Lockley, Fred.  "History of the Columbia River Valley, From The Dalles to the
Sea." Vol. 2.  S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1928.  p. 897.
 
JOHN W. BAILEY

     Among the active and successful business men of Hillsboro, Oregon, one of
the best known is John W. Bailey, who has been closely identified with the
commercial and financial interests of this city and is now president of the La
Dee Logging Company. Additional interest attaches to his record from the fact
that he is a member of one of Washington county's old and prominent pioneer
families. 'He was born in Hillsboro in 1876 and is a son of Dr. P. A. and
Letitia (Chambers) Bailey, regarding whom Fred Lockley wrote as follows in the
Oregon Daily Journal on February 4, 1922: "Acting on the advice of Thomas H.
Tongue, Jr., I went to Mrs. Bailey's home and spent an hour or more with her and
her daughter Eva. 'I was born on my father's donation land claim, six miles
north of Hillsboro, in 1849,' said Mrs. Bailey. 'My parents came across the
plains in 1845. My father, James W. Chambers, was born in Pennsylvania. My
mother, whose maiden name was Mary Green, was born in Kentucky and was reared in
Tennessee. She married Woodson Scoggin and they had five children. After the
death of her first husband, my mother and father met and were married in
Missouri. They were married just before they started across the plains by ox
team and prairie schooner for their six months' honeymoon trip to the Willamette
valley. I said their six months' wedding trip, for that was the time usually
taken to cross the plains, but they were nine months on the road.
     " 'My father's father, Thomas Chambers, was captain of the wagon train. My
eldest sister, Mary Jane Hoover, who lives at Fossil, was born just after my
parents reached Oregon. She was born in December, 1845. Father secured a claim
six miles north of Hillsboro, buying the right of a squatter. When the news of
the discovery of gold in California came, father went there at once. This was in
the fall of 1848. After spending a few months there he came back and spent part
of the winter at home, returning to California the next spring. Father came back
in the fall of 1849, reaching home on November 21. I was born the day following.
     " 'Father had boated on the Mississippi, so when he went to California,
instead of mining he ran a boat on the Sacramento river.
     " 'Mother's eldest child by her first husband was John Lafayette Scoggin;
then came William Gustavus, who was always called Stave; then Elizabeth; Martha,
who married C. B. Comstock, and the baby, Woodson Avery. Scoggin valley is named
for them.
     " 'I went to school in district number One. Most of the schoolhouses were
of logs, but we had a frame schoolhouse. Later I went to Tualatin Academy and
Pacific University. Rev. Gushing Eells was the first principal of Tualatin
Academy. His assistant was Elizabeth Millar, who later married Joseph G. Wilson,
of Salem, later a supreme judge and a member of Congress. In January, 1854, a
new act of incorporation  was  passed  and  Tualatin   Academy  became
Tualatin   Academy  and   Pacific University.
     " 'While I was going to school there I boarded with Mrs. Kane. My sister
was married the next fall and shortly thereafter our house burned to the ground,
so I did not have the opportunity to go back to school at Forest Grove. When our
house was burned I went to live with my half-brother in Scoggin valley, near
Gaston. The teacher there was Dr. F. A. Bailey. I went to school to him. 'He
fell into the habit of dropping in to see my half-brother pretty often. We were
married December G, 1860. We moved to a farm near Centerville, about three miles
from Cornelius. We lived there seven years. Then we moved to Hillsboro. Thomas
H. Tongue was our nearest neighbor. He was a fine man. I knew most of his
children from the time they were born. His wife, whose maiden name was Margaret
Emily Eagleton, now lives in Portland in the Wickersham apartments.
     " 'My husband built this house in 1873 and I have lived in it ever since.
We had eight children. Two of my boys are physiciansÑF. J. and A. B. Bailey.
They live in Portland. John is in the lumber and logging business and lives in
Hillsboro. My daughter Eva lives with me. Thomas is a dentist in Portland.
     " 'My husband, Dr. F. A. Bailey, was born in Tennessee, January 28, 1839.
When he was eighteen he moved to Missouri. He put in two years in the hospital
service in the Confederate army. He received his medical degree from Willamette
University in 1870, and the next year he received a diploma from a medical
college at San Francisco. Dr. Baily served as mayor of Hillsboro three terms. He
was an ardent democrat and an enthusiastic Mason. He loved the profession of
