the Christian church, and died expressing a complete and blessed hope beyond the tomb. Her funeral sermon was preached at the Seymour Lake church by the Rev. Mr. Hedger, in presence of her relatives and friends, who followed her remains to the Sashabaw Cemetery.".
5 Rachel RIKER2,3,6 (1817-1894) [4620]. Born 31 Dec 1817, Big Flats, Chemung Co., NY.2,3,7 Died 18 Apr 1894, Independence Twp, Oakland, Co., MI.7 Cause: Heart failure. Buried Sashabaw Cemetery.7
From a Pontiac, MI newspaper.
07 Jul 1875 - "Mrs. Rachel Bailey is having her residence renovated from cellar to garret."
04 Jun 1879 - "The widow Bailey is also on the sick list."
28 May 1884 - "Mrs. widow Wilson Bailey and daughter, the former a forty-nine year resident of this place [Seymour Lake] has purchased the Ezra King property in Pontiac. Our loss is Pontiac's gain."
16 Sep 1892 - "Mrs. R. Bailey is spending a few days with her son, Wilson Bailey."
11 Nov 1892 - "Winfield Bailey and wife, of Seymour Lake, visited at Wilson Bailey's Sunday."
Obituary from the Oakland County Post, April 27, 1894.
"Death of Mrs. Wilson Bailey. Mrs. Rachel Riker Bailey, widow of Wilson Bailey, deceased, died Wednesday, April 18, of heart failure, aged 76 years, at the home of her son, Winfield Bailey, on the old homestead in northeast Independence. The deceased was the daughter of John Riker and was born in Big Flats, Chemung county, N.Y., Dec. 31, 1817, came to Michigan and Independence in 1837 and settled on Sashabaw Plains. She married Wilson Bailey in 1840. Associated with Fred Myrick, her husband purchased and cleared up what is now known as Mohopac. They built a saw mill, cutting the timber into lumber much of which was used in Pontiac. The C.A. Palmer house was built by Mr. Myrick, who just after its completion, died of small pox in New York City. Mr. Bailey lived at Mohopac only a few years before his last illness.
After her husband's death Mrs. Bailey lived in Pontiac a few years and then returned to the scenes of her pioneer life, the old home with its sacred recollections, to pass the remainder of her days. Here she died respected by her neighbors and beloved by her children.
Mrs. Bailey leaves three sons and one daughter, Wilson, Winfield and Morris. The late Wallace Bailey was her son. One brother, George Riker of Cass City and Mrs. Wormley, the mother of Mrs. George Alexander, survive her.
The funeral was held at the home and the remains interred by the side of her husband in Sashabaw cemetery. A large concourse of neighbors and friends followed the remains to their last resting place.".
10 John RIKER7 ( - ) [4861].
3 Sarah C. CASE1,4 (1847- ) [4827]. Born Feb 1847, Sussex Co., NJ.1,2,11
| 1 | "1870 Town of Orion census". |
| 2 | "Portrait and Biographical Album of Oakland County, MIchigan, 1891". |
| 3 | "1850 - 1860 Independence Twp. census". |
| 4 | "International Genealogical Index". |
| 5 | "Sullivan-Rutland Genealogy Project by Joyce M. Tice". |
| 6 | "Oakland County, Michigan Dibean Marriage Index". |
| 7 | "Obituary of Mrs. Rachel Riker Bailey, Oakland County Post, April 27, 1894". |
| 8 | "Ancestry.com, Snow/Lyman Ancestors". |
| 9 | "Sashabaw Cemetery (Independence Twp.) transcriptions". |
| 10 | "Obituary of Malinda Bailey from the Pontiac Bill Poster, March 1, 1876". |
| 11 | "1900 Royal Oak Township census". |