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A native of Alabama, Mollie Arline Kirkland was married to James Augustus (Gus) Bailey in 1858. The son of a circus owner, Gus Bailey formed the Bailey Family Troupe with Mollie, his brother Alfred, and Mollie's sister Fanny. They traveled throughout Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas with their show until the beginning of the Civil War. Gus and Alfred Bailey joined the Confederate Army in 1861 and became members of Hood's Texas Brigade. While Gus led the regimental band, Mollie traveled with them as a nurse and as a member of Hood's minstrels, entertaining the troops. Gus and Mollie Bailey and their children continued to travel as entertainers after the war. In 1879 they bought a small circus and moved to Texas. Billed as "A Texas Show for Texas People," it became the Mollie A. Bailey Show following Gus' retirement. After his death in 1896 Mollie continued to operate the circus, a popular annual event in many towns. She was known as the "Circus Queen of the Southwest." In 1906 Mollie married A. H. "Blackie" Hardesty, a circus employee. she continued to be known as Mollie bailey, however, and ran the show until 1917. She died at St. Joseph's Infirmary in Houston on October 2, 1918. |
