Great Grandfather Wayland Bailey From the NOAA National Weather Service, Amarillo On July 1, 1891 the United States Congress established the U.S. Weather Bureau by transferring meteorological services from the Army Signal Corps to the civilian Department of Agriculture. The newly established Weather Bureau must have realized the importance of Amarillo as a hub of transportation and agriculture, because six months later, on January 1, 1892, Amarillo's first weather office was established. Amarillo had been founded five years earlier in 1887, when the Santa Fe railroad line intersected with the Fort Worth and Denver line. In fact, the same month the weather office was established, voters of Amarillo petitioned for incorporation and created the first city government. The first Amarillo weather office was established by moving the Army Signal office from Fort Sill, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Mr. Wayland Bailey, Observer in Charge, relocated the office furnishings and instrumentation into the Amarillo Opera House which was located at the northwest corner of Polk and 5th streets. The instrumentation was located on the roof of this building. In this age of rapid weather dissemination of severe weather watches and warnings, Mr. Bailey did not have much foresight. In 1894, Mr. Bailey wrote in the local station log: "I respectfully recommend that cold-wave signals and rain warnings be discontinued, as they are of little benefit to this community." At that time, cold-wave signals were generally issued after cold air had already arrived. The signals were disseminated in the form of a six by eight foot flag which was raised at the weather office. Also, as is today, the Weather Bureau depended on local media such as the "Amarillo Champion" and the "Northwesterner" to relay this information to the public. By 1895, Mr. Bailey began to appreciate just how important forecasts and warnings were to the people of this region. Again he wrote in the station log: "The citizens of the town take considerable interest in the forecasts, but are more interested in the probable force and direction of the wind, which is the most important feature of the weather here." More than one hundred years later, the same can be said today.
Gilbert Ellis Bailey's scientific career began at the age of 12, when he discovered the first fossil ferns in Illinois. After graduating from the University of Chicago in 1871 he went to the University of Michigan and took his degree as Doctor of Philosophy in 1874. During that same year, he became Professor of Natural Sciences at the University of Nebraska and as State Chemist made the first analysis of sugar beets in America. Dr. Bailey roamed through the Death Valley region in 1901-02 looking for nitrates of soda. He was a Commissioner for the great World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 (Geological Department). From the National Cyclopaedia of American Biography (v. 22, 1932): Gilbert Ellis Bailey, geologist, was born at Pekin, Ill., Apr. 27, 1852, son of Gilbert Stephen and Sarah Eloise (Bunnell) Bailey. He was educated at select schools established by his father, who was a Baptist clergyman, and at the University of Chicago. The years 1870-72 were spent in surveying work on the Red River of the North and on railroad routes in Michigan. He was a special student at the University of Michigan in 1872-73 receiving the E.M. degree in the latter year and was graduated A.B. at the University of Chicago in 1874. For two years he was Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Nebraska. After taking the master's degree at the University of Chicago, he was Professor of Geology at Franklin College, Indiana, one year and then continued his studies at Rochester (N.Y.) Theological Seminary in 1879. He was Geologist of the Territory of Wyoming during 1883-86. As superintendent of the Harney Peak Mining Co., S. D., he produced in 1886 the first bar of tin made from American ore the Etta mine in the Black Hills. When the Sioux war of 1890 began, he acted as correspondent of the Chicago "Interocean" and the following year was sent by that journal to Central and South America. While in Mexico in 1892 he discovered the Bacubirito meteor weighing thirty tons. Lecturing, journalism, geologic work in Death Valley and mining occupied him until 1909 when he became Professor of Geology at the University of Southern California, a chair he held until his death. His field work resulted in a number of patents for treating borax, explosives, tannic acid, and other products. Details of his gelogical work are recorded in his "Geology and Minerals of Wyoming" (1885); "Salines of California" (1902); "Origin Place Names in California" (1905); "California Soils" a textbook (1913); "Vertical Farming" (1915); "Arrowhead Springs" history and geology (1915); "Nitrating Soils by Innoculating Legumes" (1915); and "Origin and Geology of Hot Springs of California (1919), most of which are bulletins of the California state mining bureau and University of Southern California. Prof. Bailey belonged to the Masonic, Phi Delta Theta and Skull and Dagger fraternities. He was twice married (1), June 26, 1876, to Martha, daughter of Oliver Perry Cobb, of Aurora, Ind., by whom he had a son Oliver Gilbert Bailey, and (2) in 1902, to Reba, daughter of William Washington Boston, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, England. He died in Los Angeles, Calif., Dec. 6, 1924.
