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Samuel P. Bailey

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Samuel P. Bailey

Indianapolis, Indiana circa 1868

Certainly the most important silversmith to come to Indiana after 1850 was Samuel P. Bailey of Woodstock, Vermont. Bailey was from a family of silversmiths that included Bradbury Bailey and Roswell Bailey, who both worked in Vermont. Born circa 1822 in Unity, New Hampshire, Samuel learned his trade from his cousin, Roswell H. Bailey of Woodstock, Vermont. He likely worked in Woodstock until 1851 when he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, and formed a partnership of sorts with W.H. Talbott, a prominent jeweler of that city. Bailey’s arrangement with Talbott was a strange one for the Author could find no advertisements or record linking the two together, but silver cups, particularly those awarded at state and county fairs, bearing the mark of Talbott, Bailey & Co. are extant. Although all examples of marked Indiana hollowware must be considered scarce, a surprising number of cups made by Bailey or Talbott, Bailey & Co. have been found, indicating that a substantial business in those items was done by Bailey. Samuel Bailey did not advertise alone until 1858, when the ISG listed him as a “jeweler” working in Indianapolis. He returned to Vermont by 1860, for his name is not listed on the 1860 Federal Census for Indiana, nor do any further advertisements for him appear in Indianapolis. Having returned to Vermont, at the outset of the Civil War he enlisted in the First Vermont Cavalry, saw action, and was captured and imprisoned at Andersonville in 1864. Like so many others in that tragic place, he did not survive, his death occurring the same year. His name appears on the 1850 Federal Census for Windsor County, Vermont, with his occupation given as a silversmith. Spoons, cups and other silver items executed by him are of excellent quality and are among the finest examples of the mid-western silversmith of the period after 1850.

1868

Indianapolis, Indiana

SAMUEL P. BAILEY SILVER DESCRIPTIONS COMPOSITION: COIN SILVER (1) Salt spoon, 4 inches (2) Teaspoons, 5.625 inches (2) Teaspoons, 6 inches (1) Teaspoon, 6 inches, engraved: E.A.C. (1) Mustard spoon, 5.75 inches (1) Sugar shell spoon, 6.75 inches, stamped M.C.A.S.

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