John Bailhache (1787-1857)
Proprietor of the Alton Telegraph; Legislator; Mayor
John
Bailhache was born May 8, 1787, in St. Ouen, Bailiwick of
Jersey, one of the twelve parishes of the island of Jersey in the
English Chanel, a dependency of the British Crown, and had ancient
Norman origins. He was the son of teacher John Bailhache Sr. and
Mary De La Perrelle. He received his education in his mother tongue
(French), and acquired a knowledge of English, Greek, and Latin.
Bailhache traveled to the U.S. in 1810 to visit relatives in Ohio,
and being unable to return because of a blockade, he settled first
in Cambridge, Ohio. Two years later, he purchased a half interest in
The Fredonian at Chillicothe, Ohio (then the State capital), and
soon became the sole owner. In 1815, he purchased The Scioto
Gazette, and consolidated the two papers under the name of The
Scioto Gazette and Fredonian Chronicle. He remained in Cambridge
until 1828, engaging temporarily in banking, and serving in the Ohio
Legislature (1820), and being elected Associate Justice of the Court
of Common Pleas for Ross County. In 1828, he moved to Columbus,
Ohio, assuming charge of the Ohio State Journal, and served one term
as mayor of the city. He sold the Journal in 1836, and moved to
Alton, Madison County, Illinois.
While in Ohio, Bailhache married, in 1816, to Elizabeth Harwood
Heath of Henry County, Virginia, daughter of Rev. Dr. William Heath,
who was of Revolutionary stock. John and Elizabeth Bailhache were
the parents of eight children, seven of whom are: John Heath
Bailhache (1820-1829); William Henry Bailhache (1826-1905); James
Philip Bailhache (1828-1831); Sarah Ann Delano Bailhache
(1830-1836); Charles Bailhache (1833-1833); Preston Heath Bailhache
(1835-1919); and Arthur Lee Bailhache (1839-1862). Only three of the
children outlived the parents.
Bailhache became the editor/proprietor of the Alton Telegraph in
1837, in partnership at times with Lawson A. Parks and Richard M.
Treadway. Few wielded a pen as eloquently as Bailhache. He was
associated with the Telegraph from its earliest day, until 1855. He
also served as one of the directors of the newly founded Illinois
Mutual Fire Insurance Company in Alton; chairman of a committee
which sent relief to Ireland during the potato famine in 1847; and
was treasurer of the Alton Free Masons. In 1841, he was elected a
member of the Illinois General Assembly.
In 1837, when Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy was under assail by those who
were against his articles in his paper, the Alton Observer,
condemning the evils of slavery, John Bailhache at first tried to
remain neutral, but soon spoke out against the “unholy crusade
against Alton and its future prosperity.” He warned the citizens of
their path to violence, and called the murder of Lovejoy a
“melancholy catastrophe,”
Bailhache served as representative for Madison County in the 13th
General Assembly (1842-44). In 1842, when Abraham Lincoln and James
Shields met on Sunflower Island, across from Alton, to hold their
duel, it was Bailhache who penned a scathing article in the
Telegraph, condemning their actions. Both were personal friends of
John Bailhache, and he referred to the scheduled duel (which was
canceled) with “pain and deep regret.”
Elizabeth Bailhache, Mr. Bailhache's wife, died in Alton, July 01, 1849, from
cholera,
which was epidemic at the time. Her illness was short and violent.
After rising in the morning, she prepared breakfast, and quickly
began to sink from the disease. She was endowed with a vigorous
intellect and extraordinary energy of character. Matthew Bergen, and
his wife, Martha Ann, who were staying at the Bailhache home, died
three days later of the same disease. After her death, John
Bailhache never remarried.
On April 29, 1850, John Bailhache left Alton to travel west to the
California gold fields. He went by boat up the Missouri River to
Weston, Missouri, and then set off overland in the party with
Captain Hall. Along the way, he wrote in his journal of the people
he met and what he encountered. His complete journal was published
in the Napa, California, Sunday Journal, in weekly installments
between March 02 and April 20, 1852. In the journal he documented
names of people and graves along the trail. At the time, cholera was
epidemic, and people were dying daily. He made a note of every
recent grave he passed.
Returning to Alton, John Bailhache was out riding in his carriage on
September 02, 1857. The carriage overturned, and he was thrown into
a deep ravine, opposite the old Lincoln School on Alton Street,
between 10th and 11th Streets. He received injuries from which he
died. He was 70 years of age. His funeral was largely attended, and
he was buried in the Alton City Cemetery. The citizens of Alton
greatly mourned the loss of a respected and great man.
The Children of John Bailhache:
John W. H. Bailhache was born in 1817, and died in Scioto, Ohio, in
1818, at the age of two months.
Julius Delaperrelle Bailhache was born in 1819. He died in Ohio on
May 30, 1824, at the age of four or five years.
John Heath Bailhache was born October 14, 1820. He died in Ohio on
December 01, 1829, at the age of 9 years.
Mary Eliza Bailhache was born in Ross County, Ohio, on June 5, 1823.
She died on June 15, 1824, at the age of one year.
Major William Henry Bailhache was born August 14, 1826, in
Chillicothe, Ohio. He moved to Alton with his parents in 1836, and
was educated at Shurtleff College in Upper Alton. He learned the
printing trade in the office of the Telegraph under the direction of
his father. In 1855, in partnership with Edward L. Baker, he became
one of the owners of the State Journal at Springfield. He enlisted
in 1861, and served during the Civil War as Captain and
Quartermaster. He was promoted to Major for meritorious service.
After the Civil War, he was connected with a printing office in
Springfield, Illinois. He moved to the New Mexico Territory in 1878,
and in 1881, and was appointed receiver of the U.S. Land Office in
Albuquerque, and served in that position for four years. He 1883, he
became associated with the editor of the Daily New Mexican, and
remained in the business as manager until 1887, when he moved to San
Diego, California, where he was engaged in newspaper work. He was
appointed Deputy Collector of Customs, and served in that capacity
for four years. He died in California in March 1905, and was buried
there.
James Philip Bailhache was born August 03, 1828. He died on July 01,
1831, at the age of two years, and is buried in the Green Lawn
Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.
Sarah Ann Delano Bailahche was born on November 29, 1830. She died
at the age of 5 years, on May 6, 1836, and is buried in the Green
Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.
Charles Bailhache was born on June 16, 1833, and died on July 16,
1833, at the age of one month. He is buried in the Green Lawn
Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.
Preston Heath Bailhache was born in Columbus, Ohio, February 21,
1835. He served as a surgeon during the Civil War, and later became
a surgeon in the regular army, holding positions in Marine hospitals
at Baltimore, Washington, and New York. In 1899, he occupied a
prominent position at the headquarters of the U.S. Marine Hospital
in Washington. He died October 28, 1919, in New York, and is buried
there.
Lieutenant Arthur Lee Bailhache, the youngest son of John Bailhache,
was born in Alton on April 12, 1839. At the beginning of the Civil
War, he was employed in the State commissary service at Camp Yates
and Cairo. He became Adjutant of the 38th Illinois Volunteers, and
died at Pilot Knob, Missouri, January 9, 1862, as the result of
disease and exposure. He was buried in Springfield, Illinois.