Thursday, April 12, 1917                                               

Macomb Daily Journal

Death Record of William Sutherland Bailey

William S. Bailey, Macomb’s oldest citizen passed away yesterday afternoon at 5 o’clock at his residence 233 East Jackson Street, at the age of 95 years, 5 months, 20 days. Until nine weeks ago he enjoyed excellent health and gone to the business section every day. For the past few weeks he had been gradually weakening. The funeral services will be held at the residence tomorrow afternoon at 3 o’clock, conducted by Dr. W. Y. Rodgers.  Friends are requested not to send flowers.  Internment in Oakwood Cemetery.

William Sutherland, son of Col. William Washington and Elizabeth (Walker) Bailey, was born near Columbia, Ky., October 21, 1821.  He was next to the oldest of ten children, three of whom died in infancy.  He came to Illinois in 1833 with his parents, who made the trip overland by ox teams.  The subject of this sketch with his brother James drove some cows and had the pleasure of walking most of the distance.  At the same time as the Baileys’ came to Illinois, from Kentucky came the families of Cyrus Walker and Dr. Charles Hayes.  The latter families settled on Camp Creek, while Col. Bailey, located in Macomb.  At the time of their coming Macomb had but two stores, the land was sparsely settled and wild game roamed over the prairies.  The elder Bailey engaged in the dry goods business in Macomb and his son William Sutherland likewise became a merchant, working first in the N.P. Tinsley store.  He afterwards went into the dry goods business for himself.  In 1860 he bought the lot on the north side of the square and erected a store building where Mecum’s billiard hall is now located.  His store was located there until 1867 when he sold that building to a clothing man by the name of Dewey in 1867.  In 1868 he built the block where the Union National bank stands and together with C.S. Churchill conducted a dry goods store.  Mr. Churchill sold out after one year, and from then on until 1882 when Mr. Bailey retired from business, he was sole owner of the store.  For many years while in the dry goods business Mr. Bailey operated a packing house on the lot just east of where Dehority’s store is located.

Meat packing, in those days was quite different from that industry at the present time.  Beef was not packed, the cattle being driven overland to St. Louis to market.  Hogs on the other hand were killed by the farmers themselves.  Mr. Bailey bought the carcasses, packed them in brine and shipped them by way of Beardstown or Frederick down the river to St. Louis.  Sometimes it took months after reaching St. Louis before the meat could be sold.

Before the railroad was built Mr. Bailey made frequent trips east to purchase goods, going to Frederick thence down the Illinois to the Mississippi and up the Ohio and so on until he reached Pittsburgh.  The goods had to be shipped back by the same route and then hauled overland in wagons from Frederick.  Mr. Bailey made a great many of these trips which usually required about six weeks.  Incidentally it is mentioned that since coming to Macomb six weeks was the longest that he was ever away at any one time.

Mr. Bailey was one of the organizers of the Union National Bank in 1871.  From that year until 1891, excepting two years when Wm E. Odell was president, Mr. Bailey was president of the bank.  He has been a director since the founding of the bank.

For years after retiring from the mercantile business, Mr. Bailey was interested in stock buying and stock raising on his farm south of Macomb.  This farm he bought from his father who traded the lots where the Wyne Dry Goods store and the Scripps-Reno stores are located for this farm.

Mr. Bailey could relate many interesting stories of pioneer days, when as he said, everybody was poor and therefore on a social equality, and though cheap as it was, was about as hard to get as now as money was correspondingly scarce.  Mr. Bailey was an active and keen business man and even since his retirement up until the very last had a comprehensive knowledge of business affairs and was able to tend to his own extensive property holdings.

Politically he was a Republican, but always reserved the right to vote for men on other tickets if he thought them a better choice.

January 7, 1852 he was united in marriage with Dorothy C. Walker.  To this union three children have been born: Joseph Walker, William Everett, and Elizabeth Lisle Bacon.  He is survived by his wife and one daughter, Mrs. Bacon.

Personally he was of a modest and retiring disposition, eschewing any form of display. But though not caring for outward show he was not an eccentric. He was of a cheerful temperament never seeming to become perturbed.

His family life and been a long and happy one.  He was a man of strict integrity who knowingly wronged no one.