Jeremiah Bailey

Jeremiah Bailey (May 1, 1773 – July 6, 1853) was a United States representative from Maine and a long-serving public official in the early political life of both Massachusetts and the State of Maine. He was born in Little Compton, Rhode Island, on May 1, 1773, during the closing years of the colonial period. Raised in New England, he attended the local common schools, receiving the basic classical and civic education typical of the era and region.

Bailey pursued higher education at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, then one of the principal institutions of learning in New England. He graduated from Brown in 1794, an achievement that placed him among the relatively small number of college-educated men of his generation. Following his graduation, he studied law, preparing for admission to the bar at a time when formal legal education was largely conducted through apprenticeship and independent study.

After completing his legal training, Bailey was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Wiscasset, in what was then the District of Maine, part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Wiscasset, an important coastal and commercial community in the early nineteenth century, provided a setting in which Bailey combined his legal work with growing involvement in public affairs. His professional standing and Federalist political sympathies led to his selection as a presidential elector on the Federalist ticket in 1808, reflecting his early alignment with the party that favored a strong national government and commercial interests.

Bailey’s legislative career began in the Massachusetts General Court, where he served as a member from 1811 to 1814, representing the interests of his Maine constituency while the region was still under Massachusetts jurisdiction. His service in the General Court coincided with the tensions and disruptions surrounding the War of 1812, a period of particular concern in coastal Maine. In 1816 he was appointed judge of probate, a position of significant local responsibility involving the administration of estates and guardianships. He held this judicial office from 1816 to 1834, continuing in it through Maine’s separation from Massachusetts and its admission to the Union as a separate state in 1820.

Bailey entered national politics as an Anti-Jacksonian, a designation commonly associated with the National Republican opposition to President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic Party. He was elected to the Twenty-fourth Congress and served as a United States representative from Maine from March 4, 1835, to March 3, 1837. During his single term in the House of Representatives, he sat as part of the broader coalition that opposed Jacksonian policies on issues such as the national bank and federal internal improvements. In 1836 he was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the Twenty-fifth Congress, ending his brief tenure in the national legislature.

In the later phase of his public career, Bailey was associated with the Whig Party, which drew many former Anti-Jacksonians and National Republicans into its ranks. As a member of the Whig Party, he was appointed collector of customs at Wiscasset, serving in that federal post from 1849 to 1853. The customs collectorship was a significant position in a maritime community, involving the oversight of federal revenue collection on imports and shipping activity at the port.

Jeremiah Bailey remained in Wiscasset until his death. He died there on July 6, 1853, after more than half a century of legal practice and public service in the town and region. He was interred in Evergreen Cemetery in Wiscasset, Maine, closing a career that spanned the transition from colonial-era New England through the early decades of the United States and the formation and development of the State of Maine.