Lasso the Moon: The Other Mary Bailey, Vermont or New Hampshire, Circa 1893

When I hear the name "Mary Bailey," I can't help but think of Donna Reed's character in It's a Wonderful Life. I don't think the fictional Mary Bailey is going to be the only Mary Bailey we hear about on this particular search.  No, Sir-ee, I expect we're going to find a whole mess of Mary Baileys in the censuses. 

There's no other identification on this photograph other than a pencil note on the back, "Mary Bailey, friend of Mum's."  The photographer is Charles F. Bracy who had not one, but three studios at the time this photo was taken:  one in Woodsville, N.H., another in Wells River, VT and a branch studio in at Lake Morey in Fairlee, VT.   

Bracy appears to have been in business from the mid-1870s to about 1910.  But I think we can date this by Mary's attire to the 1890s.  I can't see the width of her sleeves, but the shoulders seem to indicate somewhere around 1893.

As expected, I found way too many M.B.s to make an in-depth search worthwhile.  The difficulty, once again, is that we don't know if Bailey is a maiden or married name.  We have three geographic areas, a very common name, a non-existent 1890 census, and not much to go on at all.  Sigh.

George Bailey:  What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That’s a pretty good idea. I’ll give you the moon, Mary.

Me, I'd settle for a birth date. 

*** For my regular readers:  I'll be moving to a M-W-F posting schedule over the spring/summer, beginning April 16  and will resume my normal schedule (Mon. through Sat.) in September.  I hope you keep stopping by!***