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.     

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 

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Joy Fisher sdgenweb [at] gmail [dot] com 10/26/2005