Chaplain of the Illinois Legislature From Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography: Gilbert Stephen Bailey was a clergyman, born in Dalton, Pennsylvania, 17 October 1822. He was educated at Oberlin, and, after studying theology, became a Baptist clergyman, holding pastorates in various places in New York and Illinois till 1863, when he was made superintendent of the Baptist missions in Illinois, and from 1867 till 1875 was secretary of the Baptist Theological Union in Chicago. The system of "minister's institutes," now prevalent in the Baptist denomination, was originated by him in 1864, and they were subsequently conducted by him in Chicago, Upper Alton, and Bloomingdale, Illinois. He resumed his preaching and had charge of Churches in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Iowa, was a secretary of the Italian Bible and Sunday-school mission in 1880-'1, and missionary in southern California in 1885-'6. Besides numerous tracts and uncollected poems, he has published a "History of the Illinois River Baptist Association" (New York, 1857); " Caverns of Kentucky" (Chicago, 1863); "Manual of Baptism" (Philadelphia, 1863); "The Trials and Victories of Religious Liberty in America" (1876) ; "Three Discourses on the History, Wonders, and Excellence of the Bible" (Ottumwa, 1882) ; "The Word and Works of God" (Philadelphia, 1883) ; "Prize Discourse on Slander" (Washington, 1884); and "Ingersollism Exposed" (Ottumwa, 1884).
Great Great Grandmother Sarah (Eloise Bunnell) Bailey
From an obituary provided by a descendant: In many respects, 'Grandma Bailey,' as she was affectionately called, was a most remarkable woman. Having celebrated the close of her ninety-second year last December [1911], and having been actively identified with the early beginnings and subsequent development of our denominational life in Illinois, and retaining her mental faculties in full vigor to the day of her death, she was a veritable encyclopaedia of reminiscences and interesting events. But Mrs. Bailey did not live in the past merely. She was a constant student of current events, and few were more interested in, or better informed concerning the trend of present day life and thought than she. Her maiden name was Sarah Eloise Bunnell. She was born of Puritan and French ancestry, in Bethany, Wayne Co., Pa., Dec. 11, 1819. Religion was a cherished part of her home life. The Baptist church of Bethany was organized at her father's house in 1809; and the large living room furnished the place for covenant, prayer and social meetings until the year 1830. Reared in this atmosphere, she early became a Christian. The life of Ann Hasseltine Judson [the first American woman missionary to go overseas (India and Burma)] gave her a great desire to prepare herself for missionary work. Her education was commenced at Beechwood Academy, of which her father was one of the founders. She afterward attended Maplewood Institute in Pittsfield, Mass., and thoroughly fitted herself for teaching in which service she excelled. Her marriage to Rev. G.S. Bailey opened to her the door of opportunity and of service to which her whole nature responded with perfect sympathy, and with his ardent evangelical and missionary spirit she was in hearty accord. She was always his wisest counselor and most efficient helper. Soon after their marriage, they came to Illinois as missionaries under appointment of the American Baptist Home Mission Society, to labor in Springfield and vicinity. This was in 1846, when Springfield was larger than Chicago. As neighbors and friends of the Lincolns, the Hays, and the Braytons, the Baileys were happy in their associations in the capital city of the great new state, and there wrought a work of the most valuable and fundamental character, and left their impression upon that entire region. The founding of the Baptist Theological Union and the Seminary at Chicago can never be written adequately without recognizing the service of Mrs. Bailey as well as that of her husband. The Baptist Theological Union at the University of Chicago Divinity School
Great Great Grandmother Sarah (Eloise Bunnell) Bailey and Daughter Lily (Eulalia)
Great Great Great Grandfather and Grandmother George Anson and Elizabeth Barnes Bailey
From Origins of the Town Names of Northeast Pennsylvania, by Mike O'Hara: The Bailey family settled in this part of Abington [Pennsylvania] township around 1801, and the area took on the name Bailey Hollow. Hollow, by the way, means 'small valley.' In their book "Clarks Summit: A Narrative," Helen and John Villaume of Clarks Summit recalled the story behind the name change: In the late 1860s, Dr. J.C. Miles of Bailey Hollow, among others, felt that the name sounded unbecoming for a town of increasing prominence. The railroad would soon choose whether to run through Bailey Hollow or Waverly, and locals felt the 'hollow' name might chase the rail line away. Dr. Miles chose the new name in 1871 after a visit from Dr. Edward Dalton, a civil war surgeon and superintendent of the New York City Board of Health. The