(UPDATE) Fort Amanda's Drummer Boy - Lewis Bayley

Ft. Amanda's Drummer Boy

Lewis Bayley

(1784 - 1876)

Lewis Bailey  was a 28-year-old drummer in Captain Hosbrook's company at Fort Amanda (Feb. - Aug. 1813). He kept his English surname "Bayley" throughout his entire life.  His sons, however, changed theirs to the conventional spelling (Bailey) more than likely to avoid having to explain why the spelled it that way.  Not unlike we Johnson whose name has evolved from the Scottish "Johnstone" to the Irish "Johnston" to English "Johnson" and even after 500 years, people still ask if there is a "T" in our name). 

Lewis Bayley was born on Tuesday, August 24, 1784, in Haverhill, New Hampshire,  He was the son of Revolutionary War veteran Timothy and his wife Zeruiah (Blodgett) Bayley. He attended the schools of the day and when not in school, he worked with his father in his blacksmith shop. On August, 26, 1805, just 2 days after his 21st birthday, Lewis, with just a few dollars in his pocket, gathered up a bundle of clothes, loaded some tools in a wagon, and started for Ohio, 920 miles away.  Apparently the plan was for Lewis to go to Ohio, stake out some land, return home and help the rest of the family prepare to move to their new home in Ohio.

A week and 117 miles later, Lewis arrived in Pelham, New Hampshire and got a room at Butlers Inn where he was immediately smitten by the beauty of Butler's 17-year-old daughter; Betsey.  How long Lewis remained in Pelham is unknown, and with only a few short months before Winter would set in and 800 miles yet to go on his journey, it's doubtful he stayed long. The route he took probably followed the National Road through Pennsylvania, through Columbus then on west to what was to become Harmony, Ohio. 

According to most sources Lewis left home the latter part of August 1805, travwled 900 miles to Clark County, Ohio, built a cabin then walked back to his father’s farm in New Hampshire, arriving there just as winter was setting in.  Now I have to admit, the story seemed a little far fetched to me until I did the math. If Lewis was able to travel 30 miles a day, the trip to Ohio would have taken him about 5 - 6 weeks meaning he would have arrived in Clark County around the beginning of October 1805. Allowing a month to procure land, clear it and build a crude cabin and another 5-6weeks returning to New Hampshire means he would have arrived back in New Hampshire around the middle of December. Impossible? As the reader will learn later in this blog, it was not only possible, for Lewis it was probably just a “walk in the park” for him.

Arriving home Lewis and his brothers helped their father build wagons and gather supplies in preparations for moving everyone to their new home in the new state of Ohio. In May the following year (1806) the Bayley family loaded onto their oxen and horse drawn wagons and started westward. Following the same route Lewis took a few months before, the Bayley's arrived in Pelham and took rooms in Butler's inn.  Apparently Lewis’ infatuation with17 year old Betsy Butler had not diminished because while there, he asked her to marry him and she agreed.  Following the marriage, Betsy packed up her belongings, said her goodbyes to family and she and the Bayley family started west.  It was the last time Betsy would ever see her Mother and Father. 

Arriving in Clark County later that spring after a long and tiresome journey, the Bayley’s moved into the cabin Lewis had built the year before. The site would later become the village of Harmony, Ohio.

Called to Duty

In February of 1813, Lewis was told to report for duty in Cincinnati. He was assigned to Captain Daniel Hosbrook’s Ohio militia company.  Because of their musical talents, he and James Ross were appointed company musicians; Lewis the drummer and Ross the company fifer.  Musicians played a very important role  in a military unit especially during battles when their music signaled different kinds of battle formations.  In addition to their other duties at Ft. Amanda, Lewis and Ross probably their evenings playing their music for the other men in the company. 

After the War

In the early part of 1825, Lewis and Betsy decided it was time to leave their home in Clark County and move again so they packed up their belongings and headed west to Illinois. The trip was a long and difficult one as roadways were practically non-existent, there were very bridges meaning they had to ford every stream and waterway they came to. Lewis’ mother and father remained in Clark County.  Later that same year 70 year old Timothy Bayley died. His mother survived him by nearly 30 yeas dying in 1852.  Both Timothy and Zeruiah are buried in the Lisbon cemetery in Clark County, Ohio. 

After several weeks, Lewis and his family arrived at a tiny settlement south of Ottawa, Illinois.  Staying only a short time they moved further south to present day Vermillion, Illinois where locals called them “squatters,” a term for setters who settle on government land with the intentions of purchasing it.  Neighbors considered Lewis "misanthropic" because he came across as shy and basically a non-conformist.   Lewis, on the other hand, considered his new Indian neighbors, "more friendly, honest and trustworthy than whites,” Because the population was so sparse, Betsy did not see another white woman for almost a year so the only female friends she had during that time were Indan women. 

