The Coast Guard of Lake Erie: The Story of Smith Bailey

 

The military journey of our 4th great-grandfather, Smith Bailey (1789–1862), perfectly mirrors the expansion of early America. Born in Connecticut, he followed the westward pioneering trail through the dangerous Pennsylvania frontier during the War of 1812, stopped in Ohio, and ultimately settled on the rolling prairies of early Iowa.

🪓 The Pennsylvania Frontier & The War of 1812

When the War of 1812 broke out, Smith Bailey was living along the northern border of Pennsylvania (family records place him in Bradford County around 1810). This region was highly vulnerable to British strikes launched across Lake Erie from Canada.

His enlistments in the 135th and 17th Regiments of the Pennsylvania Militia place him directly into the defense of the American northwest frontier:

• The 135th Regiment (Christy’s): Commanded by Colonel Andrew Christy under the broad leadership of General David Mead, this regiment was raised from the northwestern counties of Pennsylvania. Their primary, high-stakes objective was the Defense of Erie. The British navy was actively attempting to raid the harbor to destroy the American fleet and naval shipyards. 
• Life as a Frontier Militia Private: Smith would have been drafted for short, intense emergency tours of duty. His responsibilities included manning pickets, building blockhouses, and standing guard over the harbor where Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry was constructing the ships that would eventually win the historic Battle of Lake Erie.
• The 17th Regiment (Hall's): Commanded by Colonel John Hall, this unit similarly handled regional defense and garrison duty. In the militia, if the British fleet appeared off the coast of Erie, a rider was dispatched, and men like Smith Bailey had to drop their farming plows, grab their muskets, and march straight to the lake to repel a potential invasion.

The Westward Pioneer Trail

Following his service, Smith joined the classic American migration pattern, pushing further west as new lands opened up:

• Ohio: He moved his family from Pennsylvania to Franklin County, Ohio, where he farmed for about a decade. 
• Iowa Territory: By the 1840s or 1850s, he pushed into the newly opened Iowa frontier. He spent his final years in Marion Township, Davis County, Iowa (right on the Missouri border). When he passed away in June 1862, he was laid to rest on his own community's soil at the Bailey Cemetery in Davis County—a cemetery that still bears his family name. 

📜 The Coast Guard of Lake Erie: The Story of Smith Bailey

Celebrating America 250

To look back at the life of my 4th great-grandfather, Smith Bailey, is to watch the steady, unyielding westward march of the early American pioneer. Born in Haddam, Connecticut, just as the dust from the Revolutionary War was settling in 1789, Smith was named for his mother’s people—the Smiths—carrying the proud heritage of New England builders in his very name. But the rocky soil of Connecticut couldn't hold a man with the frontier in his blood.

By 1810, Smith had made his way to the rugged, heavily forested hills of northern Pennsylvania, marrying his wife, Rosemanty Rogers. They were just beginning to clear their land when the British Empire struck again, plunging the young American republic into the War of 1812.

The threat to Pennsylvania wasn't coming from the Atlantic Ocean; it was coming from the Great Lakes. The British fleet dominated the waters, threatening to invade the northern tier of the state and burn the crucial shipyards at Erie. Smith dropped his axe, grabbed his flintlock musket, and answered the call, stepping into the ranks as a Private in the 135th Pennsylvania Militia under Colonel Andrew Christy, and later the 17th Militia under Colonel John Hall.

They weren't regular army soldiers with fancy uniforms; they were the "Coast Guard" of the Pennsylvania wilderness. Smith and his regular-joe comrades marched through the mud to the shores of Lake Erie under the command of General David Mead. They lived in rough-hewn log garrisons, dug trenches, and stood shivering on the rocky pickets, watching the horizon for the white sails of British warships. Their stubborn presence kept the British from landing, buying precious time for the U.S. Navy to build the fleet that would eventually win control of the lakes.

When the treaty was signed and the British threat died away, Smith turned his eyes west once more. He packed up his wagon, guiding his children—Orange, Sylvester, and Thomas—through the deep woods of Ohio, where they broke the soil for ten years. But the true horizon kept calling. By the twilight of his life, Smith had pushed all the way to the rich, open prairies of Davis County, Iowa.

He had lived through the birth of a nation, defended its northern borders from an empire, and helped carve three different states out of the wilderness. When he finally closed his eyes in June 1862, amidst the dark days of the Civil War, he was buried in the quiet soil of the Bailey Cemetery in Marion, Iowa. He began his journey as a subject of a fragile young coastal republic and left it as an American patriarch, buried in the heartland he helped win.

Thank you Gemini AI for your wisdom and research assistance. -- Drifting Cowboy