BIO: Hon. John M. BAILEY, Huntingdon County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Lana Clark Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ********************************************************** __________________________________________________________ Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley: Comprising the Counties of Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata and Perry, Pennsylvania, Containing Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and Many of the Early Settlers. Chambersburg, Pa.: J. M. Runk & Co., 1897, pages 28-29 __________________________________________________________ HON. JOHN M. BAILEY, president judge of the Twentieth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, was born at Dillsburg, York county, Pa., July 11, 1839. His parents were Col. Samuel N. and Margaret (Mumper) Bailey. Col. Bailey was of English and Irish extraction; his wife's ancestry was German. He was by profession a surveyor; during his early manhood he was for several years in the Auditor General's office, Harrisburg, Pa., under Auditors General Banks and Frye. He served in defense of the Union during the Rebellion, as lieutenant colonel, Twelfth Pennsylvania Reserves. Col. and Mrs. Bailey had three sons, of whom the Judge was the second, and is the only survivor. The eldest, William D., born January 3, 1837, was a physician, in practice at Dillsburg, York county; he served as a surgeon in the army during the Rebellion, and died February 17, 1892, at Dillsburg, where his widow and his daughter Martha still reside. Mrs. William D. Bailey was the daughter of Col. Henry Logan, once M. C. from York county, to whom Gen. William B. Franklin owed his appointment to West Point Military Academy. Col. Bailey's third son was D. B. Bigler, born August 20, 1850; he was an attorney-at-law of York, Pa.; he died in March, 1881; his widow has since remarried, her second husband being Dr. Harry Tomlinson, in charge of St. Peter's Hospital, near St. Paul, Minn. Col. Bailey died February 15, 1872, and Mrs. Bailey January 16, 1894. John M. Bailey passed from the common schools of Dillsburg, where his elementary education had been received, to Tuscarora Academy, Juniata county, Pa., then under the care of the late Dr. John H. Shumaker. Like many enterprising young men, he defrayed at least part of the expenses of his education by teaching, having charge of schools during four winter terms in Walker, Porter and Franklin townships, Huntingdon county. His summer vacations he employed in reading law. In 1859 he became a student in the law office of Scott & Brown, Huntingdon, Pa.; was admitted to the Huntingdon county bar in 1862; became shortly after a partner in the firm with which he had studied, and within three years was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. In 1869 Hon. John Scott, now general counsel for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, was elected to the United States Senate; the firm of Scott, Brown & Bailey then became Brown & Bailey; on the admission of Charles G. Brown, in 1832 [sic], the firm name was again changed, and became Brown, Bailey & Brown. Judge Bailey represented his district in the Constitutional Convention of Pennsylvania, 1872-73; he took an active and influential part in the business of that body, serving on several important committees. He also served the borough of Huntingdon for one term as councilman, and the county as president of the Bar Association. With the exception of these public services, no business engagements, political or otherwise, have interrupted Judge Bailey's practice of his profession, which has extended over a period of more than thirty years, and been characterized by marked ability and conscientious regard for the interests of his clients. These traits, combined with his long experience, his legal acumen and sound common sense, have won for him the confidence of the community best qualified to form a opinion - the one in which he has lived and worked - and led to his election to his present distinguished position. He was elected president judge of the Huntingdon-Mifflin District on the Democratic ticket, November 5, 1895; his term of office began in January, 1896. Judge Bailey is an active member of Mount Moriah Lodge, No. 300, F. and A. M., and Past High Priest of the chapter of that fraternity in Huntingdon. John M. Bailey was married May 25, 1869, to Letitia, daughter of Thomas and Rachel Jackson Fisher. Of their three children, two died in childhood; the only one living is Thomas F., attorney-at-law in Huntingdon. The family belong to the Presbyterian church of which the Judge has been a member since 1864. He takes a warm interest in the welfare and enterprises of the church. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Fisher, Mrs. Bailey's parents, were natives and life-long residents of Huntingdon county; Mr. Fisher was for more than fifty years in mercantile business. He served as county treasurer, and as burgess of the borough of Huntingdon. Three daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Fisher are living: Mary (Mrs. R. A. Miller), of Huntingdon; Mrs. Bailey, and Kate, wife of J. C. Blair, manufacturer, Huntingdon. Of their sons, Thomas died in 1884; Horatio G., State Senator and M. C. for this district, died May 8, 1890. Both were partners in their father's business. H. G. was extensively engaged in the business of the Berwind White Coal Mining Company, in Clearfield and Jefferson counties.