Santa Clara County

Biographies

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

WILLARD C. BAILEY

 

 

WILLARD C. BAILEY.  Although educated for the medical profession and the recipient of superior advantages in the clinics of the United States and Europe, Dr. Bailey has been led to identify himself with the industry originated by his father, C. P. Bailey, and to the successful prosecution of which father and sons have of recent years been devoted.  Born in San Jose and a graduate of the State Normal School of this city with the class of 1894, Willard C. Bailey pursued his studies subsequently in Leland Stanford University, and then matriculated in the Cooper Medical College, of which he is a graduate, class of 1898.  During the two following years he engaged in the practice of his profession in San Francisco and in 1900 visited Europe for the purpose of studying under leading physicians and surgeons in the hospitals of the continent, mainly at Berlin and Paris.  While abroad he was requested by his father to visit Asia Minor and if possible obtain an importation of Angora goats.  This was an undertaking of no small responsibility, for the Sultan had issued an edict prohibiting the exportation of Angora goats and none had been brought to America from the country for more than a quarter of a century. However, he proved himself a successful strategist, for he brought two bucks and two does safely through to America, thus securing what were the finest specimens ever seen in our country.  Descendants of these animals are now scattered all over the west and to some extent also in the east and middle states.

 

From boyhood Dr. Bailey has always been interested in Angoras and after his return from Europe he relinquished professional work and took charge of the eastern end of the business, opening an office in the Live Stock Exchange building at Kansas City, Mo., where much of his time is necessarily spent, although in the interests of the business he travels in every part of the east and frequently returns to the Pacific coast.  The sons and father are working harmoniously and effectively in developing an industry far exceeding the early anticipations of the latter.  Indeed, it reflects no small degree of credit upon them to state that they have transplanted a new industry from Asia Minor to California and placed it upon a profitable basis, thereby encouraging hundreds of others to embark in the business as a means of livelihood.  The quality of their stock has been repeatedly proved and bears a wide reputation.  A flock has been shipped to South Africa for breeding purposes, and for the same purpose more than $125,000 worth of goats have been sold in America.  In the New Orleans Exposition they obtained all of the first medals for Angoras, also at the Columbian Exposition of 1893.  Their exhibit of Angora robes at the Pan-American Exposition of 1901 attracted much attention and won the gold medal.  Ever since they have made exhibits at the state fairs of Oregon and California, for about thirty years, they have taken first premiums.  It is their intention to have an exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 in St. Louis, Mo.  Worthy of special mention is the fact that they won nine out of ten of the first premiums, and both the buck and doe sweepstake premiums, in competition with all of the leading American breeders at the American Angora Goat Breeders’ Association show in Kansas City, Mo., in 1901.  The sweepstake buck, an animal of their own raising, sold for $1,050 at auction.

 

In connection with the raising of Angoras, the company is engaged, on a small scale, in the raising of Persian fat-tailed sheep, a new industry in this country and commenced by them at the solicitation of the government.  When Truxton Beal, minister to Persia, returned to the United States in June, 1892, he brought thirteen head of Persian sheep, which he presented to the commissioner of agriculture.  These sheep requiring about the same care as Angora goats, it was decided to present then to Mr. Bailey, with the request that he report the results of his experiments to the department of agriculture.  The peculiarity of these sheep is their broad, flat tail, weighing from twenty to thirty pounds when the animal is fat.  The Persians consider a baked sheep’s tail a great delicacy, the choicest part of the mutton.  Experiments with these sheep have been successfully conducted, and it has been found that they thrive in the dry western climate.  Some years ago Mr. Bailey presented a pair of these sheep to the University of California and they were placed in the experiment station at Paso Robles.

 

Few men in the United States are as conversant with the Angora goat business as the Baileys, father and sons.  There is not the slightest detail with which they are unfamiliar.  Their experience has been long and varied.  Their ambition has been to raise the standard of finely bred animals and develop for special points, and through their wise judgment they have acquired a flock possessing qualities superior to the original importations.  Resourceful, capable and progressive, they have been contributors to the development of a vast enterprise and at the same time have aided prominently in the growth of their home city.

 

 

 

Transcribed by Donna Toole.

­­­­Source: History of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 519-520. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.


© 2015  Donna Toole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Santa Clara Biography

Golden Nugget Library