History of Michigan, / by Charles Moore. [Vol. 3]

1270

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

fireman, then became an engineer, and finally was made chief engine
dispatcher at Jackson Junction.
His politics is Democratic, and he has long been found in the councils
of his party, and an effective worker. He served four terms, eight
years, as alderman from the Fifth Ward, and in that time got behind
him a large following of citizens who came to feel that his services were
of the highest value to the community in the office of mayor. On April
7, 19I3, his election as mayor of Jackson on the Democratic ticket was
brought about by a handsome majority over both the Republican and
Progressive opponents. Mr. Bailey stands high in Masonic circles, is a
Knight Templar and Shriner, belonging to Jackson Commandery No. 9,
and is a member of Division No. 2 of the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers.
In 1894 Mr. Bailey married Miss Alberta Nixon, a graduate of the
Jackson high school, in the class of I89o. They have one daughter,
Frances Marion Bailey, aged fourteen years.
BRADFORD SMITH, who died at his home in Detroit September 8, I906,
exercised a larger influence on the life of that city than some men of
wider newspaper reputation. He never acquired wealth, built no great
enterprise of an industrial or mercantile nature, but devoted many long
and useful years to the education and training of the young men and
women of Detroit. He believed and acted on the principle that it is more
important to educate than to govern, and as an educator and philanthropist his name and career should have a lasting place in the history of
Detroit.
Bradford Smith was born at Moira, Franklin county, New York, in
I820, and reached the venerable age of' eighty-six years. In several lines
his ancestry is traced back to Pilgrims, Puritans, Huguenots and other
early settlers of New England. His great-grandfather, Eleazer Smith,
fought with the Continental forces during the war of the Revolution and
was wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill. His father, Captain Bradford
Smith, was an officer during the war of i812, though only a boy at the
time. The late Bradford Smith began teaching before he reached manhood. His schooling was acquired partly in his native village, partly in
Pottsdam Academy, and subsequently he won the degrees of Bachelor of
Arts and Master of Arts from Oberlin College, Ohio. He taught school
before going to college, and most of his expenses were paid from the proceeds of his school work.
Bradford Smith was a resident of Detroit from 1851. For eight years
he was principal of the old Eighth ward school, now known as the Houghton school. Many pupils of that institution who have since become
prominent in various walks of life remember him with affection and
counted him as their guide, counselor and friend. The practical work of
organizing the graded-school system of Detroit was accomplished by
Bradford Smith, and that alone is a distinction which will always give him
a place in the history of Detroit education. In many ways he was a progressive leader in his profession. What he did and what he stood for in
Detroit education is well commemorated by the Bradford Smith school,
named in his honor.
The late Mr. Smith was even better known perhaps for his work
among the street waifs and newsboys of Detroit than as an educational
executive. He had a ready sympathy with the boys of the street, understood their environment and their needs, and was an early advocate of
systematic supervision of boys who either from inclination or from family
circumstance, or from economic necessity, had to spend most of their time
on the streets. In i875 he was appointed commissioner of charities for