Bayless - Abijah R. - d 1899
Source: Waveland Independent Friday, March 24, 1899
Abijah Bayless, the well known liveryman of Crawfordsville died suddenly yesterday of paralysis. "Bige" Bayless, as he was called was known to the majority of the people of this county and was a very popular man and good citizen
Source: Crawfordsville Sunday Star 3-29-1899
The funeral of Bige Bayless will take place from the Christian Church on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock. Those wishing to view the remains can do so by calling at the home before sunday noon as the casket will not be opened at the church.
Source: Same page - next column
There was no better known man in the county than Abijah R. Bayless who died at his home in this city on last Thursday afternoon of hemorrhage of the brain. He had been going down rapidly for several months, still his death was a suprirse to everyone. He had been up and around the house the day before death came but for some time had been unable to give his attention to business. He was almost 45 years of age and was born near Wallace, Fountain County, Ind. He left a wife and three children, George, Effie and Lee. He was in the livery business on Market Street at the time of his death in a fine brick barn completed by himself for business use in the last two years. He was the pioneer in the ten-cent back business in the city. As a man who made a specialty of taking care of large parties in the beautiful drive to Pine Hills he was the best known and safest driver to ever take a four-horse team out of the city down the shady pike. He was a man of excellent habits, moral and straightforward. All people who knew him were his friends. He was a member of the POS of A, the Red Men and K.P. orders. He was a man of enterprises and integrity. He will be missed as much as any man to die in this community in the last 10 years. He was purely a self-made man. His father was a union soldier and died during the war and the man to whom this tribute is now paid was left dependent on his own exertions when a child by the patriotic death of his father. The funeral will be from the Christian Church at 2 o'clock today, Sunday. - kbz
Source: Crawfordsville Weekly Journal Friday, 24 March 1899
Abijah R. Bayless died Thursday at about half past one o’clock at his home on the corner of Walnut and Spring Streets. He had been in poor health for several months, suffering from a disease of the kidneys, but had seemed to gain materially lately and was supposed to be on the high road to recovery. Thursday about 6 o’clock a.m. however, he sustained a severe stroke of paralysis. He rallied from it but at 10 o’clock he received a second stroke and from this he never rallied, growing rapidly weaker until death came. Mr. Bayless was the son of George Bayless, a soldier who fell in the War of the Rebellion, and he was born in Fountain County, near Wallace, on December 19, 1854. He grew up in the neighborhood of Wallace and Alamo and about twenty seven years ago was married to Miss Tamar Ward. She with three children, George, Effie, and Lee, survive him. One child, Maud, is dead. About twenty years ago Mr. Bayless came to Crawfordsville and started in life with a small moving wagon. He made rapid progress, however, and soon had a transfer line in operation. He was the first man in this part of the country to start a 10 cent hack line and he made a decided success of it. When he sold this business he went into straight livery and built up a reputation for square dealing that made his place very popular. He did the principal part of the business of taking picnic parties to the Shades and other resorts and was known to nearly everyone in the county. He was immensely popular with the customers and will be sadly missed for a long time to come. A year or so ago he built a fine barn on West market street and had planned to make an addition to it this spring. He was doing splendidly in his business and seemed destined ultimately to make a great success of it. He was a member of the P. O. S. of A., of the Red Men, and of the K. or P. Fewer men have a wider acquaintance than Mr. Bayless had and fewer men dying would be regretted by more people. He was whole souled and sympathetic and his unfailing good humor attracted all people to him. His death is a terrible blow to his family and they are well nigh prostrated by their sad misfortune. -s
Source: Crawfordsville Weekly Journal Friday, 31 March 1899
Few private citizens who have died in Crawfordsville have had higher tributes paid their memory than was paid that of Bige Bayless at his funeral Sunday. The concourse assembled for the occasion was one of the largest that ever gathered in Crawfordsville for a similar event and there was throughout a pervading sentiment of genuine regret at his untimely death. The large auditorium of the Christian Church was wholly inadequate to accommodate those wishing admission and the line of vehicles that followed the body to its resting place at Oak Hill seemed almost endless. The three orders with which Mr. Bayless was prominently identified, the K. of P., the Red Men and the P. O. S. of A., were out in full force and at the grave an abbreviated form of the burial service of each was rendered. The funeral proper took place at the church, where Mr. Tharp delivered an appropriate and eloquent address. The pallbearers were J. A. Booe, C. D. Wilhite, Henry Coolman, George Dickerson, C. W. Davis, and James Barr. Those who bore the many beautiful floral tributes were William Rogers, Frank Hallowell, George Rutledge and Walter Schleppy. – thanks so much to s for tying this and so many obits for this site