Asa Bailey (1745)

Born 13 May 1745 in Windham, New Hampshire

Ancestors

Husband of Abigail (Abbott) Bailey — married 15 Apr 1767 in Haverhill, Grafton County, New Hampshire

Descendants

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Biography

Asa Bailey, son of Edward Bailey and Elizabeth Burbank, was born on 13 May 1745 at Windham, New Hampshire.^[1][2] His family had settled just months earlier in this area formerly known as the north parish of Methuen, MA but in 1741 determined to be in NH when the state line was drawn. The area where Asa was born was in 1757 annexed to Salem, NH.

He married Abigail Abbott, daughter of James and Sarah (Bancroft) Abbott, on 15 April 1767 at Haverhill, Grafton County, New Hampshire.^[3][4] Interestingly, the fathers of both Asa and Abigail were selectmen of Haverhill, NH in 1767.

Asa was credited with service as a private during the Revolutionary War^[5] and appears in New Hampshire Provincial Records as Second Major of the Landaff town militia.^[6] In their first years of marriage, they lived at Haverhill, NH. In a 28 Mar. 1769 transaction, "Asa Bayley of Haverhill" transferred land in the upper meadow of Haverhill, NH to "my honored father Edward Bayley of Haverhill" for $373.^[7] The family moved from Haverhill to Bath, NH in or soon after 1772. That is the year Asa acquired land originally granted to John Sawyer when the original Bath grantees were established on 29 Mar. 1769.^[8] On 9 Apr. 1774, "Asa Bayley of Bath" sold some of this land for 200 pounds to "my honored father Edward Bayley of Bath"^[9] and soon afterwards, several of Asa’s siblings also settled in Bath, NH. By or before 1783 Asa moved his family from Bath, NH to the neighboring town to the north, being Landaff, NH, where they had a prosperous farm of 200 acres. They were living in Landaff, NH when the 1790 census was taken. Asa and Abigail had 17 children, born in Haverhill, NH, Bath, NH and Landaff, NH:

Soon after they married, Abigail discovered her husband to be an unreasonable man of rash temper, repeated infidelity, with servant girls and even their own daughters, and she and the children endured from him cruel treatment. The family’s ordeals were captured by Abigail Bailey in memoirs which were published soon after her death. Abigail repeatedly gave Asa second chances. By 1790 she had had enough and in Sep. 1790, she insisted Asa leave the household. Although he did leave, he returned home to Landaff, NH at least twice seeking reconciliation, but Abigail insisted on seeing actions not empty promises. On 24 Jan. 1792 they formalized the exchange of farms with Reuben Foster, having already moved the family from Landaff, NH to Bradford, VT.^[10][11] In early 1792, Asa tricked Abigail into accompanying him to New York state, where their 17 year old son Asa, Jr was working. A man was secretly hired by Asa, Sr. to bring their young children to NY from Bradford, VT, but with the help of Abigail's family in Newbury, VT, this attempt was foiled. Abigail finally involved the authorities and Asa was arrested. An agreement was made between them on 1 Mar. 1792 to sell the Bradford, VT homestead and split the proceeds, as part of a divorce agreement (1792-3).^[12]

After the divorce, Abigail rented a house in Haverhill, NH, where she lived for four years with her four youngest children. After that, she placed her youngest children with other families and moved to Piermont, NH to live with Deacon Andrew Crook. Her final eight years were spent living in various locations with the families of some of her children. After the divorce, Asa Bailey moved for a time to Whitestown, NY, and may have re-married. Little is known of his final years.

Abigail Bailey died 11 Feb. 1815 at the home of her son Asa in Bath, NH, age 69. It is assumed that she was buried without gravestone in Bath Village Cemetery, in Bath, NH, where at least one of her children (Ruth) was buried just three years later.

Sources

1. ↑ New Hampshire Birth Records, Salem| Birth, Asa Bayley
2. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #160770591 for Abigail Abbott Bailey
3. ↑ Asa Bayley. Spouse Name: Abigail Abbott New Hampshire, Marriage Records Index, 1637-1947.
4. ↑ | Page 353: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation, Volume 1. By Ezra S. Stearns, William Frederick Whitcher, Edward Everett Parker. 1908. Page 353.
5. ↑ NH State Papers, Vol. XIV, - Revolutionary War Rolls: | pp. 286-7
6. ↑ Early State Papers of New Hampshire, Vol. XX| p. 261
7. ↑ Grafton County, NH, Deeds, v. 1| pp. 160-1
8. ↑ Provincial and State Papers of NH, vol. 24| p. 454
9. ↑ Grafton County, NH, Deeds| v. 2, pp. 410-1
10. ↑ Grafton County, NH, Deeds| v. 15, pp. 93-4
11. ↑ Bradford, VT, Deeds| v. 2, p. 2
12. ↑ Bradford, VT, Deeds| v. 2, p. 4. witnessed by sons Samuel and Caleb Bailey

See Also:

• Family Search | Asa Bailey
• Memoirs of Mrs. Abigail Bailey| Memoirs of Abigail Bailey