medicine, so much so that, when he was offered the democratic nomination for
governor, he felt that his duty was to the medical profession and he declined
the nomination. Sylvester Pennoyer was nominated and elected. His friends
considered him an orator of unusual gifts, and he wrote many professional
articles for the medical journals. 'He died January 23, 1920, of pneumonia. He
was rich in that best form of wealth, the regard and friendship of those who
knew him best.' "
     As supplementary to the foregoing interesting article, it may be stated
that F. A. Bailey attended an academy in western Tennessee, the principal of
which was a man of strong character and remarkable education. From there Mr.
Bailey went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he attended medical college, and this
institution sent him his medical degree after he had gone to Oregon, so that he
had the unusual distinction of holding three medical degrees. He came to the
Pacific coast in 1865, having left St. Louis as physician for an outfit which
was sent to Montana for the Hudson Bay Company. He heard about the Willamette
valley, so came on to this locality, and soon afterwards got a position as
teacher in the school in Scoggin valley, accepting the school with the provision
that if he received a call for his medical services he was to attend it at once,
leaving the school in charge of the older pupils. Though he had served as a
cadet surgeon in Price's army, he never took the oath of allegiance to the
Confederacy. In addition to his extensive medical practice in Hillsboro, Dr.
Bailey and Dr. Linklater owned a drug store in this city for many years. He was
a member of the Masonic lodge at Hillsboro, in which he had passed through the
chairs, and was also a past president of the Oregon State Medical Society. He
was a constant student of his profession, keeping abreast the times in
everything pertaining to it and the American Medical Journal carried many able
articles by him. So highly was his ability and attainments held that a number of
times he was called to give expert testimony in trials. He took a constant and
effective interest in everything relating to the material, civic or moral
welfare of his community and helped to establish the free public library in
Hillsboro, being a strong believer in education through reading. He and his wife
were charter members of the Eastern Star chapter in Hillsboro.
     John W. Bailey received his early education in the public schools of
Hillsboro, also attending Pacific University two years, after which he entered
Leland Stanford University, from which he was graduated in 1898. 'He was
employed in San Francisco, California, about two years, then came back to
Hillsboro, and later bought his father's drug store, which he ran for several
years. In 1908 he became auditor of Washington county, which office he held
until 1912, when he became vice president and manager of the Hillsboro
Commercial Bank, which relation he sustained about nine years. Since that time
he has devoted his attention to his logging and timber interests and is now
president of the La Dee Logging Company, with offices in Portland.
     In 1898 Mr. Bailey was united in marriage to Miss E. Grace Streeter, who
was born in Minnesota, from which state she came to Oregon in young girlhood
with her parents, Charles E. and Rebecca Streeter, both of whom are deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Bailey are the parents of a son, Dr. Francis Paul, who is now a
successful physician in Portland. He took his pre-medical course at Leland
Stanford University, after which he matriculated in the medical school of the
University of Oregon, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of
Medicine. He served as interne one year at the Good Samaritan Hospital and one
year at Sanford-'Lane Hospital, after which he was for one year on the faculty
of the medical school of Leland Stanford University, and resident surgeon for
the City 'Hospital of San Francisco, since which time he has been engaged in the
practice of his profession in Portland. He was married to Miss Frances Hobbs, of
Corvallis, Oregon, and they have two children, John Hobbs and F. Paul, Jr. John
W. Bailey has been active in the public affairs of his city and held practically
every office except that of mayor. He is a member of Tuality Lodge, No. G, A. F.
& A. M., in which he has held all chairs except that of worshipful master. He is
a man of strong character and stanch personal qualities, has led an active and
useful life, and throughout Washington county, where he is well known, commands
unqualified confidence and respect.

 
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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in June 2012 by Diana Smith. Submitter has
no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.