Bailey
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Samuel Robinson Bailey, known as “SR,” was born in the farming community of East Pittston Maine. He was an archetype of Yankee ingenuity, and made his first sleigh, in his father’s well-equipped shed, while still in his teens. It won best in show at the 1855 carriage exhibition in Portland, Maine. Bailey started his first company in an empty church building at East Pittston in 1856, producing 20 units annually. In parts of the snowy Northeast countryside, before good roads, sleighs outsold carriages. A few feet of snow smoothed out the ruts and bumps nicely. In 1868, he moved the works into a larger empty church in nearby Bath, a seaport and shipbuilding town with a population of about 7,000. It was in this factory of more useful size, with its own smithy, where he began to design machine tools. Several of his early innovations improved steam wood bending.
Beginning in Bath, he used interchangeable parts, which made for fast easy repairs, and brought down manufacturing costs. His standardized shafts had patented adjustable “Bull Dog” shackles and improved shaft eyes. Along with his bent poles, whiffletrees, and yokes: these came to be used by many other carriage and sleigh makers around the country. He designed belt-driven shapers for making the shafts; He also invented a method of making wood panels by peeling logs, instead of sawing them, and then laminated the thin panels as plywood. He was not the first, which was apparently Alfred Nobel’s father, but very early.
The Baileys left Bath after the death of Helen Bailey’s sister-in-law Mary. SR formed a partnership with Wood Brothers in Boston. Here Bailey designed a Portland Cutter, based on the superior strength of his bentwood frames, when compared to standard mortise and tenon joints. No one had successfully bent wood 90º before. It was better than the popular Portland Cutter that had made a reputation for the Kimball brothers several years earlier.
Bailey became fed up with partners exploiting his innovations. In 1882 he left his high-salaried position with the Wood Brothers, and moved his sleigh & pole operation to an uncertain independence in Amesbury, a mill town and farming community on the hills near the marsh-flanked mouth of the Merrimack River.
Amesbury was located at the extreme northeast corner of Massachusetts, north of town was out of state. It was across the river from Newburyport, which had become a center for the building of Clipper Ships for maritime shipping routes. Newburyport, on the southern side of the river, had gently sloping land, which was conducive for docks and shipbuilding factories. There was little in the way of the elevation change and vigorous streams necessary to power sawing the logs rafted down the Merrimack from the abundant forests up river. Amesbury was ideal for water-powered mills, as the north side of the river had high bluffs, and a pair of streams, reliably fed by large upland marshes, which regulated flow and supplied water year round.
1808 marked the completion of a canal from the town of Lowell, further up the Merrimack, to the ample harbor of Boston, allowing the logs to be rafted there. Over the following years, shipbuilding moved to Boston. Amesbury’s industry shifted to become a center for the construction of horse-drawn vehicles, which required similar woodworking skills and machinery. A harbor was not a factor.
With the development of high-pressure steam technologies in the mid 1800s, factories were freed from dependency on falling water, and many of the larger carriage companies moved up on carriage hill, just above the town.
Bailey moved into an old 115 x 45’ three story brick textile mill at 77 Elm Street, with a water wheel powered by Back Creek, which drained Clark’s Pond.
Bailey Sleighs were shipped “ready to paint” (in the white) from the factory. This saved the large amount of weather-protected storage space required while paint and varnish dried, and the labor required for the many hand-rubbed coats. Paint drying dominated the top floor space at the great coach building factories in Michigan and the Ohio Valley, before quick drying lacquer was introduced in the mid 1920’s.
The Bailey name became best known for their light yet durable sleighs and hitching accessories. Their products were considered the highest quality at a fair price.
For the first years in Amesbury he concentrated on sleighs, and then began making a small line of carriages. His designs were innovative, and he rapidly gained a reputation, enhanced by winning many gold and silver medals for the best light carriages.
Bailey introduced the first glass windshield in 1884, as part of a dasher screen on a sleigh, and was credited by “Hub” magazine as the first to put bicycle type (wire-spoke pneumatic tire) wheels on a carriage.
Bailey was justifiably proud of his product and would not make bodies for other vehicle makers. He did not want other names on his work, or his name on the work of others.
Bailey formed a partnership with his son, Colonel Edwin Warren Marble Bailey, in 1887. The following year, Less than a month after a record blizzard––which collapsed a roof at the Bailey factory, ruining many completed carriages waiting for delivery in the spring––a fire started at the F. A. Babcock factory complex up on “Carriage Hill,” which burned its four buildings to the ground. A strong wind was blowing, and the fire spread rapidly, taking with it a dozen neighboring factories, a large brick storage facility, and some twenty houses. The town’s post and telegraph offices were also lost. Due to financial conditions, caused by border and merger disputes between adjacent townships, Amesbury did not have a steam pumper. Because of the lack of functional rural roads, fire-fighting equipment from nearby towns had to be transported on rail cars, and could not reach the scene before the fire had burned out.
