Lawrence Dudley Bailey

Lawrence Dudley Bailey (August 26, 1819 – October 15, 1891) was an American abolitionist who served as justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from February 9, 1861 to January 11, 1869.

Early life, education, and career Born in Sutton, Merrimack County, New Hampshire to Dudley and Sarah (Woodman) Bailey, Bailey worked on his father's farm until the age of seventeen, and attended Franklin, Unity, Pembroke, and Atkinson academies, but never attended college. He became an abolitionist in 1837, writing frequently in various abolitionist newspapers. He was interested in the material development of Kansas, and was prominent in the organization of the first Board of Agriculture. During this time, he was also active in persuading the state legislature to establish the State Normal School at Emporia.

In 1869 he was again elected to the legislature, and in 1870 founded the town of Lyndon, Kansas, which became the county seat of Osage County later that year. For a time was editor and publisher of the Cultivator and Herdsman, and was long a contributor to the newspaper press.

Personal life and death In his later life, Bailey occupied a farm. On December 15, 1870, he married the widowed Elizabeth A. Peabody of Lawrence, Kansas, who survived him.