Richard Bayley (1739 - 1812)

Born 3 Dec 1739 in Tewksbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 9 Mar 1812 at age 72 in Alna, Lincoln, Maine, United States

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Biography

Richard Bailey was born in Tewksbury in 1739, the fourth child (and second son) of Joseph Bailey III and Martha Boynton.^[1]

After his father's death when he was only 8, it appears that the family moved back from Tewksbury to West Newbury - their uncle Ezekial, who lived on their grandfather's (Joseph II) original lot in West Newbury, was after all named the guardian of these children.^[2] Their mother Martha also re-married in West Newbury.

In 1763, Richard, while still unmarried, had a son Asa with his first cousin Mary Boynton (her father Nathan Boynton and Richard's mother Martha Boynton were siblings). One imagines it would have been quite a scandal. The child was brought up in Rowley by his mother and Richard headed out of the picture, as it was about the time he headed for new territories in Maine.^[3]

The Bailey lot in Newbury's West Parish (lot #100 on the 1729 West Parish map) was close to the Pillsbury's lot #88.^[4] This helps explain the close relationship between these families, which started in 1757 when Richard's older brother Nathan married Sarah Pillsbury. Sarah's brother Ezra Pillsbury then married Richard's older sister Martha in 1759. It seems only natural then that Richard became interested in another Pillsbury sister Susannah Pillsbury who he then married in about 1762.^[5]

Richard and his brother Nathan migrated to the frontier, which at the time meant the new settlement of Maine called Pownalborough, in Lincoln County. Susanna must have accompanied them, as she and Richard were officially married in about 1762. They settled in 1763 in the East Parish of Pownalborough, later called "New Milford" then "Alna". His brother settled in Whitefield, adjacent to Alna on the north side.

Richard and Susanna had five children:^[6]

1. Elizabeth, b. 10 Oct 1762; m. Isaac Heath, 1781; d. 3 Mar. 1846
2. Ezra, b. 1766; m. Nancy Heath, 16 Nov. 1795; d. 1847
3. Martha, b. 21 Feb 1769; m. Scribner Moody, 25 Aug. 1788; d. 6 Mar. 1850
4. Hannah, b. 27 Jan 1770; m. Edward Palmer, 4 Feb. 1790; d. 8 Mar. 1857, and
5. Susannah, b. abt. 1775; m. James Marr, 1 Apr. 1798; d. 16 Aug. 1860.

Richard enlisted in the Revolutionary War in 1775 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in Captain Dan Scott's Company of the Second Lincoln County regiment on 23 August 1776. He was living in Pownalborough, ME when the 1790 census was taken, in Balltown, ME when the 1800 census was taken, and in New Milford, ME when the 1810 census was taken.

He passed away in Alna, ME in 1812 at the age of 72. His wife survived him by more than 30 years to the age of 102. They were buried in the Bailey-Palmer Family Cemetery, Alna, ME.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Vital Records of Tewksbury, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (The Essex Institute, Salem, Mass., 1912)| Page 10
2. ↑ Pg. 78&80, The Bailey Family, by Jeanne Bailey Ransom, 1991
3. ↑ Pg. 96, The Bailey Family, by Jeanne Bailey Ransom, 1991
4. ↑ Pg. 56-57, The Bailey Family, by Jeanne Bailey Ransom, 1991
5. ↑ Pg. 24, Family 27, The Pillsbury Family, compiled by David B. Pillsbury and Emily Getchel, Publisher Everett, Mass., Massachusetts publishing company, 1898| Page 24
6. ↑ Pg. 112, The Bailey Family, by Jeanne Bailey Ransom, 1991
7. ↑ FindAGrave, Memorial #147318757, Richard Bailey. Created by MLPBailey, June 2, 2015. [No gravestone photo.]

See Also:

• Family Search | Richard Bailey
• A Genealogy of the Descendants of Richard Bailey of Rowley, Massachusetts, Historical and Genealogical Researches, of Merrimack Valley, Vol 1, Nbr. 1, April 1857, Published by Alfred Poor, Haverhill,| Page 138, upper left-hand column