Representative women of New England/Anna M. L. Bailey
ANNA M. LELAND BAILEY, ex-Regent of Paul Revere Chapter, D. A. R., of Boston, and President of the West Newton Women's Educational Club (1903), was born in Somerville, Mass., a daughter of John Murray Leland and his wife, Sophronia Page Savage. The Lelands were among the pioneer families of Middlesex County, Henry Leland, from whom John Murray Leland was a descendant in the seventh generation, becoming an inhabitant of Medfield in 1652, his home being in that part of the town which in 1674 was incorporated as Sherborn. Isaac Leland, a great-grandson of Henry and great-grandfather of John Murray Leland, removed about the year 1774 from Massachusetts to Rindge, N.H., He was a soldier of the Revolution, being a private in Captain Philip Thomas's company in 1775, and in 1777 a private in Captain Samuel Blodgett's company, "raised by the State of New Hampshire for the Continental service."
He died in the army, September 3, 1777. (Revolutionary Rolls of New Hampshire and History of Rindge, N.H.) .jpg)
ANNA M. L. BAILEY John Murray Leland was a highly respected citizen of Somerville for more than fifty years. His wife Sophronia was of Maine ancestry. They had five children, namely: Albert A.; Arabella, who died in infancy; Anna M. (now Mrs. Bailey); Ella F.: and Frank E. Anna M. Leland was educated in the public schools of Somerville, and graduated from the Somerville High School, being one of the first girls to take the full classical, or college preparatory course of study in that school. Living within sight of Harvard College, it was but natural that she should incline toward a college education; but fate beckoned in another direction, and she was induced to accept the position of teacher in the public schools of her native city, soon becoming the principal of the Jackson School. She afterward hail a position in the Harvard Grammar School in Cambridge, which she held until her marriage. She was very successful as a teacher, her great love for children, her sympathy with their needs, and her enthusiasm for her chosen work endearing her to parents and pupils alike.
In addition to her regular work she continued her studies, forming classes at different times in French, German, art, literature, elocution, and physical culture, before the days of women's clubs, and spending her vacations in travel. With a cultivated musical taste, she was for several years a pupil of the New England Conservatory of Music, and has been a member of various musical organizations, among them the Handel and Haytln, the Somerville Musical Association, and the Newton Choral Association, which she was largely instrumental in organizing.
She was married February 14, 1884, to Alvin Richards Bailey, a graduate of the Somerville High School and for many years president of the alumni of that school. Mr. Bailey is one of the intelligent and prosperous business men of Boston. His father, Joshua S. Bailey, was one of the first to ship crackers all over the world.
Since her marriage Mrs. Bailey has made her home in Newton. She is a member of the Channing Religious Society, has been a teacher in the Sunday-school for many years, assisting her husband in his duties as superintendent, serving also as president of the Ladies' Society and chairman of the Hospitality Committee. She is vice-president of the Social Science Club of Newton, Secretary of the Newton Federation of Women's Clubs, and the Shattuck Club of Boston, and has been a member of the West Newton Women's Educational Club for sixteen years, serving most of that time as director, recording secretary, and now (1903) as president. Amid these many and varied interests she has not been found wanting in patriotism, being a member of the Sarah Hull Chapter, D. R., of Newton, and of the National Society, D. A. R., and at present Regent of the Paul Revere Chapter, D. A. R., of Boston. These honors and many others with which her friends have testified to their high regard for her are doubly valued since they came unsought. That they are merited, no one will deny.
Her bright and cordial manner and her sympathetic nature have been powerful factors in the deserved success which she has achieved, and have helped to cheer and uplift those who have come within the influence of her personality.