Scranton press praised the name change and encouraged Tunkhannock to consider a similar move. From The History of Dalton [Pennsylvania], by Norman Brauer: Dalton [Pennslyvania]'s first settler was George Anson Bailey, who came from Coventry, Rhode Island, and located in the valley in the winter of 1801. He built his first log cabin just above what is now the intersection of Bank and West Main Streets. The location of the residence of [Arthur and Theresa Lewis]. Most likely the cabin was constructed of unhewn logs, notched deep at either end and placed together regardless of beauty of fit. The floor probably was ash plank, full of slivers, unaided by saw or plane, the keen axe along being responsible for smoothness and finish. It consisted of one room with aloft under the roof, a large fireplace, and crude, simple furnishings that would make for an ample beginning. After successfully clearing the land of this forest wilderness and tilling the soil for possible ten years, he was able to replace this rough cabin with a permanent dwelling. George Bailey's wife was Elizabeth Barnes and they became parents of nine children; Ruby, Polly, John, Charles, Hiram, Webster, Olney, Caroline, and Gilbert. It took a rather large family to conquer the hostile elements and some of their descendants still reside in Dalton. George Bailey was a deacon in the old Six Principle Baptist Church and died in the year 1853. He was soon followed to Abington by three of his brothers: William Rice, Nathan and Cyril, who also came from Rhode Island. William Rice Bailey cleared a farm in what is now the center of town and built a dwelling which still stands, now forming the back part of the Dalton Hotel. William's wife was Cynthia Albro, and they were blessed with four daughters. His great grandson, George H. Smith lived on a part of the original Bailey farm until his death in 1965. Nathan Bailey located near Brookside on a farm he cleared from the rugged wilderness and fathered 13 children -- not an unlucky number when it came to the daily chores. Cyres Bailey, the other brother, built the house on Lily Lake Road now occupied by [William and Patricia Barshinger], which needed to be moved a few feet to accommodate the D.L. & W. Railroad. General Six Principle Baptist Archives
Great Uncle Elbert Valentine Polhemus The date of his birth is recorded as St. Valentine’s Day, 1888, when he entered the family circle of Josiah A. and Emma (Stickney) Polhemus; his father being a pioneer who came to California in 1859, and settled for a while at Coloma, where he in time mined. He was only six weeks old when his father and mother started for the West from Iowa. Elbert Polhemus attended the public schools, and then remained with his father on the home ranch until he was twenty years of age, when he commenced to work in a butcher shop; and about 1913, he established his present business, in which they have been so successful, meeting with the same cordial response from the Elk Grove public that every proprietor of a first-class market, catering to the most important domestic wants, affording comfort and health, and also co-operation in economy, is sure to receive. Both father and son are deeply interested in Sacramento County, having especial faith in Elk Grove, Sacramento.
Great Grandfather Josiah Arven Polhemus
From History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches, by Walter G. Reed: A broad-minded and public-spirited man, ever ready to cast his influence on the side of any movement for the good of the community as a whole, is Josiah Arven Polhemus, a worth, honorable official, who has served for twenty-four years as justice of the peace. He was born on April 9, 1859, at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the son of Cornelius B. and Emma (Kennedy) Polhemus. In 1850, his father, a carpenter and miner, crossed the plains and came to California; here he remained for five years. He then returned to Iowa and married Emma Kennedy. In 1859, after the birth of their son, Josiah A., they crossed the wide expanse and settled in the Golden State. Mr. Polhemus' father passed away in 1886; his mother is also deceased. Josiah A. Polhemus was educated in the public schools in the vicinity of Elk Grove. He started working on the farm when a mere boy and has been at this work ever since. He purchased a farm and engaged in grain-raising; he now owns twenty-four acres he improved to vineyard and orchard. Since 1897 he has served as justice of the peace. Josiah A. Polhemus was united in marriage near Elk Grove, October 19, 1883, to Miss Emily Stickney, a native of Princeton, Ill., the daughter of Edwin W. and Mehitable (Fifield) Stickney, who brought their family across the plains in 1863. Mr. and Mrs. Polhemus are the parents of seven children, five of whom are living: Elbert, Josiah Arven, Jr., George, Mrs. Emma Burney and Clarence. All of the sons except Elbert served in the World War. Mr. Polhemus is a stanch Republican and belongs to the fraternal order of the Foresters of America. He is also a member of the Elk Grove Grange. |
