Mrs. Bailey
Thomas H. Bailey
Thomas H. Bailey was born in Texas around 1881. He worked as a railroad puller in Denver, before beginning work as a farmer upon moving to his homestead in Dearfield in 1919. There he lived with his wife, Catherine (Bryant) Bailey. Catherine was born in Alabama and had worked as a dressmaker and seamstress in Denver. The couple owned almost 300 turkeys, 400 chickens, and a horse named Lucy. Mrs. Bailey hunted jackrabbits for food and to sell for alfalfa. She had wanted to start a library in the townsite, but sickness said that took that dream away. It is unknown whether Catherine passed away, or if the couple divorced, but in 1927, T. H. Bailey remarried Ida Mae Rasher. Like many in town, the Baileys were Methodist, likely attending AME services. For a while, Thomas' Aunt, Jennie (Bailey) Daggett, lived with him in Dearfield. Thomas farmed in Dearfield until his retirement in 1945, near age 65. He passed away in late January 1972.
"Mr. Thomas H. Bailey," Paul Stewart Collection, SC106_02_0255, University of Northern Colorado Archives and Special Collections. https://digarch.unco.edu/photographs-1.
"Thomas Bailey" The Greeley Tribune, February 1, 1972. p.6. https://www.newspapers.com/image/25070908.
"TH Bailey Oral History" Paul Stewart Collection, SC106_01_04_0030, University of Northern Colorado Archives and Special Collections. https://digarch.unco.edu/photographs-1.
"Mrs. T. H. Bailey" The Denver Star, February 6, 1915, p. 8. https://www.newspapers.com/image/623900559.
"Mrs. TH Bailey with Farm Animals," Paul Stewart Collection, SC106_02_0257, University of Northern Colorado Archives and Special Collections. https://digarch.unco.edu/photographs-1.
"Colorado, Statewide Marriage Index, 1853-2006" Entry for Thomas H. Bailey and Catherine Bryant. Family Search, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KN3R-2MY?lang=en.
U.S. Census Bureau, "United States, Census, 1920," Family Search, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXLF-QJK?lang=en.
U.S. Census Bureau, "United States, Census, 1930," Family Search, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X7W8-ZJH?lang=en.