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GENERAL JOSEPH BAILEY
From the 1887 History
of Vernon County, Missouri, p. 774-775:
Gen. Joseph Bailey
(Deceased)
Even to one accustomed to the preparation of
biographical memoirs it is an undertaking of no small magnitude to
properly portray the life history of such a one as the subject of this
sketch, for words seem to but faintly indicate the true worth of the
man, and the sincere respect in which he was held. His residence in
this county was of such importance to the people that only few realized
his influence and standing until he had been called away, stricken down
as he was in the very prime of life, and at a time when it seemed
possible for him to accomplish the most good. Joseph Bailey was a man
of the people, and yet he unconsciously towered above those of ordinary
intelligence. Quiet, unassuming and calm in demeanor, he was as is
often the case, possessed of those traits of character which pronounced
him a man of fearless, decisive determination, and those with whom he
often had to deal knew this fact well. Frequent mention is made all
through the present volume of this good man, and to those places we
would refer our readers for more extended account of the part he took in
advancing the interests of Vernon county. Originally from Ashtabula
county, O., where he was born March 6, 1825, Gen. Bailey moved to
Southern Illinois when young and there was principally reared. Later on
he went to Columbia county Wis., and there was engaged in engineering
for a time, subsequently becoming captain of the 4th Wisconsin
regiment. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted as captain, and
served through the war, passing the various stages of major,
lieutenant-colonel, colonel, etc., until given the title of general, a
distinction for which he was well qualified. After the close of the war
he came to Missouri in 1866, and this continued to be his home until his
untimely death, elsewhere referred to. His brutal murder and the
excitement of the news of such a crime will be remembered by all who
were then living in the county. December 24, 1846, Mr. Bailey was
married to Miss Mary Spaulding, of New York, who still survives, a lady
of substantial worth and refinement of manner. She accompanied her
parents to Illinois when only 13 years old. At this time she is
residing upon a farm of 375 acres in the western part of Harrison
township, warmly esteemed by all who are favored with her acquaintance. |
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MURDER OF GEN. JOSEPH BAILEY
Tuesday, Mar 26, 1867, the then sheriff
of the county, Gen. Joseph Bailey, was murdered by two brothers named
Pixley, whom he had arrested and was conveying to Nevada City, on a
charge of hog stealing. The following details of this incident have
been abridged from the account given in the Nevada City Times of
March 29, succeeding the date of the tragedy:--
On Monday, March 25, Lewis Williams made
complaint before Justice E. I. Fishpool, of Center township, that Perry
and Lewis Pixley had stolen from him a hog and refused to give it up
when called upon to do so. The justice issued a warrant for the arrest
of the Pixleys, but as there was no acting constable in the township the
writ was directed to the sheriff of the county. The sheriff and deputy
both being absent from the town on the 25th, the warrant was not placed
in the hands of Gen. Bailey until about noon on Tuesday, the 26th, and
about 3 o'clock that day he proceeded to the home of the Pixleys to
execute the writ. The Pixleys lived near Moore's mill on the Marmaton,
some three miles northwest from Nevada. They had formerly lived in Clay
county, and during the war were bushwhackers. Gen. Bailey made the
arrest, but the prisoners refused to deliver up their arms and at first
refused to go, though finally consenting to accompany him; but one was
heard to say that he would "go part of the way, but not all the way,"
and was also heard to tell his sister-in-law to persuade his brother not
to go up to town, that they would be disarmed if they got up there.
Gen. Bailey assisted in driving up their horses which they were to ride
to town, but not having saddles a stop was made at a Mr. Brown's, a
quarter of a mile distant, to procure them. At that time one of the
Pixleys asked Gen. Bailey to see that Mr. Brown's saddles were returned
if they (Pixleys) should not return them, and receiving an affirmative
answer the party started. A few moments before this two ladies, Mrs.
and Miss Bryan, had left Mr. Brown's to go home; they were about 60
yards in advance of Gen. Bailey and the Pixleys, who when last seen were
near where the main road forks, one (on which the ladies were traveling)
leading to Nevada, and the other obliquing to the left,--Gen. B. being a
little ahead of the Pixleys. Before riding far one of the ladies heard
a pistol shot, but not suspecting that these men were under arrest and
not knowing who they were, thought but little about the firing, and
proceeded towards home, which was a mile from town.
