12 years old when his father died. In his will, James expressed the wish that the businesses he owned with his brother be “carried on as now till my son Willie M. Bailey shall reach the age of twenty one years of age.” 42 In 1872, his father’s life insurance proceeds were paid to his mother and to the children’s trustee. William’s share was $800.00. 43 His mother died when William was 15 years old. 44 The same year, he attended the Methodist boy’s preparatory school in Cokesbury and the next year studied with a teacher back home in Greenwood. 45 At age 16 he petitioned the probate court to name his father’s brother his guardian. After the court granted the petition, 46 William, probably not wanting to be part of the family business, moved to Florida. He stayed in touch with his Greenwood teacher who mentioned him in a letter to one of Mary D.’s brothers who also had moved to Florida. The letter urged her brother to come back home, “. . . I am anxious for you and family to return and prosper with us. I do not think Florida is much. William [probably William M. Bailey] says his section is far from what it was this time last year.” 47 About three decades later, “. . . [Florida] lost a total of 4,000 [people]. . . [in 1918] and thousands more weakened survivors would die from pneumonia.” 48 The cause was Spanish flu and millions died in a worldwide pandemic. 42 “Brother James A. Bailey,” obituary, p. 24, col. 5. Also, Abbeville County, South Carolina, Court of Ordinary, James A. Bailey Will, James A. Bailey Estate. 43 Abbeville County, South Carolina, Court of Ordinary, First Return on account of the Estates of Franklin C. Bailey, Wm. M. Bailey, Samuel S. Bailey, Mary D. Bailey & Eugene Bailey made by Wm H. Bailey Trustee on March 3rd 1876 for 1872, James A. Bailey Estate; Box 186, Pkg. 4915, Abbeville County Probate Court, Abbeville. 44 “Mrs. Mary D. Bailey,” obituary, p. 164, col. 3. 45 Abbeville County, South Carolina, Court of Ordinary, Returns for 1874 & 1875 by W.H. Bailey, Executor, James A. Bailey Estate; Box 186, Pkg. 4915, Abbeville County Probate Court, Abbeville. 46 Abbeville County, South Carolina, Court of Ordinary, Petition for Appointment of Guardian Ad Litem, James A. Bailey Estate; Box 186, Pkg. 4915, Abbeville County Probate Court, Abbeville. 47 S.P. Boozer to Sam B. Hodges, typed transcription of letter, 1 March 1886, Auntie Boozer’s Letters , 144-146; privately held by Joyce M. Bowden, Boston, Massachusetts, 2021. Harriett Louise “Hattie” Hodges, Sam’s daughter, transcribed these Alice (Bailey) Boozer letters and had them bound. 48 Gabrielle Calise, “Long before coronavirus, Florida caught Spanish flu. How bad was it?” Tampa Bay Times , 4 March 2020, updated 22 June 2020 (http://www.tampabay.com : 29 July 2021).
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