BAILEY, O. C.

BAILEY, CUTTER, POTTER, BREWSTER, BARBER, MASON, WARD, JONES, EDDY, BROWN, HURLEY, HARRINGTON, SCHRIGLEY, SMITH, KEEN, GRIGGS, HULETT, BREWSTER, WINCHESTER, BENJAMIN, HATHAWAY, BAKER, BAILEY, THOMPSON, HULETT

Posted By: Volunteer Transcribers
Date: 1/19/2003 at 20:48:01

O. C. BAILEY (with picture)

Among the retired farmers who are now living in Delmar, Iowa, is numbered the worthy subject of this sketch. He is a native of New York, born in Washington county, July 11, 1830, and is a son of Howard and Polly (Cutter) Bailey. The family name originated in England, and from that country three brothers came to America in the Mayflower. They settled in Boston, Massachusetts, and all participated in the Revolutionary war. One of these was the paternal great-grandfather of our subject. Howard Bailey, our subject’s father, was born near Boston, but spent the greater part of his life in Washington county, New York, where he died in 1878. There he married Polly Cutter, a native of that county, who, after his death came west and made her home with her daughter, Mrs. Brewster, at Delmar, Iowa, where she passed away in 1880. They had five children, but one died in infancy. The others were Elanson, who married Fannie Potter, now deceased, and lives in Tama county, Iowa; O. C., our subject; Sarah, who married Orson Brewster and both died in Delmar; and Leander, who married Martha Barber and lives on the old homestead in Washington county, New York.

O. C. Bailey grew to manhood in his native county, and attended school there and also in Vermont. On the 1st of January, 1852, he married Miss Clarissa Mason, also a native of Washington county, New York, and a daughter of Ebenezer and Delina Mason, who spent their entire lives in that state. She had two brothers and two sisters, namely: George, who married a Miss Ward and both died in Kalamazoo county, Michigan; Major, who married Elmina Jones, who died in Fort Dodge, Iowa, while he died in Kansas; Castera, who married Thomas Eddy and both died in Easton, Wisconsin; and Delina, who married Alexander Brown and both died in Washington county, New York.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bailey were born six children, as follows: Sylvia, now deceased, was the wife of Lewis Hurley; Alice is the wife of Lineas Harrington, a farmer of Bloomfield township, this county; Howard married Nellie Shrigley, who is deceased; he lives in Delmar; Horace, deceased, married Jennie Smith, who also makes her home in Delmar; Frank married Fannie Keen and resides on the old homestead farm in Bloomfield township; and Dolly is the wife of Frank Griggs, of Pender, Nebraska. The mother of these children died on the 5th of February, 1885.

Immediately after his marriage Mr. Bailey came to Iowa, and spent three years in Maquoketa working at the carpenter’s trade. He then purchased eighty acres of land in Bloomfield township, Clinton county and subsequently bought another eighty-acre tract, devoting his time and attention to the cultivation of his land until 1887, when he sold a part of his farm and rented the remainder. Since then he has lived a retired life in Delmar, enjoying the fruits of former toil.

Mr. Bailey was again married at Toledo, Tama county, Iowa, June 1, 1895, his second union being with Mrs. Harriet (Brewster) Hulett, who was also born in Washington county, New York, November 14, 1830, and is a daughter of Nathaniel Orin and Delight (Winchester) Brewster, both natives of Vermont. The Brewster family is also of English extraction and of Mayflower stock, and Mrs. Bailey’s great-grandfather fought for the independence of the colonies in the Revolutionary war. Her father had a sister who lacked only three months of being one hundred years of age at the time of her death. After their marriage Nathaniel O. Brewster and wife removed to Washington county, New York, where he engaged in the lumber business and had extensive farming interests. His wife died there September 1, 1860, at the age of sixty-seven years, and his death occurred in Richfield, Minnesota, April 1, 1871, when he was eighty-one years of age. They had a family of nine children, namely: Loretta married Joseph Benjamin and both died in Delmar, Iowa; Benjamin W. married Sally Benjamin and both died in Ragan, Nebraska; Joel, who is an extensive cattle man, married Jane Hathaway and lives in Montrose, Colorado, and although eighty years of age he is able to spend an entire day in the saddle looking after his cattle; Dennis is a widower and resides in Lincoln, Nebraska; Carver married Julia Baker and makes his home in Salem, Oregon; Harriet is the wife of our subject; Orson married Armina Bailey, a sister of our subject, and both died in Delmar; Emily died unmarried; and Mary Ann is the wife of Robert Thompson, of Richfield, Minnesota; he is now deceased. Mrs. Bailey was first married in Washington county, New York, March 9, 1851, to Alonzo A. Hulett, a native of that county, and to them were born two children: Orville A., who wedded Mary Bailey and lives in Tama county, Iowa; and Sarah C., deceased wife of Jerome Miller, a resident of Washington county, New York.

The Republican party has always found in Mr. Bailey a stanch supporter of its principles, and as one of the most enterprising and public-spirited citizens of the community, he has been called upon to fill most of the local offices, serving very satisfactorily as township assessor four years; secretary of the school board a number of years; and justice of the peace six years. He has always been found true to every trust reposed in him. Mrs. Bailey is a member of the Methodist church, to which Mr. Bailey contributes.
Source: The 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated published: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901.