Keithly Bailes(center) with his wife Sarahanna Marshall Bailes(rt) on the right. The man and woman in front are Washington Popejoy and his wife Permilla Gower Popejoy. The woman in back left may be Permilla's sister, Sarah Elizabeth Gower Marshall (d. 1918)

Sarahanna Marshall's family had strong religious beliefs. Her older brother became a minister, her younger brother was named after John Wesley, the founder of the Methodists, and her cousin, Thomas Potter(III) Jr. had been a Quaker who later became a minister in the Church of Christ. With this background it is no wonder that Sarahanna marries Keithley Bailes in Missouri where her parents had lived until just before the Civil War. They had several children in Missouri but decided to go west in 1861 by ox cart to the Oregon Territory. Other family connections lead us to believe that he may have also been a Quaker at first. Their beliefs against killing may have prompted their journey west prior to the impending Civil War. Although our sources say he was a Quaker he seems to adopt to the lack of religious structure in eastern Washington and Oregon. They established one of the first churches in the Kittitas valley of Eastern Washington affilated with the present day Christian Church.

1830 - US Census, Indiana, Jackson Co., Salt Creek. page 218.  Jacob is 60 -70 years old possible grandfather of Keithley

1840 - US Census, Missouri, Greene Co., Ripley. page 347. Thomas is 30 to 40 years old, 

1850- US Census, Greene Co., Dallas Twp., page 365. The following page seems to include both Keithly Bailes' father and perhaps his grandfather. 

1860- US Census, Ozark Twp., Webster Co., MO., page 33 (Thomas Bailes shown in this census is probably Keithly Bailes father. I'm unsure if Rebecca Bales is related at this time.)

Bailes         Thomas         50   M         Farmer         2,700     1,215     O.                            X
Bailes         Elizabeth      48   F                                            KY                            X
Bailes         Andrew J.      19   M                                            MO                      X
Bailes         Wm W.          17   M                                            MO                      X
Bailes         Elizabeth      15   F                                            MO                      X
Bailes         Rebecca        13   F                                            MO                      X
Bailes         Nancy J        10   F                                            MO                      X
Bailes         Anna           8    F                                            MO                      X
two doors down
Bales          Rebecca        22   F         House Keeper             240       Tenn                          X
Bales          Venna A        4    F                                            MO
Bales          Polly A        1    F                                            MO
Patterson      Syblla         62   F                                            NC                            X
Miller         Isaac H K      22   M         Farm Laborer                       Tenn

1860- Ozark Twp., Webster Co., Missouri. p.98

Bales          KEITHLY        30   M         Farm           350       250       IND                           X
Bales          Sarah A        26   F                                            MO                            X
Bales          Mary A         11   F                                            MO                      X
Bales          Elizabeth J    8    F                                            MO                      X
Bales          ****ed         3    F                                            MO
Bales          Andrew J       6/12 M                                            MO

1862-1877- He seems to have also been a farmer as well as a circuit minister over an area of about 250 miles traveling between eastern Oregon and eastern Washington by horseback or buggy.

In the early part of 1877, Keithly Bailes settled in Ellensburg, Washington. It is here that Keithley Bailes is considered the first Christian minister in Kittitas County. He first preached in homes and log school houses. He marked the beginning of the Disciples of Christ in and around the Ellensburg community.

1880- US Census, Washington,  Yakima, East Kittitas.  page 424.   Aug. 11, 1880

Keithley Bailes' mother and step-father, Elizabeth and Samuel Cox, moved to the Kittitas Valley to be near her children. She died three years later. The picture used here then has to be taken within this three year period of 1880-1883.

We suspect that continued communication between the Bailes and Marshall families may have been responsible for urging the migration of the rest of the Marshall and Popejoy families to the Pacific Northwest. The Bailes family settled in Ellenburg, Washington where they raised their ten children. By 1915 they had one hundred descendants. The following article was written for the sixty-eighth anniversary of their marriage.

A much more lengthy history of The Christian Church in Ellensburg, Washington has great history of its development as well as more history on Keithley Bailes family.

Ellensburg, Washington Feb. 2 1915
"Grandma" and Grandpa" Bailes celebrated their marriage Sunday. In 1847 the couple were married in Missouri and 1861 crossed the plains with their ox team settling in the Kittitas valley a little later. Mr. Bailes established the first church in this valley, and was its pastor for some years. He farmed in the Fairview district northeast of Ellensburg and also worked as a carpenter.

They are the first of five living generations and have 100 living descendants: ten children, 48 grand-children, 40 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. Four of the children live in Ellensburg.: Mrs. W. H. Rader. Mrs. F. C. Brown, Mrs. F. C. Barnhart and A. J. Bailes. The couple make their home in London, Ore. but they are spending their winter with their children here. Mrs. Bailes in 83 years of age and her husband in 87. [Plainsman-Review, Friday, Feb. 5, 1915]

Grindrod, Ed - records, heir of "Andy" Andrew Jackson Bailes, edgaye@attbi.com
Dailey, Charles. History of the Christian Church of Washington and Oregon web site (above) and email - cdailey@wa-net.com
Plainsman-Review, Friday, Feb. 5, 1915, Ellenburg, Washington
records of Susan Keller
Greene County Will Book A:92
US Census, Greene County, Jackson Twp. #2047
Probate records of Greene Co., MO
Court Records of Greene County, Missouri

All information and photos included within these pages are here for the express purpose of personal genealogical research and may not be included or used for any commercial purpose or included in any commercial site without the express permission of Cheryl and Elroy Christenson. Copyright Elroy Christenson 1998-2010.