BAILES CEMETERY, Ragsdale Road, LIMESTONE COUNTY ALABAMA

Mapping the Location

Overview photos of the Bailes Cemetery: 2498/2499/2500/2514/2527/2528/2529/2530/2531/2534/2535/2536/2537
Photo looking back north at the cemetery in the hedgerow: 2540
Photos of old extinct barns/perhaps homes in serious decline: 2538/2539/2542/2543/2544/2545

BAILES, Thomas J., Nov 4, 1811 - Mar 21, 1884. 2515/footstone T.J.B.: 2516
BAILES, Margaret, Jan 1834 - (Aft 1900) (wife of Thomas J. Bailes)
HUGHEY, Victoria E., Dec 10, 1868 - Feb 9, 1897.
HUGHEY, Ida Francis. d/o L. M. & M.F. Hughey, Apr 16, 1875 - Aug 1876.
LOVELESS, Alice, Aug 31, 1860 - May 21, 1879 (not buried under her married name (John) Bailes for obvious reasons*)2505/2506/2507/Footstone A.L.: 2508F
NELSON, J. V., (b. abt 1839) - Died Mar 11, 1901, Aged 62 years. Serg Co. G. 9th Ala Calvary, Confederate States Army. 2493/2495/military marker: 2494/2497/footstone J.V.N.:2532/2533
NELSON, Molly. w/o J. V. Nelson, (b. abt 1841) - Jan 10, 1868, age 27 years. Beloved one farewell 2511C/2511/2512/2513/2514
DALY, Mattie F., wife of J.E. Daly, (b abt 1860) - Mar 1, 1881. age 21 years. A loving wife a mother dear lies buried here. 2503/2504/footstone M.F.D.: 2503F
DALY, Lena, d/o J.E. & Mattie Daly, (b. cir Sep 7, 1880) - Sep 17, 1884, age 4 yrs & 10 dys. Sister has gone to be an Angel. 2501/2502

Infant Son born and died Jul 10 1887, Children of J.W & ..Sa..?(broken stone, surname unknown):2509/2510
Infant Son born and died Sept 7 1888, Children of J.W & ..Sa..?(      "                      ):2509/2510
Infant Son born and died Oct 8, 1889, Children of J.W & ..Sa..?(      "                      ):2509/2510
S???? (Broken Stone)(A finding by Linda Smith, I did not identify this.)
T....., T., (footstone w/o a matching headstone on west side initials T.T.: 2520/grave cradle showing demolished headstone and footstone:2521

Unknown Souls - fieldstones marking graves: 2496/2517/2518/2519/2522/2523/same stone: 2524/2525/2526/2551/2552/2553/2554/2556/2557/2558/2561/2563/2564

*NOTE: The following article was taken from 'The Legacy. which was researched by Bob Dunnavant. It then appeared in the book Tombstone Inscriptions of Limestone County AL, by Lnda Smith:

Less than a mile from the chalybeate spring at Pettusville, where resort guests relaxed at the Pettusville Hotel and drank the health-restoring waters of the spring, a serious drama took place when, on a May day in 1879, Alice Loveless Bailes and her unborn child were lowered into the grave,  victims of brutal murder at the hands of her husband, John.
Bob Dunnavant (the researcher) visited the site early in January, 1985, in search of the grave of John Bailes, who was hung by an angry mob on the Athens courthouse lawn on Aug.  7, 1880 after several earlier attempts were thwarted by officials of the law. The cemetery is in the original Bailes Hollow situated about 100 yards north of the old Bailes homeplace. Only an old chimney, almost covered by weeds, marks the spot of the house. The site can be reached either by an old road leading from the spring at Pettusville, or by turning west off on the Ragsdale Creek Road. Bob did not find John Bailes's grave, but then those subject to Mob rule like that could have wound up in a paupers grave without a headstone near Athens. According to the story told Bob by his guide, Walter Sims, Bailes stood up in the woods and watched as Alice was buried. It is interesting to note that the name "Bailes" is missing from Alice's stone. It is also interesting to speculate as to why, with feelings running so high against her murderer, Alice was buried in the Bailes cemetery.

Census of Limestone Co. 1880 (the sone John H. Bailes is deceased)
Name: Thomas J. Bailes
Age: 69
Birth Year: abt 1811
Birthplace: Tennessee
Home in 1880: Limestone, Alabama
Race: White
Gender: Male
Relation to Head of House: Self (Head)
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: Margaret Bailes
Father's Birthplace: South Carolina
Mother's Birthplace: Georgia
Occupation: Farming

Thomas J. Bailes   69 TN SC GA Farmer (d. 1884)
Margaret Bailes    44 AL VA VA Works at home, wife (b. Jan 1834; per 1900 census; Not found in grave records of Texas and still here in 1900 so likely is interred here in unmarked grave)
Robert Lane Bailes 13 AL TN AL Works on Farm, son (Interred in Texas)
Charlie T. Bailes  10 AL TN AL Works on Farm, son
Champe Bailes       8 AL TN AL son
Florence Bailes     9 AL TN AL dau
Lofter Bailes       4 AL TN AL son (Interred in Texas)
George Gray        18 AL AL AL Works on Farm Stepson
Jacob James        55 Germany, Germany, Germany Laborer, Blacksmith
 

This Cemetery presentation is based on the photography of Wayne Austin on 14 Oct 2014. Final editing and uploaded here by the same on 24 Jun 2015. It was also presented in the book Tombstone Inscriptions of Limestone County Alabama, by Linda Smith, page 28, abt 1990.