Cause of death Erysipelas Name James Bailey | Spouse Ruth McCaddon (m. 1868) | |
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Full Name James Anthony McGinnis Died April 11, 1906, Mount Vernon, New York, United States | ||
James Anthony Bailey
James Anthony Bailey (July 4, 1847 – April 11, 1906), born James Anthony McGinnis, was an American circus ringmaster.
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Life and career
Orphaned at the age of eight, McGinnis was working as a bellhop in Pontiac, Michigan, when he was discovered by Frederic Harrison Bailey (a nephew of circus pioneer Hachaliah Bailey) as a teenager. F.H. Bailey gave McGinnis a job as his assistant, and the two traveled together for many years. McGinnis eventually adopted F.H. Bailey's surname to become James A. Bailey.
Bailey later associated with James E. Cooper, and by the time he was 25, he was manager of the Cooper and Bailey circus. He then met with P.T. Barnum, and together they established Barnum and Bailey's Circus (for which Bailey was instrumental in obtaining Jumbo the Elephant) in 1881.
Bailey was married to Ruth McCaddon of Zanesville, Ohio. He died of erysipelas in 1906. He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, in The Bronx, New York City.