At age 19, Mary D. married James Addison Bailey, a merchant in nearby Greenwood village. Age 21, Bailey was born in an adjacent county. “Mary Ann Dorothy lived across the road from the [Methodist] Church in Cokesbury, so on her wedding day white cloth was spread from her house, across the lawn, road and up to the church door for her to walk on.” 7 Mary D. probably found Methodist worship in Greenwood wanting when she moved there after her marriage. Viewed from her perspective as a member of Cokesbury Methodist Church, 8 a village without churches was an alien environment. At best, the Methodist preacher visited either bi-weekly or monthly. Even though a Methodist women’s group for years had urged and worked with preachers and other church officials to expand in Greenwood, no changes were forthcoming yet. Mary D. likely knew one or more members of the women’s group and was warmly welcomed as a visitor then member. For her future children, newlywed Mary D. likely shared with members of the women’s group with children still at home the desire to raise them in a Methodist framework. Soon, Mary D. had a special, urgent need for Methodist spiritual support. Her first child was born with EPILEPSY and intellectual disability. She probably found compassion, strength and understanding from members of the women’s group like Elizabeth Byrd whose stepson was intellectually disabled and Emily Osborn, Eliza Osborn and Caroline Rebecca Mounce whose sister/sister-in-law/half-sister was physically disabled. But this was not enough. She also needed more frequent spiritual support than a twice- monthly visit from a preacher could provide. And from among Methodists like herself she also needed spiritual support from members of a congregation not just members of the women’s group. In time, Mary D. and James were not able to care for their child. Neither was he able to care for himself. 9 Mary D. and James sent him to the S OUTH C AROLINA L UNATIC A SYLUM . 10 7 Elliott, Kith and Kin , 103. Watson, Greenwood Co. Sketches , 148. 8 “Our Old Roads, No. 288,” The (Greenwood, South Carolina) Index Journal , 6 July 1946, online archives (https://www.newspapers.com : 7 November 2020), p. 4, col. 2, para. 4. 9 Abbeville District, South Carolina, Court of Ordinary, James A. Bailey Will, James A. Bailey Estate; Box 186, Pkg. 4915, Abbeville Count Probate Court, Abbeville. 10 “Patients Admitted into the Lunatic Asylum of South Carolina,” State Hospital Admissions Book, S190025, 1828-1874, Frank Bailey, #1784, May 9, 1870, pp. 83-84; SCDAH microfilm ST 835, frame 55; South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia. Also, “Daily Account,” State Hospital Admission & Discharge Books, S190026, 1860-1874,
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