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Notable people · Frontier Scout · Woman · Soldier

Anne Bailey

Anne Trotter Hennis Bailey, born in England about 1742, became a famed frontier scout and messenger in the Virginia backcountry. She moved to Gallia County, Ohio, in 1818 and died there in 1825.

At a glance

Born
1742
Died
1825-11-22
Known as
Frontier Scout, Woman, Soldier

Life story

Anne Trotter Hennis Bailey was born about 1742 in Liverpool, England. Her parents died in 1760 and she came to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia at about age 19.

She married Richard Trotter in 1765; he was killed at the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. After that she served as a scout and courier from 1776 to 1783. In 1788 she married John Bailey, a soldier at Fort Lee, who was murdered in 1794.

Stories say she rode alone about 100 miles in 1790-91 to bring gunpowder to a besieged fort. That story may not be true. In 1818 she moved to Gallia County, Ohio, where she died in November 1825 at about age 83.

She was first buried in the Trotter graveyard and moved in 1901 to Tu-Endie-Wei State Park in West Virginia. A poem about her ride was written in 1861.

Timeline

  • 1742: Born in Liverpool, England (about) (Liverpool) source
  • 1760: Arrives in the Shenandoah Valley (Virginia) source
  • 1765: Marries Richard Trotter (Virginia) source
  • 1774-10-10: Richard Trotter is killed at Point Pleasant (Point Pleasant, VA) source
  • 1776: Begins serving as scout and courier (Virginia) source
  • 1788: Marries John Bailey (Fort Lee, VA) source
  • 1818: Moves to Gallia County (Gallia County, OH) source
  • 1825-11-22: Dies (Gallia County, OH) source
  • 1901: Reburied at Tu-Endie-Wei State Park (Point Pleasant, WV) source

What Anne is known for

  • Served as a scout and courier in the Revolutionary War era
  • Famous for a legendary 100-mile ride for ammunition
  • Moved to Gallia County in 1818
  • Subject of Charles Robb's poem "Anne Bailey's Ride" (1861)

Honors and things named for them

  • Anne Bailey Elementary, St. Albans, WV
  • Watoga State Park lookout tower named for her
  • DAR chapter in Charleston, WV

Family

  • first husband: Richard Trotter
  • second husband: John Bailey
  • son: William

Ohio places

Where Anne Bailey was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Myths and corrections

  • The ride for ammunition may be a legend. Some sources call it possibly apocryphal.
  • Disputed: The famous solo ride for gunpowder is told as fact in many tellings, but it may be a legend with no firm proof.

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.

  • Wikipedia: Anne Bailey birth about 1742, marriages, wartime service, move to Gallia 1818, death 1825, reburial 1901, dispute over the ride

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