Background
Bailey, James Anthony was born on July 4, 1847 in Detroit, Michigan, United States.
Bailey, James Anthony was born on July 4, 1847 in Detroit, Michigan, United States.
Orphaned at the age of eight, McGuiness was working as a bellhop in Pontiac, Michigan when he was discovered by Frederic Harrison Bailey (a nephew of circus pioneer Hachaliah Bailey) as a teenager. Bailey gave McGuiness a job as his assistant and the two traveled together for many years. James Anthony eventually adopted Bailey"s surname to become James A. Bailey.
Bailey later associated with James East. Cooper and, by the time he was 25, he was manager of the Cooper and Bailey circus.
He then met with P.T. Barnum and together they established Barnum and Bailey"s Circus (for which Bailey was instrumental in obtaining Jumbo the Elephant) in 1881. In 1919, Barnum and Bailey"s joined with the Ringling Brothers to form the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.
James Anthony Bailey was married to Ruth McCaddon of Zanesville, Ohio. He died of erysipelas.
He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, in The Bronx, New York City.
