Bailey Law School was a private law school located in Black Mountain and Asheville, North Carolina. It was established in 1859 by judge John Lancaster Bailey in Black Mountain but moved to Asheville after the Civil War. It operated in Asheville for ten years before closing.[1]
Bailey purchased land near Black Mountain, North Carolina from Jesse Stepp in 1858.[1][3][4] In February 1859, Bailey and his son, William Henry Bailey, advertised their intent to form a law school in Buncombe County, North Carolina on "the first of March next".[5] His son had been the Attorney General of North Carolina.[3][6] One established, Bailey Law School attracted students from across North Carolina.[1] However, the school closed in 1861 because of the Civil War, with William and many of the school's students enlisting in the Confederate Army.[1][3][7]
After the war, Bailey reestablished the school in Asheville and also practiced law with James Green Martin.[1][3] William Bailey did not return to the school and instead opened a law practice in Salisbury, North Carolina where he proposed to establish another law school.[7][8]
Bailey Law School operated in Asheville for ten years before closing when Bailey died on June 30, 1877.[6][2] It had one female student, Grace Hallyburton.[2]
Campus
The law school was originally housed in a one-room log cabin at the North Fork, near the headwaters of the Swannanoa River outside of Black Mountain.[1] The school was near Greybeard Mountain and ran close to the top of Black Mountain (now Mount Mitchell).[4][9] The building faced the river and had the mountains to its rear.[10] The students boarded at the Alexander Inn and had to climb a mountain to reach the cabin.[6][10] After the Civil War, the school moved to Biltmore Avenue in Asheville where it was housed in a one-story structure.[1][2]
After Bailey died in 1879, James G. Martin, an alumnus of the Bailey Law School, served as Bailey's executor and oversaw the sale of the original campus.[4] One of the property's many owners was John Kerr Connally, another Bailey Law School alumnus.[11] Later, it become the site of Zebulon Vance's Gombroon Estate.[12] This property is now part of the Asheville watershed/North Fork Reservoir and part of the Mount Mitchell State Park.[9][12][1]
Student life
Bailey Law School had a chapter of Sigma Nu fraternity in 1871.[13]
^ abcdefghijklmnHenderson, Archibald (1928-06-17). "John Bailey, Teacher of Law". The News and Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. p. 6. Retrieved 2023-12-22 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ab"Law School". Semi-Weekly Standard. Raleigh, North Carolina. 1859-02-10. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-12-22 – via Newspapers.com.
^ abcdSiler, Leon (1969-02-02). "Colleges Came, And Went". Asheville Citizen-Times. Asheville, North Carolina. p. 41. Retrieved 2023-12-22 – via Newspapers.com.