Quick Facts
Biography
Leonard C. Bailey (1825–1918) was an African-American business owner and inventor.
Born into poverty, Bailey initially found work as a barber, building up a string of barber shops in Washington D.C.
He invented and received patents for a series of devices, many designed for military or government use. These included a folding bed, a rapid mail-stamping machine, a device to shunt trains to different tracks, and a hernia truss adopted into wide use by the U. S. Military. These inventions provided him with a sizable income.
He helped establish the Capital Savings Bank of Washington D.C., one of the first African-American owned banks in the U.S. and during the Panic of 1893 maintained its solvency through obtaining a personal loan from a national bank.
He was a member of the first mixed-race jury in Washington D.C., which found Millie Gaines not guilty of murder, by reason of insanity.
He served as a member of the board of directors of the Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth where a residence hall was named after him.
He died September 1, 1918 of sudden illness.