The Bailey factory, down on Elm Street, was not directly affected by the fire. With little available storage, they devoted their energies toward filling the demand for the patented carriage poles, and planned to return to sleigh manufacturing later in the season, intending to produce 2,000 units.
Babcock rebuilt with a large modern carriage factory, but the bank, for complex and mysterious reasons, foreclosed on it. The carriage community seemed to blame Babcock for the disaster, and he moved to New York. Somewhat ironically, he went into the insurance business, using his energetic salesmanship to build a thriving agency.
On February 1, 1890, S. R. Bailey & Co moved into the former Babcock factory, leasing two floors amounting to 30,000 square feet of space. They grew to fill the entire facility, eventually purchasing the factory for $150,000 in 1903. By that time F. A. Babcock had gone back into the carriage trade, and had started making electric cars, in Buffalo, New York.
SR sent three of his “Whalebone” Road Wagons to the 1893 “World’s Columbian Exposition” in Chicago, as did sixteen other Amesbury buggy builders. One was in white, one in clear varnish, and one painted. They won the Gold medal. EWM Bailey attended the Fair as part of a three-week trip with his wife, and they were likely to have seen the Morrison electric wagon and European motorcars on exhibit there.
Most carriage makers made dozens of different models to appeal to a wide range of customers. These had to be hand made, one at a time, from plans. Bailey focused on a few perfected designs made with interchangeable parts. Interchangeable parts had been used for crossbow locks (triggers) in China more than 2,000 years before, and much later by firearms makers in France, and then by New England gun and clock makers. Bailey was one of the first to use the method for vehicles. He combined interchangeable parts with an assembly line, which allowed more efficient production and uniformly high quality. The designs included the Whalebone Road Wagon, Essex Trap, Bicycle Wagon, and a classic Stanhope, as well as his famous sleigh.
The first American automobiles were produced for public sale in 1896; two were electric. In 1898, SR Bailey and his head pattern maker, Walter Baird, made a prototype electric car. It did not run well, as it could not handle the weight of a full lead-acid battery. Col. EWM Bailey was away at an army camp in Chickamauga Georgia, recovering from a bad case of dysentery, while mustering for the Spanish American War. He met William G. Bee at the muster. It was Bee, while in the employ of Colonel Albert A. Pope in Hartford, Connecticut, who gave Thomas Edison a demonstration ride in an 1897 Columbia electric car. After Bee served as a gunner’s mate, in the rapid defeat of Spain, he returned to the Columbia & Electric Vehicle Co. Bee then went to work for Edison at his new battery company. Bee was impressed with the Bailey company’s robust light-weight construction techniques, and while negotiating a contract to build battery boxes for Edison, he sold the Baileys on Edison’s revolutionary new alkaline battery, which could make the electric a much stronger competitor with explosion and steam cars.
By 1906, the horse carriage business was fading fast, and several major coachbuilders had introduced electric cars for their upscale clientele. Starting in July, Bailey made an exception to his rule; he built bodies and assembled steam cars for the Essex Motor Car Co of Boston (a $3,000 copy of the 1905 Gardner-Serpollet.) The enterprise was not a success. They started leasing out surplus factory space to others, including the Amesbury Rattan & Reed Co, maker of a rattan auto body.
In December, Bailey & Co announced entry into the motorcar business with an electric Victoria. To raise development capital, the Company was incorporated for the first time, issuing $500,000, in common stock and $100,000 in preferred. Father and son retained half of the preferred stock; the rest of the stock was sold at market, most went to Boston investors.
The cars featured Bailey’s laminated bent wood bodies, developed for light sleighs, giving superior strength to weight––the Victoria body only weighed 30 lbs. Unfortunately, the car was ready for production three years before the “perfected” Edison battery, and they were forced to ship the early cars with lead-acid batteries. Bailey made the cars in very small quantities while waiting for the Edison battery.
Bailey was one of three makes to officially use the reintroduced Edison battery, along with Detroit Electric & Healey. Bailey claimed a 100 to 150 mile range (80-100 at full speed) with the Edison battery.
1907 saw a sharp recession, and marked the last shipment of Bailey Whalebone Road Wagons. If Bailey & Co were to have a future, it would be in their electric cars.
Bailey’s original Victoria Phaëton, had chassis frame sills that were a composite of angle iron and steel plate, to make a flexible frame. The body framing was made of bent wood, eliminating the need for many joints. The body panels were of three-ply curved wood, the entire body weighing only 30 lbs. The whole car, without battery, weighed 825 lbs. A 30-cell Gould battery was housed in a wooden box suspended under the car. The 28-Ampere GE motor was under the seat area, mounted on an independent frame, along with the differential/countershaft and Morse silent-chain speed reduction assembly. Sprockets at the ends of the jackshafts drove the rear wheels through twin chains. A GE type “S” 50-Ampere rotary controller gave four speeds to 18 mph, or, slightly faster in the optional high-speed version. Grey & Davis (also of Amesbury) made the lights.
