William Henry Bailey (January 22, 1831 – August 17, 1908) was an American author, lawyer, and politician.[1][2] He was the North Carolina Attorney General and served in the North Carolina General Assembly. He co-founded and taught law at the Bailey Law School.
Early life
editBailey 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 attended the Bingham School and the Caldwell Institute in Hillsborough, North Carolina.[1][5][2] He attended the University of North Carolina.[5] He studied law under his father.[1]
Career
editBailey 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]
He became the Attorney General of North Carolina in December 1856, completing an unexpired term.[3] In April 1858, he moved his law practice to Yanceyville, North Carolina, but continued to serve courts in Orange, Alamance and Caswell Counties.[2][8] He was elected the county attorney for Caswell County in 1858.[3] In 1859 or 1860, he moved to Black Mountain, North Carolina with his father and opened the Bailey Law School.[1][9][3] For a time, he joined the faculty of the school but it was primarily his father's venture.[4][1]
On April 24, 1861, Bailey enlisted with the Bethel Regiment, First North Carolina Volunteers as a private.[3] He fought at the Battle of Bethel Church and First Battle of Bull Run.[5][2] Later, he was a judge advocate.[2]
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
editBailey 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]
He was a Mason and an Episcopalian.[5][3]
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
edit- The Effect of Civil War upon the Rights of Persons and Property and Conflict of Judicial Decisions (1867)
- The Onus Probandi, Preparation for Trial and the Right to Open and Conclude. New York and Albany: Banks & Brothers Law Publishers, 1868.
- The State of Religion in the Province of North Carolina (1890)[3]
- Battle of Great Bethel Church. Columbus, Ohio: Blue & Gray Enterprises, 1895.
- The Detective Faculty, As Illustrated from Judicial Records and the Actualities of Experience. Cincinnati: The Robert Clarke Company, 1896.[3]
- The Regulators of North Carolina. (1896)[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Henderson, 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.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Hon. Wm. H. Bailey Dead. Prominent North Carolinian". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina. September 2, 1908. p. 3. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Maynard, Suzy (1979). "Bailey, William Henry | Dictionary of North Carolina Biography". NCpedia. State Library of North Carolina / North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
- ^ a b c Siler, Leon (February 2, 1969). "Colleges Came, And Went". Asheville Citizen-Times. Asheville, North Carolina. p. 41. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Hon. William H. Bailey, Author and Lawyer, Dies In Texas", The Winston-Salem Western Sentinel (September 4, 1908), p. 6. 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.
- ^ Encyclopaedia of United States History (1901).
- ^ "Married". Semi-Weekly Standard. Raleigh, North Carolina. October 27, 1852. p. 3. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Columbus, Miss". The Wilmington Messenger. Wilmington, North Carolina. December 29, 1891. p. 3. Retrieved December 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
edit
Media related to William Henry Bailey at Wikimedia Commons
"Bailey, William H.". The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. 1. 1906. p. 185.