Only a portion of the citizens knew that Gen. Bailey had gone to arrest
the Pixleys, but when inquiries were made for him Wednesday morning, and
it was ascertained that he had not returned, a party at once proceeded
to search for him. Arriving at Mr. Brown's, and learning of the facts
concerning the sheriff's departure with his prisoners from that place,
information was immediately sent to town and a few minutes later 25 or
30 more persons were searching for the missing man. The first party
struck the trail at the forks of the road and followed the horse tracks
and one footman's tracks down the left-hand road about half a mile to
Scott's branch. In the road near the stream blood was found, and
further search revealed indications of the body's having been dragged
through the brush some 10 rods to the bank of the creek. The body of
Gen. Bailey was found in 8 inches of water, and 50 yards distant his
cap, with the warrant in it, was discovered, hidden in a hollow tree. A
coroner's jury was impaneled and a verdict rendered in accordance with
the above facts, after which the body was taken into town, where it
received every attention.
The body of the murdered man was accompanied to his home in the
southwestern part of the county by a party of ladies and gentlemen, and
on Friday morning following the Masonic Lodge of Fort Scott received the
body of its late member and interred it in the military graveyard in
that city, with the honors of the order; it was afterwards removed to
Evergreen Cemetery.
On the reception of the news at Balltown the citizens of Little Osage
township assembled and went in search of the Pixleys and their
confederates. In the forks of the Osage and Marmaton rivers lived three
or four of their intimate friends, and John Eslinger and J. W. Williams
were arrested on the night of March 28th. After their arrest they were
interrogated as to their knowledge of the whereabouts of the Pixleys,
but each protested his ignorance of the commission of any crime and
claimed he had heard or seen nothing of the Pixleys for over a week.
Eslinger was finally prevailed upon to tell what he knew concerning the
murder. He stated that on the night of the 26th Lewis and Perry Pixley
came to Mrs. Doke's, where he was staying, and said they had killed Gen.
Bailey that evening, and that they had swam the river a short time
before and were very wet. Breakfast was prepared for them and two hours
before day they started to the Marmaton, and entering into a canoe which
had previously been stolen by Tom Ingram and himself (Eslinger) started
down the river. Arrangements were made for Pixley's family to cross the
river, and the following Monday all were to start for North Missouri.
Williams afterwards confessed and corroborated this statement.
Tom Ingram was arrested Friday evening, but refused to make a
confession, though he did remark that the Pixleys "made a raise of
$250," the amount secured from Gen. Bailey. Williams confessed that on
Wednesday Tom Ingram came up to his house with one of Pixley's horses
(one used when Bailey was killed) and wanted him (Williams) to take care
of it; that afterwards he (Ingram) wanted him to take care of a gray
horse (belonging to Bailey) and told him that the Pixleys had killed the
sheriff and had gotten that horse of him. He (Williams) refused to do
so, when Tom Ingram turned the horse loose and it remained on the
prairie until Williams' arrest. At the time Ingram was arrested he was
at the house where Pixley's family also were, endeavoring to execute the
programme adopted by him and the Pixleys when they parted at the canoe,
which was to have the family cross the Marmaton, then very high,
preparatory to starting to North Missouri. Eslinger and Williams after
their arrest claimed that Ingram, who had secured the information direct
from the Pixleys, knew more of the particulars of Gen. Bailey's murder
than they did, they having been told of the affair by Ingram. They did
not know what amount of money was taken from the sheriff, only Ingram
told Williams they "made a raise of $250." The party that arrested
these men brought Mrs. Doke and Ingram's wife to town at the same time.
