Richard Bailey

1735 - 1818
Lancashire or Virginia - Tazewell County Virginia

The traditional story is that Richard was born in Wigan, Lancashire, England in 1735, on August 22, before his parents emigrated to America, but The Bailey Family (p. 11) says he was probably born after the move to America - about 1740 in Virginia. It doesn't seem to me to make a great deal of difference, but this is for the record. The Bailey Family bases its claim on the fact that there are no documents in England to support the traditional story.

His middle name is sometimes given as Paton, Payton, or Patton.

By 1736, Richard's parents were already in Virginia, in Henrico County (later to become Chesterfield County), which is a little bit up the James River, by Richmond. Henrico County now is on the north side of the river, and Chesterfield on the south.

In 1760, Richard bought his first (recorded) parcel of land - 100 acres in Chesterfield County, next to his brother James's land. Both of them bought from John Skelton; Richard's parcel cost £20.

In about 1762, Richard married. His wife was probably a Belcher/Belsher, and her name was probably Elizabeth Anne. The confusion is caused because (a) her name, as the wife of Richard, which appears on land deeds beginning in 1764, is given as Elizabeth, but (b) the historian Johnston [David E Johnston, A History of the Middle New River Settlements and Contiguous Territory, (Facsimile Reprint 1988 by Heritage Books, Inc, Bowie, Maryland. [1906 Standard Ptg. & Pub. Co., Huntington, W. Va.]), p. 377] gives her name as Annie. Most people have decided, therefore, to split the difference and call her Elizabeth Anne Belcher. She was the daughter of Richard D. Belcher and Mary Obedience Clay, and was born about 1742. Unfortunately for this neat solution, Richard Belcher and Mary Clay had another daughter named Anne (1730-1765, married Peter Blankenship). Nothing is neat in genealogy.

Richard and Elizabeth/Annie had between 10 and 12 children:

John b. ~1764 Chesterfield Co. (m. Ann "Nancy" Davidson)
Richard b. ~1765 Bedford Co. (m. 1 Jane Harmon, 2. Isabell Ferguson)
James b. 1766 Bedford Co. (or Fincastle?) (m. Margaret "Peggy Stinson)
Chloe b. ~1765 Bedford Co. (m. David McComas; m? David Lusk)
Elizabeth
Micajah b. 1769 Bedford Co. (m. Naomi "Omy" Shufflebarger)
Reuben b. 1770 Bedford Co. (m. 1. Sarah E. Ferguson, 2. Permelia "Millie" Prince Belcher - widow of Henry Belcher)
Archibald "Archer" b. 1773 (m. Agnes "Nancy" Godfrey)
Naomi b. 1774 Bedford Co. - d. 16 Feb 1860 Mercer Co, Va
Sarah Ann b. 1775 Bedford Co. (m. Samuel Lusk)
Elijah I "Eli" b. 1777 (m. Agnes "Nancy" Clark)
Henry I b. 1782 (m. Elizabeth Peters)

The historian Johnston says there were 10 children, 8 boys and 2 girls; he does not include daughters Elizabeth and Naomi. Walter Bailey (Bailey-Coulter Archives) includes Naomi but not Elizabeth, and also lists another boy, Buren, but gives no dates for him.

According to The Bailey Family, Richard was a carpenter. He possibly built a house and dug a well on the land in Chesterfield County, but in 1764 he sold it for £40. He and Annie moved west, to the foothills of the Appalachians, to Bedford (later Franklin) County. A number of their neighbors and relatives moved too (this was common practice). In 1771, he received a patent for 203 acres on both sides of the Maple Branch of the Blackwater River. Later on he added two other parcels - 268 acres on the north side of the Blackwater (surveyed 1778, grant received 1786 - signed by Gov. Patrick Henry) and 445 acres on both sides of the Blackwater (surveyed 1762, grant received 1780 - signed by Gov. Thomas Jefferson).

He apparently served in the Virginia Militia during the Revolutionary War (between 1776-1783), as a spy.

In 1774, meanwhile, his wife's brother-in-law (probably) Mitchell Clay had received a grant for 803 acres in (then) Fincastle County located on the Bluestone River (or Creek).

