Samuel Bailey, Jr.,
a patriot who died at Bunker Hill
Led the Charge when Captain Was Wounded
By Sarah Loring Bailey
[The major part of the following biographical material appeared in Historical Sketches of Andover, Massachusetts, published in 1880 by The Riverside Press of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston. The author of the sketch of Samuel Bailey Jr., was a granddaughter of the subject.]
[Samuel Bailey Jr., was one of the 140 patriots who were killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. He was 47 years old at the time.]
The descendants of Captain Furbush relate that [the captain] was disabled at the beginning of the action and was carried to the rear, and that Samuel Bailey, the Lieutenant, took the command, and was rushing forward, cheering the men, when he was shot dead by a cannon ball.
The first tidings that reached Andover were that both Captain Furbush and Samuel Bailey had been killed. Their wives, who were friends, had met to mourn together when news came of the Captain’s safety. He [Captain Furbush] had the bloody clothes of his comrade-in-arms cleaned and sent home. The son of the deceased, a lad of sixteen, was on the field and recovered [his father’s] watch.
The following action was taken in the General Court, in March 1776, in regard to the petition of representatives of the deceased for compensation for the loss of gun, etc.:
"On the account of the loss of Samuel Bailey, Jr., deceased, of a Gun and sundry other articles in the Battle of Bunker Hill—
"Resolved, That there be paid to the Heirs of the said Samuel Bailey, Junr., deceased, the sum of seven pounds and sixteen shillings and eight pence in full of said account."
Again, in June, further action was taken as follows:
"June 14, 1776. Whereas, at the sessions of the last General Court of this Colony, an account of losses sustained by Samuel Bailey, Junr., at the Battle of Bunker Hill, was exhibited to said Court and by a resolve of the said Court on the 15th of March last, the sum of seven pounds, sixteen shillings and eight pence was ordered to be paid to Joseph Bailey in full of said account, that it was through mistake that the aforesaid was ordered to be paid to the said Joseph and that it ought to have been made payable to the administratrix on the estate of the said Samuel, therefore it is resolved that the resolve aforesaid by and hereby is declared nul and void, and that the sum of seven pounds, sixteen shillings and eight pence be paid to Hannah Bayley, administratrix of the estate of said Samuel Bailey, junior, Deceased, in full of his account for losses at the Battle of Bunker Hill."
See “Revolutionary Reminiscences,” Lawrence American, 1875. The writer finds no evidence to show that Samuel Bailey, Jr., held the rank of lieutenant, although it is a family tradition that he did, and that he came within one vote of being chosen captain. The first roll found of the company has a blank in the first lieutenant’s place. The roll for October has the name of Jeremiah Blanchard, lieutenant, and also as a private, indicating that he may have been promoted after the death of the lieutenant. The name of Samuel Bailey, Jr., is given among the privates as "killed June 17, 1775.” Samuel Bailey, Jr., was the son of Samuel Bailey, who, in 1733, bought a quarter section of land (250 acres) in the west part of Andover, near the Merrimack River, and the borders of Tewksbury (first name of the town). He was the great-grandfather of the writer of these sketches.”