Wesley Bailey (1808 – February 26, 1889) was an American newspaper editor and politician from New York.

Life

He learned the

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's trade, and was a Minister of the Reformed Methodist Church. He also taught school in

DeWitt, New York DeWitt is a town in Onondaga County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 26,074. The town is named after Major Moses DeWitt, a judge and soldier. An eastern suburb of Syracuse, DeWitt also is "the site of ...

. In 1833, he married Eunice Kinne (1807–1860), and they had six children. They lived in High Bridge, a hamlet in the Town of Manlius. He edited from 1840 to 1842 the ''Fayetteville Luminary and Reformed Methodist Iintelligencer'' (''Methodist Reformer'' after September 23, 1841), from 1842 to 1849 the ''Liberty Press'', the paper of the Liberty Party, and from 1849 to 1852 the '' Utica Teetotaller''. In September 1854, he was a delegate to the Temperance state convention which nominated Myron H. Clark for Governor. In

1855 Events January–March * January 1 – Ottawa, Ontario, is incorporated as a city. * January 5 – Ramón Castilla begins his third term as President of Peru. * January 23 ** The first bridge over the Mississippi River opens ...

, he was nominated by the Republicans for Inspector of State Prisons but was defeated by the American Party candidate William A. Russell. In

1856 Events January–March * January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California. * January 23 – American paddle steamer SS ''Pacific'' leaves Liverpool (England) for a transatlantic voyag ...

, he ran again and this time was elected, being in office from 1857 to 1859. In 1860, he removed to

Decorah, Iowa Decorah is a city in and the county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,587 at the time of the 2020 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of State Highway 9 and U.S. Route 52, and is the largest commun ...

, and published there the ''Decorah Republic'', from 1866 on the ''Decorah Republican'', until 1869, when he transferred the paper to his sons Ansel K. Bailey (d. 1909) and Alvan Stewart Bailey. His oldest son, Elijah Prentice Bailey (b. 1834), worked for the ''Utica Daily Observer'' from 1853 on, later became its sole editor and owner, and was twice Postmaster of Utica.

Sources

''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (page 46; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
''New York State Temperance Convention''
in NYT on September 28, 1854
''Temperance Ratification Meeting at Auburn''
in NYT on September 29, 1854
''THE REPUBLICANS''
in NYT on October 10, 1855, with Bailey's letter of acceptance
''He Pasa Ekklesia: An Original History of the Religious Denominations at Present Existing in the United States''
by Israel Daniel Rupp (J.Y. Humphreys, 1844; pages 466ff: "REFORMED METHODIST CHURCH" by Rev. Wesley Bailey, Utica)

Newspaper history - "Teetotaller"

Oneida County newspaper history - "Liberty Press"
''Past and Present of Winneshiek County, Iowa''
(1913)

Kinne-Bailey genealogy, at RootsWeb ives_Vermont_as_birthplace.html" ;"title="Vermont.html" ;"title="ives Vermont">ives Vermont as birthplace">Vermont.html" ;"title="ives Vermont">ives Vermont as birthplacebr>''History and Genealogy of a Branch of the Family of Kinne''
by Emerson Kinne (Higginson Book Co., 1881) ives_Vermont_as_birthplace.html" ;"title="Vermont.html" ;"title="ives Vermont">ives Vermont as birthplace">Vermont.html" ;"title="ives Vermont">ives Vermont as birthplacebr>''Lamb's Biographical Dictionary of the United States''
by John Howard Brown (James H. Lamb Co., 1900) [gives Fayetteville, New York as birthplace] {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Wesley 1808 births 1889 deaths Politicians from Utica, New York People from Manlius, New York People from West Branch, Iowa New York State Prison Inspectors 19th-century American newspaper editors New York (state) Republicans American male journalists American temperance activists 19th-century male writers Journalists from New York (state) Activists from New York (state) Writers from Utica, New York Iowa Republicans New York (state) Libertyites