Sadness

In 1840, 52 year-old Betsy, the woman who left her family 900 miles away and had endured all the hardships of a pioneer life including their journeys from New Hampshire to Ohio and from there to Illinois, had given birth to their two sons, Augustus and Timothy, died shortly after giving birth to their third. The child died a few days later. 

Happiness Again

In 1843, three years after Betsy’s death, Lewis married 46 year old Mary Lake a local woman.  For the next few years Lewis operated a sawmill on the Vermillion River. In 1849, Lewis once again moved his family, this time to Essex Township in Stark County, Illinois. 

Sadness Once Again

On Mar. 26, 1861 63-year-old Mary died and was buried in Sheets cemetery, near Wyoming, Illinois.  While Lewis no doubt loved Mary, his first love was probably always Betsy, the young girl he’d fall in love with during his trip to Ohio in 1805.  His feelings toward Mary are found on her epitaph which includes the words,  “A good wife and a kind Stepmother.”  Lewis never remarried.

The Old Pioneer Just Couldn't Stay Put

In 1875, the aging Bayley, who had outlived 6 siblings, decided to visit his brother Daniel near Forest Grover Oregon. He told friends before leaving home that he was “again goin pioneerin.”   I've added the following about Lewis Bailey's brother because his life and his obituary gives us a glimmer into what type of environment the brother's grew up in and eventually shaped their personalities. 

Daniel Dodge Bayley

1801 - 1893

Daniel, a wealthy farmer had done well for himself as his property was worth $12,000 dollars at the time which was the equivalent of 14 years of income for the average family.   I decided to include a portion of Daniel's obituary in this blog because I feel it sheds some light on the personalities of Daniel and probably Lewis as well and that helps humanize what otherwise would just be 2-dimensional characters.

 
DANIEL DODGE BAYLEY was born at Concord, New Hampshire, Jan. 8th, 1801, and died at Tillamook, March 29, 1893. At an early age he began life on his own account, and for three quarters of a century in all parts of the Union spent an active and successful life.
During the early days of Ohio he was a pioneer of that young state and at one time was a personal friend of Wm. Henry Harrison for whom he afterwards voted for President.
In 1844 he was one of the intrepid hand who braved the unknown dangers of the plains and mountains in their ox-wagon journey to Oregon, settling in the Chehalem valley, Yamhill county, in 1845. Active, frugal and industrious, he was always successful in business but with no other ambition than to do good with what he had, his gifts to others always kept pace with his accumulations. His sole enjoyment of property seemed to be in giving it to someone else.
Genial, kindly, hospitable, generous almost to excess, he was an earnest seeker after the truth in all things and only intolerant of those religionists who teach a doctrine of vengeance, cruelty and hate. He once said to the writer that the only hate he harbored was hatred of humbug.
His rule of life, humanity, and his religion to do good, his name high in the list of those who love their fellow men.

All indications are Lewis was able to complete his journey and get to see his brother Daniel one last time. While it’s doubtful he made the journey on foot as he had in 1805 when he walked 900 miles to Ohio, it’s probably a safe bet to say that had he been able to he probably would have tried. After all this trip was only 1500 miles and Lewis was only 91 years old. The old soldier and pioneer died the following year on Sunday, Sept. 10, 1876 near Forest Grove, Oregon just 17 days after his 92nd birthday.

  

Legacy

The names of Lewis Bayley and the other soldiers at Fort Amanda have all but faded from human memory and, with all respect, their lives not generally thought of, except to family, as the "stuff legacies are made of" The fact remains that unbeknownst to them, by their skilled hands and their service to country, they created a legacy that has given great joy to generations of people who visit it; their legacy is Fort Amanda.

Lewis Bayley is buried in the Mt. View Memorial Garden, 449 Watercrest Rd. Forest Grove, Or., Plot: Lot 89, Grave 1.

GS: N45°32'05.52”,W123°08'23.87” 

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If you would like learn more about Fort Amanda and the patriots who served there, these books can be purchased locally, on the net or by contacting me at djohnson43@att.net

     

                 $20                                                              $15

Available at;
Readmore's Hallmark stores in Lima, Ohio (E. Elm st., Eastgate and Flanders ave.

Casa Chic (109 W. Auglaize st)  in Wapakoneta, Ohio

The Allen County Museum (620 W. Market st) in Lima, Ohio 

Amazon.com

If you'd like a signed copy email me at djohnson43@att.net and I'll send you the details.

If you're looking for a speaker related to this subject for  your group, simp