Davidson-Montgomery County TN Archives Biographies.....Bailey, James E. 1822 - 1885
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Author: Will T. Hale

   HON. JAMES E. BAILEY. A life conspicuous for magnitude and variety of

achievement was that of the late James E. Bailey, lawyer, jurist, soldier and

statesman, and he left indelible and benignant impress upon the history of his

native commonwealth. So distinct accomplishment as was his in connection with

the complex activities of life naturally implies exalted character, and above

all else Mr. Bailey merits a perpetual honor by virtue of the very strength and

nobility of his manhood. He achieved distinction in his chosen profession and as

a jurist; he was a gallant soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war, though

he had earnestly striven to avoid to the south the necessity of secession; and

as a citizen he served with ability and honor in offices of high public trust,

including that of member of the United States senate. He rendered service to the

state and nation to the fullest extent of his splendid powers; his labors were

unsparing, both in his profession and in official position; and his integrity

and sincerity of purpose were beyond cavil. A publication of this order

exercises its most important function when it takes cognizance, through proper

memorial tribute, of the life and labors of so distinguished a citizen as was

Mr. Bailey, who dignified and honored his exacting profession and the state of

his birth.



   James E. Bailey was a scion of one of the distinguished pioneer families of

Tennessee and of one that was founded in North Carolina in the colonial era of

our national history. He was born in Montgomery county, Tennessee, on the 15th

of August, 1822, and was a son of Charles and Mary (Bryan) Bailey. His father

was born and reared in Sampson county, North Carolina, and came to Tennessee in

probably the first decade of the nineteenth century, to number himself among the

pioneer settlers of Montgomery county, where he became a citizen of prominence

and influence and where he served for forty years as clerk of the circuit court.

Both he and his wife continued their residence in Montgomery county until their

death, Mrs. Bailey having been born in Robertson county, Tennessee, where her

father, Col. James H. Bryan, was an early settler and a leader in public

sentiment and action, his military title having been gained through his service

as an officer in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Bailey was a woman of noble and

gracious personality, and she gained and retained the affectionate regard of

those who came within the ever widening angle of her gentle and kind influence.



   Mr. Bailey was reared to adult age at Clarksville, the judicial center of his

native county, and there gained a liberal education, in Clarksville Academy, an

institution of high rank at that time, and in the University of Nashville, in

which he pursued his studies for some time but from which he withdrew prior to

graduation.



   Through diligent and careful study Mr. Bailey admirably fortified himself for

the profession of his choice and in 1842 he was admitted to the bar of his

native state. No man has ever had deeper appreciation of the dignity and

responsibility of the legal profession than did he, and none has more closely

and scrupulously observed its high ethical code. With the passing of years he

continued his technical reading until the same covered virtually the entire

gamut of the science of jurisprudence, and his wonderful memory and facility in

application made him a remarkably versatile and resourceful trial lawyer and a

counsellor of exceptional ability. After his admission to practice Mr. Bailey

engaged in the work of his profession in his native town of Clarksville, and he

soon gained prestige as one of the foremost members of the bar of Montgomery

county, with a clientage of representative order. There he continued in active

practice until the inception of the war between the states, and in the

climacteric period leading up to that great conflict he earnestly urged upon the

south to preserve its integrity as an integral portion of the federal union of

commonwealths until came the time when it became evident that popular sentiment

was strenuously in favor of secession, in order that the southern states might

preserve what were considered vested rights and established institutions. Mr.

Bailey was a Whig in his political allegiance prior to the war and as a

candidate on the Whig ticket he had been elected to the state legislature in

1853. In January, 1861, he was elected a Union delegate to a proposed convention

called to consider the attitude of Tennessee in the matter of secession, his

associate delegates having been Hon. Cave Johnson and Hon. John F. House. After

the outbreak of hostilities between the North and the South Mr. Bailey, in

common with the great majority of Tennessee citizens, ardently espoused the

cause of the Confederacy, and on Christmas day of the year 1861 he was elected

colonel of the Forty-ninth Tennessee Infantry, with which gallant regiment he

proceeded to the front, and he was taken captive by the enemy at the

capitulation of Fort Donelson. He was held as a prisoner of war, at Fort Warren,

until September, 1862, when his exchange was effected, whereupon he rejoined his

regiment, at Vicksburg, Mississippi. He continued in command until the following

spring, when his health became so severely impaired as to unfit him for service

in the field, with the result that he was given appointment as a member of the

military court of General Hardee, an incumbency which he retained until the

close of the war and one in which his services proved of great value.



   After the close of the war Mr. Bailey, like the majority of the brave and

loyal sons of the prostrate Southland, turned his attention vigorously to

winning the victories of peace and to giving his best energies to aid in

reviving the industries and civic affairs of the southern states, ravaged by

warfare and pillage, and yet to suffer the inglorious period of so-called

"reconstruction." He resumed the practice of his profession at Clarksville, and

his success continued to be of the highest order, the while he found many

unusual demands upon his legal services in effecting adjustments of affairs that

had been measurably or entirely disrupted during the progress of the war. He was

twice appointed to fill temporary vacancies on the bench of the supreme court of

Tennessee, and for a time he acted as chief justice of this tribunal, in place

of the regular incumbent, Judge A. O. P. Nicholson. He had espoused the cause of

the Democratic party in the meanwhile and had become a leader in its councils in

his home state. In 1877 Mr. Bailey was elected to the United States senate, to.

fill the unexpired term of Hon. Andrew Johnson. The division of the Democratic

party in Tennessee in connection with proposed disposition of the state debt so

weakened the party forces as to prevent the re-election of Mr. Bailey to the

United States senate upon the expiration of his term. While he was thus a member

of the national legislature his health became much impaired, and his vital

forces seemed inadequate to effect proper recuperation. He gradually failed in

strength and for several months antecedent to his death he suffered intensely

and constantly, but with the brave resignation and gentle fortitude that were

characteristic of his noble nature. He passed to the life eternal, at his home

in Clarksville, on the 29th of December, 1885, secure in the high regard of all

who knew him or who were familiar with his character and services. Mr. Bailey

was one of the truly great men of Tennessee, though his life was entirely

without ostentation and desire for notoriety,— a life marked by strength of

purpose, by kindliness and tolerance, and by a high sense of stewardship. His

religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church, of which his wife likewise

was a devout adherent. On the 7th of November, 1849, was solemnized the marriage

of Mr. Bailey to Miss Elizabeth Lusk, of Nashville. She was born at Nashville,

in September of 1830, and died at Clarksville in 1896. Their surviving children

were: Mrs. Maud B. Merritt, wife of Henry C. Merritt, James E. Bailey, Alfred

Robb Bailey, William Bailey and Jennings Bailey.



Additional Comments:
From:



A history of Tennessee and Tennesseans : the leaders and representative men in

commerce, industry and modern activities

by Will T. Hale

Chicago:  Lewis Pub. Co.,  1913



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