Biographies: Bailey Family, 1947, Winn Parish, LA Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** From: July 24, 1947 Winn Parish Enterprise Bailey Family Ages Aggregate 304 Years Their total ages aggregating 304 years, four members of the Baily family, natives of Winn Parish, have lived an average of 76 years each. Not long ago the four, three brothers and a sister, got together in Winnfield and talked over old and new times. B. W. Bailey, oldest of the quartet of septuagenarians, is 79. A lifelong resident of Winnfield and vicinity, he has lived in this town longer than any other citizen except P. K. Abel, deputy clerk of court. Berrien Bailey, St. Maurice, a farmer, is 77 years old. Mrs. J. Maud Long of Tannehill, who has lived on a farm in Winn Parish practically her entire life, is 73, and Dr. B. L. Bailey, medical doctor, still practicing in Star City, Ark., is 75. Parents of the four Baileys were Mr. and Mrs. Berrien F. Bailey. The father's family emigrated from Macon, Georgia in 1857 and settled in Winn Parish. Their mother's people came from South Carolina and made their home here. B. W. Bailey relates the story of why his father's people stopped in Winn. They planned to go on the black lands of Texas, he said, but they struck bad roads between Natchez and Harrisonburg that it took them six weeks to traverse the distance, about 27 miles, and so they stopped south of Winnfield to rest. The wagons drawn by oxen, mules, and horse teams had dragged axle-deep in mud. Most of the 70 families in the caravan went on west, but the Baileys stayed and spent the first two years near Dugdemonia. B. W. was born 6 « miles south of Winnfield. He was reared in this community and became the first manager of the local co- op store, the Winn Parish Farmers Union store. He soon entered politics and was a member of the Farmers Alliance beginning in 1891. Helping organize the Peoples Party he attended the first convention in Alexandria. After the Farmers Union bought the Southern Sentinel, Winn newspaper, from J. T. Wallace, Mr. Bailey and H. L. Brian purchased it from the Farmers Union in 1890. It was located on the same spot where the Winn Parish Enterprise now stands. Mr. Bailey sold his interest in 1892 but bought the entire interest in 1893 and re-named the paper "The Comrade". It was purely a political paper, says Mr. Bailey. The editor went to the Peoples Party Convention in 1894 at Natchitoches and was nominated for Congress by the party from the Fourth Congressional District. He lost, he recalls, because he was counted out in several of the "black" parishes where many illegal votes were tallied. Lack of finances prevented him from contesting the election. In 1896 the Peoples Party held the State Convention in Alexandria and Mr. Bailey was nominated twice for lieutenant governor of the state but declined to accept. In 1898 he was elected to the New Orleans Constitutional Convention from Winn Parish and in 1900 was chosen sheriff of Winn Parish. He served in this position for four years on the Peoples Party ticket. Mr. Bailey built a hotel on the corner where the new Jitney Jungle stands, called it the Comrade, the only one in the U. S. by that name, and operated it until 1913. He was elected president of the Bank of Winnfield in 1912 and served until its reorganization in 1933. He has been a private citizen since. The eldest of the Baileys has seen Winnfield grow from 100 population to 7,000. "It will keep on growing slowly," he observes. Mr. Bailey recalls working as a timber inspector for Sulphur Timber and Lumber Company in 1935. He bought timber at an average price of 75 cents a thousand then compared with $35 on the stump now, he said. Mr. Bailey married Penelope H. Dickerson on December 8, 1892. They have one daughter, Mrs. L. Rickerson. The Baileys moved to their present home, a large interesting house on North St. John Street, in 1913.