Bailey, David (Baily)

Born: 1802-08-XX New Hampshire

Died: 1854-03-04 Pekin, Illinois

Alternate name: Baily

David Bailey was a mill owner, merchant, soldier, military officer, Mason, farmer, real estate investor, and Presbyterian. He moved to Pekin, Illinois at age eighteen. In 1828, he built the first saw mill in Tazewell County with a partner, Hugh Woodruff. He worked as a merchant with partner William Vincent Baily until the start of the Black Hawk War, when he enrolled in Captain Jacob M. Early's company of mounted volunteers, alongside Abraham Lincoln. He was soon promoted to captain, then to major, and finally to colonel of his regiment, which was stationed at Fort Dearborn. While in Fort Dearborn, he met and married Sarah Ann Brown. After the Black Hawk War, Bailey returned to Pekin, where he bought a farm. During his time in Illinois, he purchased hundreds of acres of public land in Tazewell, Edgar, and other counties throughout the state. Bailey was also a client of Lincoln's several times.

History of Tazewell County, Illinois (Chicago: Chas. C. Chapman, 1879), 471; Muster Roll of Captain Jacob M. Early’s Company of Mounted Volunteers; Portrait and Biographical Record of Tazewell and Mason Counties, Illinois (Chicago: Biographical, 1894), 221-22, 645; For an exhaustive list of Bailey's land purchases, search "Bailey David," https://www.ilsos.gov/isa/landsrch.jsp; For Lincoln's cases with Bailey, search "Bailey, David," Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis, et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield, IL: Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org; Gravestone, Lakeside Cemetery, Pekin, IL.