Bailey, Joseph, 1825-1867

Bailey was born near the town of Pennsville in Morgan County, Ohio. He earned a civil engineering degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, then moved to Wisconsin and became a civil engineer and lumberman. After successfully building a log dam on the Wisconsin River for use by lumber raftsmen, he and his wife, Mary, purchased several tracts of land in Kilbourn, Wisconsin (now Wisconsin Dells). He built a home in town with acreage that stretched northward up River Road which included the site of present-day Meadowbrook Resort. Politically, he was a Democrat.

Bailey entered the Union Army at the beginning of the war as captain of Company D of the 4th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment. He served as part of Major General Benjamin F. Butler's Army of the Gulf, which occupied New Orleans after Admiral David Farragut captured the city in April 1862. Bailey was named acting chief engineer for the city of New Orleans shortly after its occupation.

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