Bailey was born at Mt.Pleasant in Pasquotank County, North Carolina.[3] His parents were Priscilla Elizabeth Brownrigg and John Lancaster Bailey.[2] His father was a member of the North Carolina House and Senate, a North Carolina Superior Court judge.[4][1] In the early 1840s, the family moved to Hillsborough, North Carolina where his father practiced law.[3]
Bailey received his law license in 1851 and received his license to practice before the North Carolina Supreme Court in January 1852.[1][2][6] He practiced law in Hillsborough with his father.[1][5][3] He was appointed the secretary at the North Carolina Democratic Party at its convention in May 1952.[7]
After the war, Bailey practiced law in Salisbury, North Carolina for ten years starting in early 1865.[1][2] He also wanted to start a law school there, advertising that he had thirteen years of experience as a law teacher.[10] He joined Nathaniel Boydon in the firm Boyden and Blackman.[2][3] When Boydon was appointed to the North Carolina Supreme Court, Bailey joined the practice of James M. McCorkle.[2] Governor William Woods Holden appointed Bailey to the position of state code commissioner on August 31, 1871.[1][11] Bailey held this position until the post was eliminated in 1873.[3]
In the fall of 1874, Bailey moved to Charlotte, North Carolina and practiced law with William Marcus Shipp.[4][1][2] Shipp had just finished his term as North Carolina Attorney General and was a North Carolina Superior Court judge.[2] Bailey formed a law partnership with former governor and United States Senator Zebulon Vance.Vance in June 1881.[12] In 1882, Bailey was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives for Mecklenburg County as a Democrat in 1882.[2][13][3] While in the legislature, he chaired the judiciary committee.[2]
Bailey wrote several books, including The Effect of Civil War upon the Rights of Persons and Property and Conflict of Judicial Decisions.[14] He received an honorary Doctor of Law degree in 1885 from Rutherford College.[3]
Personal life
Bailey married Anne Chamberlain Howerton of Hillsborough on October 20, 1852.[2][15] They had five children, daughter Mrs. Archibald Lingan and sons William Henry Bailey Jr. Edmund H. Bailey, Campbell McCulloh Bailey, and Thomas H. Bailey.[5][2]
In 1890, he retired and moved to Texas where his sons lived; he resided in Seabrook.[5][2][16] On August 17, 1908, Bailey died at his son's home in Seabrook at the age of 77.[5] He was interred in Glenwood Cemetery in Houston, Texas.[5]
Selected publications
The Effect of Civil War upon the Rights of Persons and Property and Conflict of Judicial Decisions (1867)
^ abcdefghijkHenderson, Archibald (June 17, 1928). "John Bailey, Teacher of Law". The News and Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. p. 6. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ abcSiler, Leon (February 2, 1969). "Colleges Came, And Went". Asheville Citizen-Times. Asheville, North Carolina. p. 41. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Supreme Court". The Weekly Standard. Raleigh, North Carolina. January 7, 1852. p. 1. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Democratic State Convention". Semi-Weekly Standard. Raleigh, North Carolina. May 19, 1852. p. 2. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"William H. Bailey". Semi-Weekly Standard. Raleigh, North Carolina. April 10, 1858. p. 3. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Law School". Semi-Weekly Standard. Raleigh, North Carolina. February 10, 1859. p. 3. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"William H. Bailey". The Daily Union Banner. Salisbury, North Carolina. August 23, 1865. p. 3. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Code Commissioner". Carolina Watchman. Salisbury, North Carolina. September 9, 1870. p. 3. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Summer Sunbeams". The Winston Leader. Winston-Salem, North Carolina. June 14, 1881. p. 3. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Charlotte Observer". The Wilmington Morning Star. Wilmington, North Carolina. December 10, 1882. p. 4. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspaper.com.