Bailey Eliphalet Chaney

I know...this is a Coffee/Coffey blog!  But, sometimes I like to write about other families that appear in my own family line.  So, please bear with me while I ramble a little on Bailey Eliphalet Chaney, an early Baptist preacher in the Mississippi and Louisiana Territories.

According to the Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature (John McClintock, pub. Harper and Brothers, 1889) Bailey was a Baptist minister, born in South Carolina.  He was in the Natchez area of Mississippi around 1790 and found himself - along with other non-Catholic religious leaders - subject to Spanish persecution as well as prosecution. 

When the area "came under the protection of the government of the United States, the people assembled in large numbers, a brush arbor was constructed, and he was sent for; and, while the flag of the United States floated over him, he preached the Gospel of Christ unawed by the minions of Rome."

In 1798 he was run out of Louisiana after being arrested for preaching.  He was forced to leave that state and return to Mississippi, where he died in 1816.  However, in 1818 there was a Bailey E. Chaney in Franklin Co., MS who had been elected by the legislature to be a "chief justice."*

Another source, A History of the Baptist Churches in the United States (Albert Henry Newman, Christian Literature, 1894) Bailey and his family moved from Cole's Creek, MS to East Feliciana Parish in Louisiana in 1798 and began to preach.  He was arrested and released on his promise to cease preaching in that jurisdiction, and seems to have returned to Mississippi.

Elizabeth Ratliff

It is a good bet that Bailey is the ancestor of most of the Chaney families who still reside in the parishes of East Feliciana, East Baton Rouge, Saint Helena and perhaps other surrounding parishes.  He married Elizabeth Ratliff in Franklin Co., MS in 1798.  She was born on Aug. 14,1779 in that county and died on Jul. 4, 1855 in East Feliciana Parish.  Elizabeth is buried at the Bluff Creek Community Cemetery in East Feliciana Parish.  There are other Chaney and Chaney relatives resting in this old burial ground and Bailey may be there as well, but in an unmarked grave.

I know of at least ten children born to Bailey and Elizabeth between 1700 and 1816.

Sarah, born Apr. 27, 1799, died Oct. 30, 1843.  She married Joshua Howell Rollins.

Mary Ryan, born Feb. 19, 1801, died Feb. 21, 1852.  She married first James Hope Allison but I do not believe there were any children from that union.  She married second to Hugh Pinkney Montgomery on Sep. 28, 1821.  He was born on Feb. 3, 1792 in South Carolina, died Feb. 18, 1836 in East Baton Rouge Parish.  She and Hugh had at least six children.

Elizabeth Norris, born May 26, 1802.

William, born Feb. 14, 1804.

Bailey Franklin, born Feb. 16, 1896, died May 8, 1844.  He married Sarah Ann Hooper on Feb. 2, 1833 in Saint Helena Parish.  she was born Apr. 17, 1816 and died Nov. 19, 1897.  She and Bailey may have had as many as six children, but I have found only three.  After Bailey Franklin died, Sarah married Hiram Williams on Nov. 4, 1877 in East Baton Rouge Parish.

James Eliphalet, born Mar. 10, 1808.

David Madison Chaney

David Madison, born May 19, 1809, died Feb. 5, 1859.  David married first to Margaret Newson on Sep. 10, 1829 in East Feliciana Parish.  She was born May 6, 1815, a daughter of Abraham and Lowanzy [sic] Kirby.  At least four children were born to that union.  He married for a second time to Mrs. Winnifred Watson (Winnie) Vincent on Aug. 29, 1837 in Livingston Parish, La.  Winnie died Aug. 23, 1846 but not before presenting David with at least three additional children.  His third wife was Susan Bankston who he married on Oct. 13, 1846 in East Feliciana Parish.  Susan presented David with an additional five children.  David is also buried at Bluff Creek.  I do not know where his three wives are buried.

Olivia Jemima, born Sep. 27, 1812, married John Harrison of Feb. 4, 1834 in East Feliciana Parish.  John died prior to 1860 when Olivia appeared as head of household in the East Feliciana Parish census for that year.  I believe they were parents of at least eight children.

Roxana Mariah, born Sep. 27, 1812.

Olympus Octavia, born Apr. 27, 1816.

Please contact me at the above e-mail address if you can add to or correct any of this information.  I also have additional information on some of the grandchildren of Bailey and Elizabeth.


*Mississippi: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form, Southern Historical Publishing Association, 1907, p986