". . . this tract was then known and is still known as the "Clover Bottom," situated about five miles north of Princeton the present county seat of Mercer county. It is a very beautiful, rich body of bottom land, and one of the most valuable tracts to be found in this section of the country." (Johnston, p. 51)
The grant was originally made to Lieutenant John Draper, for services rendered in the French and Indian War. Mitchell Clay gave a negro woman and her children to Draper in return for the property. According to the terms of the grant, the grantee had to take possession within 3 years of the date of the grant.
So not only are our ancestors complicit in the taking of land from the Indians - which can, sort of, be forgiven (a person has to live, which is a pretty messy business), but they paid for their (stolen) land by complicity in the slave trade. It was easier (less guilt-ridden) when all we knew was they were poor immigrants, Irish and Italian.
note 26 Aug 2004 - Actually, it's worse than this. The woman Clay traded to Draper was an Indian (or the daughter of a woman?) who had been brought into slavery by his grandfather Henry. The Virginia Legislature had outlawed the enslavement of Indian people (I'm not sure of the exact date now, but it was before the land deal) - the woman fought for years for her freedom and eventually won it. The Drapers then sued the estate of Mitchell Clay - and the men who went surety for the executors of his will went bankrupt.

Clay and family took up residence in 1775. Although they were living in an area used as summer hunting grounds for the (Shawnee) Indians who had their villages in Ohio, they had no trouble until 1783, when three of their children were killed. Richard Bailey presumably heard great things about the area, because in 1780 (according to Johnston) he and his family moved to the area. The Bailey Family says the move was later, sometime between June 1782 and April 1783. Richard was still on the Bedford County tax list for1782, as well as being described as a native of Bedford on a 1782 land deed, so probably The Bailey Family is correct.

The confusion of dates may be because of the building of the Davidson-Bailey Fort. John Davidson supposedly came into the area in 1780, and since he's the other person the fort is named for, that date is given for Richard Bailey as well. It might very well be that Richard's son James was there in 1780, and that Richard did not come until a little later.

According to Susan Richmond: In 1782, after the massacre of the settlers at lower Clover Bottoms of Bluestone in 1778, and the Clay children had been massacred and driven to safety at James Bailey's near New Hope in 1781, Richard Bailey brought his family and settled near James. With the help of his sons, the Clays and the sons of John Davidson, they first built a house followed by the fort located for the greatest protection to the settlers and a place of retreat when needed.
This is a little hard to follow, but it does seem to say that James was there before his father. Also - Johnston says the Clay children massacre was in August 1783.

According to Johnston: John Goolman Davidson, an Irishman, born in Dublin, Ireland, a cooper by trade, from which he was generally called and known as "Cooper Davidson," came with his family from that part of the Valley of Virginia now known as Rockbridge County, and with him came Richard Bailey and his family, from the Blackwater section, then in Bedford, now in Franklin County, Virginia, and settled in the year of 1780 at the Beaver Pond Spring, a branch of Bluestone, now in Mercer County. A fort was built which was called and known as the "Davidson-Bailey Fort " . . . (Johnston, p. 73)

This fort was completed in 1783 (according to Susan Richmond) and is located at the present day Westgate Shopping Center on the Va /Wv state line.

Between 1782-3 and 1788, he made several trips back to Bedford/Franklin County to sell his property there and to collect debts.

In 1787, Richard and his son John were on the Montgomery County tax list.
        Montgomery County Personal Property Tax 1787
        List B Dist. of David McG....(sorry, my notes unreadable)
        person charged with tax     1.WM 16-21      2. B 16+      3. B 16-     4. Horses/mules     5. cattle
       p. 437 Bailey John self 00046 taken 7/12
                            Richard self 30027 taken 7/12
      Others called on 7/12
         Davidson, Andrew, John, Joseph;
         Duff, Samuel;
        Evans, James;
        Garrett, Robert, William;
        Mann, Nathaniel

In 1789, Wythe County was formed from Montgomery County, and Richard appeared on the tax lists from 1793 - 1800 (several of his sons did too). He signed 4 petitions to form a new county from Wythe, from 1796-1799; Tazewell County was formed in 1799 and he began appearing on tax lists there from 1803, although he served as a juror earlier

number is number of white taxable males over 16
b, g = James Davis District - N. of Walker Mt
h = Hezekiah Harmon - N of Walker Mt & Capt. Oaks & Capt Davis side of ounty
j, o = Samuel Crockett
q = Henry Stephens