After reaching Nevada Ingram remarked to one who demanded him to
surrender that he had come nearer losing his life that night than he
ever had; and that he had "the drop on him" or there were not enough men
on that hill to arrest him. The same day he had been at a house in the
neighborhood and made the remark that the work (meaning Gen. Bailey's
murder) had just commenced, and that a certain, giving his name, would
be the next one to go. Ingram was the husband of the woman, formerly
the wife of notorious "Pony" Hill, the well known outlaw and bushwhacker
during the war.
After Ingram's incarceration he refused to state anything further; at
his own request he was permitted to see his wife. The same night he was
taken out of the hands of the guards by a posse of men, supposed to be
the vigilance committee. The next morning his body was found hanging to
a tree in the edge of the timber skirting the town; a coffin was
provided by the citizens, a large number of men went to town from the
country, and after the body had been placed in the coffin it was carried
off and buried.
A reward of $1,500 was immediately offered by the people for the arrest
of the Pixleys, and this was supplemented by an offer of a similar
amount on the part of the authorities, making $3,000 in all. Following
is a copy of the hand-bill and advertisement circulated by
County-Attorney Birdseye:--
Murder -- $3,000 Reward!!!
Whereas, The
citizens of Vernon county have offered a reward of $1,500 for the
apprehension of Lewis Pixley and Perry Pixley, the murderers of Gen.
Joseph Bailey, sheriff of Vernon county, on the evening of March 26, I,
John T. Birdseye, county attorney, on behalf of said county, offer an
additional reward of $1,500 making the sum of $3,000, for the
apprehension and delivery to the authorities of Vernon county the bodies
of the said Pixleys, or one-half for either of them, or sufficient proof
of their having been killed in attempting to arrest them. Perry Pixley
is 5 feet 8 inches high, weighs about 165 pounds, small, clear blue
eyes, full face, lips compressed, light hair, very light thin whiskers,
twenty-two or twenty-three years of age, and talks out one side of his
mouth, which draws that side of his mouth down somewhat while talking.
Lewis Pixley bears a strong resemblance to Perry, but is larger and more
rough; nose is rather large, bones of the face are large, about 5 feet 9
inches high, weights about 180 pounds, smooth face, light hair,
twenty-five or twenty-six years old, and has a defect in one eye which
gives it a slightly inflamed and watery appearance; was once shot in the
left arm, from which cause he carries his left shoulder an inch or so
lower than the right; was also wounded in the thigh, which causes a
slight lameness.
John T. Birdseye,
Nevada City, Mo., March 27, 1867
County-Attorney.
Gen. Joseph Bailey was born in the village of Pennsylvania, Ashtabula
county, Ohio, May 6, 1825. He was educated chiefly at Quincy, Ill., was
married to Miss Mary Spaulding in 1846, and removed to Wisconsin the
following year. When the civil war broke out he resided at Kilbourn
City, Wisconsin, engaged in lumbering and building railroad and other
bridges, although he was by profession a civil engineer. He raised a
company of lumbermen and entered the Federal service as captain of Co.
D, 4th Wisconsin infantry. He was promoted to major in March, 1863, to
lieutenant-colonel in June following, and June 10, 1864, for his service
on the Red river campaign, he was made a brigadier-general and received
a resolution of thanks from Congress. It was he who, as every history
of the war relates, constructed the wing dams at Alexandria, La., thus
raising the water in Red river so that the large and valuable Federal
fleet of gunboats and transports could pass over the rapids at that
point. But for Gen. Bailey, perhaps, every boat would either have been
destroyed or fallen into the hands of the enemy.
Gen. Bailey's services during the war were chiefly in the line of
engineering, although he took part in the battles at Port Hudson, Baton
Rouge, Grand Gulf, and in numerous skirmishes in Maryland and
Louisiana. He built Ft. Dix, in Maryland, a large fortification at New
Orleans, and had charge of the Vicksburg cut-off. He received the
surrender of Ft. Morgan and its garrison at Mobile, and his last
services were rendered in leading an expedition through Western Florida
and from Mobile to Baton Rouge. He resigned from the army July 7, 1865,
and in October following settled in this county, on the farm in Harrison
township where his widow still resides. He had visited the locality in
1860, and then resolved to make it his future home.
