- Family
- Branch begins in 1811
Jacob Whitman Bailey, the son of Jane Whitman and Isaac Bailey, was born in 1811, probably at Providence, Rhode Island. At age 12, family finances forced him to find employment with a local bookseller. By 1828 he enrolled in the United States Military Academy at West Point. He later taught chemistry, mineralogy, and geology there, being a recognized authority on the diatom and infusoria. He married Maria Slaughter, and they had four children: Maria Whitman (1836-1852), Samuel Slaughter (1838-1860), Loring Woart (1839-1925), and William Whitman (1843-1914). J. W. Bailey died on 27 February 1857.
His son Loring Woart Bailey studied at Harvard University and later did graduate work in chemistry at both Brown and Harvard universities. In 1861 L.W. Bailey moved to Fredericton where he became chair of Chemistry and Natural Science at the University of New Brunswick, holding that post until his death in 1925. While at UNB he also taught physics, zoology, physiology, botany, and geology.
In summer, Loring Woart Bailey did field survey work for the Geological Survey of New Brunswick, and later for the Geological Survey of Canada, working in Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Maine. Retiring from UNB in 1907, he concentrated on the study of diatoms and worked with the Marine Biological Station at St. Andrews, N.B. Bailey published numerous scientific articles and books. He served as president of the Natural History Society for several years, and was a charter member of the Royal Society of Canada, contributing numerous papers to its distinguished journal. Professor Bailey and John Babbitt have been credited with making Fredericton’s first telephone, which connected the Bailey home, “Sunnyside,” at 329-331 University Avenue, with the Babbitt house.
In 1863 L. W. Bailey married Laurestine Marie de Brett (1841-1938), the daughter of Margaret Emma Glenn and Joseph Marshall d’Avray, who was professor of Modern Languages at UNB and of its predecessor, King’s College. They had several children, including Joseph Whitman (1865-1932), Loring Woart, Jr. (1868-1943), and George Whitman (1879-1936). Son Joseph practiced law in Boston, compiled genealogies, and also published travel books and biographies. Loring Woart, Jr., worked for the Bank of British North America in Québec. George was a physician and served as medical inspector of schools in Fredericton.
Educator, poet, anthropologist, and administrator Alfred Goldsworthy Bailey, the son Ernestine Valiant Gale and Loring Woart Bailey, Jr., was born in Québec in 1905. He received a B.A. from UNB (1927) and an M.A. (1929) and Ph.D. (1934) from the University of Toronto. In 1934 he enrolled in the School of Economics and Political Science (London) and then studied British and continental museum administration under a Carnegie grant. He married Jean Craig Hamilton (d. 1998); they had no children.
Dr. Bailey had a long and distinguished academic and administrative career. He was employed as assistant director and associate curator at the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John before becoming the first chair of History at UNB (1938-1969). He also served as dean of arts (1946-1964), vice-president academic (1965-1964), and as honorary librarian and chief executive officer of the Bonar Law-Bennett Library (1946-1959), where he worked closely with Lord Beaverbrook. He was also instrument in founding the Bliss Carman Society (1940) and The Fiddlehead (1945). Alfred G. Bailey published several books of poetry, as well as academic books and articles on aspects of history and anthropology. He died at Fredericton on 21 April 1997.