Thanks to research done several years ago by Austin Taylor of Raytown, Missouri, the mystery of the military history of John Bailey, Senior, has been solved. I "met" Austin recently on one of the Bailey message boards and he was kind enough to share his research data with me. Veteran members of the list may recall that I and several other Bailey descendants have spent many hours trying to prove one way or the other whether our ancestor, John Bailey, Senior, probably the first of the Bailey clan to settle in what became Bath County sometime in the 1780's, was the same John Bailey who had served with distinction as one of the company commanders of George Rogers Clark's Illinois Regiment during the Revolution. I have read several Bath County court entries that referred to John Bailey, Senior, as "Captain". However, the logical explanation to that can be traced to the fact that during those early years, John had served as captain of the militia in his area. In recent years, however, the belief has become widespread among Bath Countians in general and Bailey researchers in particular that John, Senior had been the Captain John Bailey who had served with Clark. Most of this popular belief can undoubtedly be traced to the book written in the 1950's by William Kozee entitled Early Families of Eastern and Southeastern Kentucky. In a section devoted to the Bailey Family of Bath County Kozee indicated that Captian John Bailey, Sr., had been the same John Bailey who had served with Clark. Undoubtedly, the source of Kozee's belief had to have been the Bath County Court Order Book entry of June, 1833, in which the Clerk recorded the fact that William Bailey, brother of John Bailey, had sworn in an affidavit that his brother (who had died in 1827) had in fact been the same John Bailey who had served in Clark's "Elenow's Redgement". The court clerk further stated that the the affidavit had been delivered to Thomas Triplett who was "employed to attend to said business under the law of Congress for the benefit of the officers and soldiers of the Virginia State Line in 1832." John Bailey's "Clark Connection" is not mentioned in his pension application papers filed during the period of 1819 through 1825. However, the service dates mentioned in those papers might permit service to have taken place in both Eastern Virginia and in the Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio territories. However, such speculation is not necessary. For the rest of the story we need to go to the court records of the United States District Court for Eastern Kentucky in Frankfor and to the Triplett Papers, Pension Applications of Revolutionary War Veterans. In brief summary, it appears that Thomas Triplett had secured powers of attorney from John Bailey, Jr., Warren Bailey, and Charles E. Bailey (all children and executors of John Sr.'s estate. With perjured testimony of the Bailey's (including William's who had died shortly after having given it and with forged documents by Mr. Triplett and Justice of the Peace Josiah "Read" the group applied for and began receiving pension payments based on the Captain's pay of the John Bailey who served with Clark rather than on the Ensign's pay that the Bath County John Bailey might have been entitled to. In mid 1834, the fraud was uncovered (probably when heirs of the real Captian John Bailey made application). Members of the conspiracy were indicted for various charges including perjury, pension fraud, and forgery. In the May Court of 1835 in the Frankfort Federal District Court, John Bailey, Jr., was tried by jury, convicted, and fined $500. According to letters of the investigator who had uncovered the crime, the jury was relatively lenient on the Baileys since most of the money had gone to Thomas Triplett and the money actually received by the Baileys was less than that which they would have been entitled to based on their father's pay as an ensign (same as a second lieutenant). Austin's research did not delve into the prosecution of Thomas Triplett or Josiah "Read". Thus, we have the full story of Captain John Bailey. Not a pleasant story but I'm sure most of us have learned that there is always some risks in turning over the rocks of our ancestors. Bailey researchers who would like details and copies of documents, please contact me. Pete Bailey Indianapolis