The cars had tiller steering with a unique D shaped “wheel”; it was flat at the bottom. The wheel did not rotate, but provided a grip to move the tiller mast from side to side for steering. A standard wheel-steered version was available. The front axle of the Victoria was manganese bronze, and the rear axle was chrome steel. All Bailey cars had the patented Bailey Pivot Axles, which were the ultimate sleeve bearings. The entire car was made at the Bailey factory, except the electrical parts, tires, and chains. The wooden artillery-type wheels were made with Bailey’s patented hub, which held the wedge-shaped spoke ends without thru-bolts; the rims were steel. The steering column was hinged for egress, and the control lever was at the top of the steering handle; it was interconnected with the brake pedal for safety. Band brakes were at the rear wheels and on the motor shaft. The standard lead battery had a range of 40-50 miles, but a battery with 50% more capacity was available. The car was priced at $2,000 with the standard battery. A removable jump seat was $100 extra.
Late in 1909, Bailey advertised the new Edison Battery equipped Victoria, with a photo of Edison being driven by Colonel Bailey. The ad claimed their Victoria to be the only car “designed for and using the new Edison Battery, which has recently been brought to a high state of perfection-–a battery insuring a run of 100 miles on one charge, and no repair bills.” The Edison Battery Works obtained two Baileys.
In September of 1910 the factory car, called “Maud,” ran a test with the new Edison Battery from New York to Boston and back, with a side trip up Mt. Washington, almost 1,000 total miles. Although not mentioned in Bailey literature (nor visa-versa), a Detroit Electric Victoria, also equipped with the Edison Battery, with similar twin-chain drive, but using the lower speed Elwell-Parker motor, needing no speed reduction chain, ran the same trip, often alongside the Bailey, with equal success.
The Bailey Victoria cost $2,400-$2,600, depending on size of Edison Battery. The Detroit, with the bigger battery, was also $2,600.
In November 1911, the company introduced the model “E” Runabout, built to the specifications of the Edison Illuminating Co of Boston. They ordered six cars. A standard “E” Runabout sat two occupants on a spindle seat, with brass spindles; there were no doors. The wheelbase was 104,” and it had a 26 mph top speed. The “E” cars came with a Sangamo Ampere-hour meter and a separate Voltmeter. With 60 A-4 Edison cells it weighed 2,200 lbs. Price with top & electric horn, $2,500. The battery was under a low sloping front hood, which was hinged to the cowling. The lines looked a bit clumsy, and the model did not catch on with the wealthy women who had come to be the principal users of electric cars.
Bailey made specialty versions of the model “E.” one of these was a four-passenger Roadster, others were designed as service vehicles for the electric power companies that were becoming Bailey’s best customers.
In 1913 all models had the model “E” type three-point spring suspension, borrowed from the Whalebone Road Wagon, using a long transverse spring at the front, with a shackle at one end to accommodate flexing. The body was hung from the top of the arch at the center with a ball joint, so that the front wheels could move with more independence from the body, which would lean into curves a bit. A pair of full elliptic springs was at the rear. The cars had a normal steering wheel.
The model “F,” introduced in march of 1913, was mechanically the same as the “E,” however it had a much nicer body, with flowing lines, a windshield, doors, better seating, and more storage. It had a wood frame and body combination, braced with steel. Twin brakes on 12” rear wheel drums, and a 14” drum brake on the counter-shaft. The standard color was English Purple Lake, other colors were available on request at no extra charge. They had black leather upholstery.
The “F” came with 60-A6 Edison cells having a 225 Ah capacity and weighing 1,200 lbs. The GE motor, suspended under the rear hood, was rated at 26 Amperes. It had a 112” wheelbase, 147” overall length and 65” width, 12” road clearance, with the center of gravity 18” above road. It weighed 2,700 lbs., and cost $2,900. The model “F” ran at 20 mph for 75-100 miles, with a top speed of 25 mph. On October 14, 1913, Colonel Bailey drove a new model “F” Roadster from Boston to Chicago.
The main factory was sold in October of 1915 to Biddle & Smart, which was building auto bodies on contract. They specialized in bodies with sheet aluminum over wood frames, for low production luxury cars.
In a rented corner of the factory, limited production of Bailey poles & whiffletrees continued until July 17, 1916, along with assembly of a few more electric cars from remaining parts.
SR Bailey died on July 10th, 1917. These delightful cars, with innovative bodies, used conventional drivelines that could be made in-house. Never popular with the general public, they were favored by electric power companies in the northeast. Known serial numbers suggest only about 500-600 Bailey electrics were made.
Colonel EWM Bailey invented the fabric-lined metal channels for rollup glass windows, which became standard, and in 1920, he started a very successful third act, called Bailey Manufacturing, to produce them.