In politics Gen. Bailey was a firm Democrat, but personally popular with
all parties. Had he lived he would have become in 1868 the Democratic
candidate for Congress in this district, and in time would have been
chosen to high and responsible positions in the State and republic. He
was of great service to this county during the brief period he lived
here, and his death was universally deplored
History of Vernon County, Missouri. St.
Louis: Brown & Co. 1887. p. 350-355
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A BRAVE OFFICER'S DEATH
The Finding of Old Papers Revives a Story
It Was One of the Sensations in Nevada's Early
History
Delving among the old records of his office, Circuit Clerk Diehr has
found all the papers connected with the killing of Sheriff Joseph
Bailey, which occurred March 27, 1867.
There is a copy
of the indictment, the verdict of the coroner’s jury, a list of the
subscribers to the reward offered for the murderers, and the testimony
taken in the case.
“I remember it
all very distinctly,” said A. R. Patterson. “I came to Nevada about six
weeks after Sheriff Bailey was killed and the community was still in
perfect tumult about it.
“Lewis and Perry
Pixley were the men who did the killing. They lived two or three miles
northwest of town and the sheriff went out to arrest them for hog
stealing. They were desperate men, but Bailey was brave to
recklessness.
After their
arrest they asked to keep their arms to protect themselves against a mob
which they feared. The request was granted. When they reached the
by-road which turned east a short distance north of what is now the
Mitchell fruit farm, it is supposed the fatal shot was fired. The
ground there evidenced the prancing and wheeling of the horses. The
body was found over the hill in a little draw.
“The Pixleys
escaped and every one wondered then who it was that put them across the
Marmaton. The water was very high at that time and seriously interfered
with pursuit.
“Many years
afterward it was learned that a sweetheart of one of the Pixley’s rowed
them across the river.
“A man named
James Ingraham was accused of ferrying them over. He was arrested and
brought to town. He was thoroughly reckless and after abusing his
captors in very hastily selected and indiscreet language, he told them
he had aided the Pixleys. In truth, he had done so such thing.
“Several of the
citizens soon collected and took Ingraham away from his guard. I do not
think it was a very difficult task. They carried him to a little frame
out building a short distance from the present site of the Centenary
church, and there hung him to a rafter until he was dead.
“The house stood
on the residence lot of Deputy Sheriff Shaw. It was decided that it
would make Mrs. Shaw nervous to know that a man had been hung in her
summer kitchen, so they moved the body and strung it up on a black jack
near the place where the Trinity church now stands. They neglected to
pull the rope hard enough, and the feet were left dragging on the
ground.
“Sheriff
Bailey’s body was found by John Birdseye, if I remember correctly. His
cap was sticking in the end of a hollow log and there was a bullet hole
through it. The ball had entered the back part of the sheriff’s head.
The sheriff was
stationed in this section of the state during the war. He was the
colonel of the third Wisconsin regiment. A considerable number of his
men settled here and at Ft. Scott after the war.”
A copy of the
testimony of John T. Birdseye is preserved among the papers in the
office of the circuit clerk. Rendered uneasy by the length of Sheriff
Bailey’s stay, Mr. Birdseye and others went in search of him.
Starting from
the point where the ground had been trampled by the horses, Mr. Birdseye
followed the trail through the woods. He first picked up a pocket-comb
which he recognized as the property of the sheriff and a little further
he discovered the body lying in a pool of water in a ravine.
Other witnesses
saw the sheriff in company with the Pixleys.
A reward of
$3,000 was offered for the murderers, $1,500 being offered by the county
court and the remainder was made up by individual subscription.
The Pixleys took
$700 from the body of their victim and also took his horse which was a
very fine animal.
The memory of
Sheriff Jose Bailey is commemorated in the name of the G. A. R. post at
this place.
The Nevada Daily
Mail,
Nevada, Vernon Co., MO. April 20, 1893
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