Anne Bailey

 

Memorials Commemorating Anne Bailey

• The sources describe various memorials dedicated to Anne Bailey, highlighting her enduring legacy in West Virginia and surrounding areas. These memorials, while not strictly literary in nature, are considered a significant part of the Anne Bailey tradition, as they have been featured in written accounts of her life and exploits.

• One of the most prominent memorials is Anne Bailey’s grave site. Initially buried in an obscure location near Clipper's Mills, Ohio, her remains were reinterred in 1901 under the auspices of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The new burial site is in Tu-Endie-Wei State Park at Point Pleasant, West Virginia, alongside the graves of soldiers who fought in the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. The reinterment was timed to coincide with the setting sun on the 127th anniversary of the battle.

• A more recent memorial is a simple tombstone placed in the Tu-Endie-Wei Park at Point Pleasant in 1925 by the Colonel Charles Lewis Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The inscription on the tombstone highlights Bailey's role as a Revolutionary scout, her birth place and year, and her death year.

• Other memorials dedicated to Anne Bailey are scattered across the region where she lived and served. They range from geographical features named in her honor to commemorative plaques and historical markers. For instance, in Bath County, Virginia, a long foot-hill elevation is known as “Mad Anne’s Ridge” because of its association with her exploits.

• In Allegheny County, Virginia, a tablet was placed on the highway between Callaghan and Covington in 1926 by the Rainbow Ridge Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The inscription on the tablet commemorates the location of the hut where “Mad” Anne Bailey lived during her time as a scout.

• A number of markers were erected by the Kanawha Valley Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1930. These markers highlight Anne Bailey's famous ride to Lewisburg for gunpowder. The sources also mention other geographical locations associated with Bailey, including:

  • Anne Bailey’s Lookout near Alderson.
  • Workman’s Ridge between Huntersville and Minnehaha Springs, where Anne Bailey allegedly hid from Native Americans.
  • A cave in Greenbrier County that Bailey is said to have used while scouting between Staunton and Lewisburg.

• Further tributes to Bailey's memory include:

  • Bailey Church, a small church built on land donated by Bailey's son William Trotter, located about 200 yards west of U.S. Route 218 in Greenbrier County. This church is owned by the Greenbrier County Girl Scouts.
  • Camp Ann Bailey, a Kanawha County Girl Scout camp near Lewisburg, Virginia, named for the pioneer mountain heroine.

• Beyond physical monuments and locations, Bailey's story has also been preserved and celebrated through various forms of media and cultural events. In 1927, she was featured in a historical pageant presented at the Kanawha Exposition in Dunbar, West Virginia. Her story was also dramatized on radio in 1947 during a celebration in Point Pleasant marking the opening of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad bridge over the Kanawha River.

• The numerous memorials, historical markers, and cultural representations dedicated to Anne Bailey clearly demonstrate the lasting impact she has had on the collective memory of the region. These tributes serve not only to honor her individual contributions but also to symbolize the courage, resilience, and resourcefulness of the early settlers who shaped the history of West Virginia.