Despite its financial well-being, the Bailey family was ill-starred. Mary D. and James died in their thirties, James, first, in 1871. The first pastor of Greenwood Methodist Church praised his “energy and zeal as a Christian, [which] greatly aided in securing . . . one of best parsonages . . . and a neat brick church. In all relations of life, he was no ordinary man. Eminently practical, he acquired a considerable fortune since the war, which he used as a good steward of the Lord.” 28 Mary D. died of CONSUMPTION in 1874. She inherited a structure that met her financial and legal needs as a widow but faced “many sore trials.” Her pastor wrote, “We feel assured that she has gone where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are forever at rest.” 29 Mary D., James and three children were buried in Greenwood Cemetery, which belonged to Greenwood Methodist Church. 30 II. Complementary Family Information
Mary D. and James’s children
Mary D. and James had seven children, five orphaned when Mary died, a boy who died young and an unnamed baby girl. Tragedy that strikes many members of a family can make even basic facts difficult to come by. Mary D. and James apparently did not keep a family Bible. Or if they did, it was lost. Franklin Calhoun Bailey, “Frank,” was the first child. If Frank’s grave marker inscription is correct, he celebrated his 13 th birthday at S OUTH C AROLINA L UNATIC A SYLUM . He was born 20 July 1857. 31 In 1860 he lived with his parents in Greenwood village, 32 where he probably was born. 28 “Brother James A. Bailey,” obituary, p. 24, col. 5. Also, Watson, Greenwood Co. Sketches , 148. Also, Mays, Main Street , 203. 29 “Mrs. Mary D. Bailey,” obituary, p. 164, col. 3. Also, Mays, Main Street , 203. 30 Greenwood County, South Carolina, Cemetery Records , 3 vols. (Greenwood: Old Ninety Six District Chapter, South Carolina Genealogical Society, 1996, 2008, 2010), 2:61. Also, “Our Old Roads, No. 288,” p. 4, col. 2, para. 4. Also, Watson, Greenwood Co. Sketches , 148. 31 Greenwood County, S.C. Cemetery Records , 2:61. 32 1860 U.S. census, Abbeville District, South Carolina, population schedule, Greenwood, p. 108 (penned), dwelling 795, family 770, Franklin C. Bailey in Jas. A. Bailey household; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : 30 October 2020), citing NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 1212.
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