Netti Schreiner-Yantis. Archives of the pioneers of Tazewell County, Virginia. (Springfield, Va., c1973)
1796 - Petition to form Tazewell Co. [294]
1797 - Petition to form Tazewell Co. [295]
1798 - Petition to form Tazewell Co. [298]
1799 - Petition to form Tazewell Co. [299]
1801 Oct 15 - Richard Bailey, sr - Grand Juror [45; 13]
1802 May 13 - ditto [60; 19]
1803 Oct 14 - Claims allowed against the county - Richard Bailey -- 2 old wolf heads [120; 37]
1803 Personal property tax - 1 m 16+; 4 horses [118]
1806 Personal property tax - 1 m 16+. 2 horse [122];
             land tax on 60, 40 acres [126]
1807 June 24 - Isaiah Perdew vs. Reuben & Archibald Bailey. Debt.
         Richard Bailey enters himself special bail for the defendants. Office judgment set aside, payment pled and issue. [261; 80]
        – Richard Bailey - jury
1814 Land tax - Richard Bailey, sr not included
Taxes - 1801-08 - 2; 1810 - 1; 1811-12-2; 1813-1; 1814-0; 1815-1820 - 1 [262]

Richard accumulated a LOT of property (see The Bailey Family, p.17-19). By 1815, he also had a mill - this was just up the river from the fort.

1815 tax lists of Tazewell County, Virginia
w m 16+    slaves     horses/mules     cattle      other taxable
Mar22
Bailey, Richard 3-0-10-2 one mill
          Archibald 1-0-3-9
Mar 24
Bailey Dodridge 1-0-1-2
          Eli 1-0-6-14 one mill, one clock w.w. without a case
          George 1-0-3-4
          John 2-2-14-37
          Jonathan 1-0-3-5
          Micajah 1-0-4-10
          Rubin 1-0-6-10

Richard died in 1818 and is buried on Leatherwood Farm, Tazewell County, Virginia (now Mercer County, West Virginia). So presumably the Richard Bailey who paid taxes in 1819-20 is his son.
He was not on the 1820 census. His wife died in 1820, and is also buried on Leatherwood Farm.

Documentation/Timeline

1735-40 born (either in Wigan, Lancashire, England or in Virginia)
1760 - Richard Bailey bought 100 a. from John Skelton. p. 8 cost 20 pounds p. 9
~1762 - married Elizabeth Anne Belcher
1764 - sold to Morgan Lester for 40 pounds p. 9
            moved to Bedford County, Va in 1764, but didn't get land patent until 1771 - 203 acres on both sides of Maple Branch (of the Blackwater) (although probably lived on land before then).
~1764 - son John born
1765 - son Richard born
1766 - son James born
~1767 - daughter Chloe born
~1769 - son Micajah born
1770 - son Reuben born
1773 - son Archibald (Archer) born
1776 - 1783 - Virginia Militia - spy
1777 - son Elijah born
~1778 - daughter Sarah Ann born
1778 survey, 1786 grant, for 268 acres north side of Blackwater (signed by Patrick Henry, gov)
1780 patented 445 acres on both sided of Blackwater (although surveyed in 1762) (grant signed by governor of Va - Thomas Jefferson)
1781 Sept - 1st sale of land in Bedford (= planning to leave)
        - moved to New Hope, Montgomery/Tazewell County near where Mitchell Clay lived
           - The Bailey Family says the move was probably between 1782-3
1782 - tax list Bedford County. 1 horse, 5 cattle, no males over 16 (besides him); son John next to him, no property
1782 - son Henry born
1782-1788 - traveled several times from Tazewell to Bedford/Franklin Co for land sales etc.
[1785 - Franklin County formed from Bedford Co.]
1787 - tax list Montgomery County. 3 white males 16-21. son John nearby with 4 horses, 6 cattle
[1789 - Wythe County formed from Montgomery & Grayson Counties]
1793 - 1800 - tax lists Wythe County
1796 - 1799 - signed 4 petitions to form Tazewell County
[1799 - Tazewell County formed from Wythe & Russell Counties]
1801 - personal property tax list Tazewell
1806 - personal property and land tax list Tazewell County
1801 - 1820 - tax lists Tazewell County - except for 1814, after which only his son Richard is listed
1818 - died - buried Leatherwood Farm, Tazewell County, Virginia (now Mercer County, W Va)
1820 - census Tazewell - not on it.

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contact me at: lee@leesgenes.com

Page last updated 11 Aug 2004