Mollie Arline Kirkland Bailey

Mollie Arline Kirkland Bailey (c. November 2, 1844 — October 2, 1918), known as the "Circus Queen of the Southwest", was a circus musician, singer, war-time nurse, and according to some accounts, spy for Confederate States of America generals John Bell Hood and Jubal Anderson Early.

Bailey was born near Mobile, Alabama to William Kirkland and Mary Arline, who owned a prosperous plantation.[1] Her exact birth date is unknown, with different sources placing it between the mid-1830s and 1844. Bailey exhibited early talent in dramatic arts, including putting on plays with her siblings and mimicking peoples' mannerisms.[2] As a young girl Bailey was considered a bit of a tomboy, and as was customary at the time, her parents decided to send her to a ladies academy near Tuscaloosa, Alabama.[1]

Around the age of 14, while home from school for a short vacation, Bailey attended a circus performance and became infatuated with a cornet player, James A. (Gus) Bailey.[1] The attraction was mutual and Bailey sought her parents' permission to marry, but her father refused to allow her to wed someone associated with a circus. While her father was away on a business trip in 1858, Bailey eloped with Gus; they were married soon after, and honeymooned with the circus.[1] After "borrowing" a few horses and a wagon from her family's plantation, the new couple, together with one sibling each, formed the "Bailey Family Troupe".[1] The new troupe toured throughout the American South, singing, dancing and performing in a vaudeville style. Bailey's father never accepted their marriage, though she came home to the plantation at least twice to ask for his approval. William Kirkland disinherited his daughter and the two never reconciled.[1][2]

When the Civil War broke out, Gus enlisted and was eventually attached to Hood's Texas Brigade, where he became a bandmaster.[1] Bailey is said to have traveled with the brigade as a nurse, and according to some sources, as a spy. Bailey is said to have infiltrated Union troop camps to gather information by posing as an old woman selling cookies. Bailey also helped sneak quinine to Confederate troops by hiding small packets in her hair, which had been swept up into an impressive pompadour.[1] In any case, Bailey did join her husband's unit for some concerts, including one on April 5, 1864, where she performed a "musical and dancing program" with Hood's Minstrels.[2]

When the war ended, they toured the South by riverboat, in what Bailey would call a "boat show".[1][2] In 1879, the Baileys retooled their show into a traveling circus and, like many Southerners searching for new opportunities after the war, moved to Texas permanently.[2] They called their new show the "Bailey Circus", billed as "A Texas Show for Texas People."[1] Later, when Gus became ill, Mollie Bailey took it over and renamed it the "Mollie A. Bailey Show",[2] with a bigtop that flew the flags of the United States, the state of Texas and the Confederacy.[1] Bailey gave free admission to war veterans, regardless of which side they fought for.[3]

Bailey's circus was a success, and at its peak claimed 31 wagons and about 200 animals,[2] including camels and elephants. Her circus was intended for "nice folk" and families, and was free of con games or other cheating.[1] The circus primarily toured small towns[2] and became well known throughout the state;[1] James Stephen Hogg, the governor of Texas from 1890 to 1894, presented Bailey with a wild boar's tooth mounted in gold, upon which her name was inscribed.[2]

Gus Bailey died in 1896; she remarried a circus employee named A. H. "Blackie" Hardesty in 1906, though she did not take his last name.[3] Bailey ran her circus until 1917, a year before her death.[2] She is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Houston, Texas, near a historical marker recounting her life that was placed by the Texas Historical Commission.[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 Blevins, Don (2008). A Priest, a Prostitute, and Some Other Early Texans: The Lives of Fourteen Lone Star State Pioneers. TwoDot. p. 52. ISBN 0-7627-4589-4. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Abernethy, Francis Edward (1994). Legendary Ladies of Texas, Issue 53. University of North Texas Press. p. 108. ISBN 0-929398-75-0. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Troesser, John (December 1, 2004). "They Shoe Horses, Don't They?". Texas Escapes. Retrieved September 30, 2010.

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