Bailey, Willis J., governor of the State of Kansas from 1903 to 1905, was born in Carroll county, Ill., Oct. 12, 1854. He was educated in the common schools, the Mount Carroll high school, and graduated at the University of Illinois as a member of the class of 1879. In 1904 his Alma Mater conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. In 1879, soon after completing his college course, he accompanied his father to Nemaha county, Kan., where they engaged in farming and stock raising, and founded the town of Baileyville. Upon reaching his majority, Gov. Bailey cast his lot with the Republican party, and since that time he has been an active and consistent advocate of the principles espoused by that organization. In 1888 he was elected to represent his county in the state legislature; was reëlected in 1890; was president of the Republican State League in 1893; was the Republican candidate for Congress in the First district in 1896, and in June, 1898, was nominated by the state convention at Hutchinson as the candidate for Congressman at large, defeating Richard W. Blue. After serving in the Fifty-sixth Congress he retired to his farm, but in 1902 was nominated by his party for governor. At the election in November he defeated W. H. Craddock, the Democratic candidate by a substantial majority, and began his term as governor in Jan., 1903. At the close of his term as governor he removed to Atchison, and since 1907 has been vice-president and manager of the Exchange National bank of that city. Shortly after his retirement from the office of governor he was prominently mentioned as a candidate for United States senator, and in 1908 a large number of Republicans of the state urged his nomination for governor. Mr. Bailey has always been interested in behalf of the farmers of the country, and from 1895 to 1899 he was a member of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture.