Quick Facts
Biography
James Anthony Bailey (July 4, 1847 – April 11, 1906), born James Anthony McGinnis, was an American circus ringmaster.
Life and career
Orphaned at the age of eight, McGuiness was working as a bellhop in Pontiac, Michigan when he was discovered by Frederic Harrison Bailey (a nephew of circus pioneer Hachaliah Bailey) as a teenager. Bailey gave McGuiness a job as his assistant and the two traveled together for many years. James Anthony eventually adopted Bailey's surname to become James A. Bailey.
Bailey later associated with James E. Cooper and, by the time he was 25, he was manager of the Cooper and Bailey circus. He then met with P.T. Barnum and together they established Barnum and Bailey's Circus (for which Bailey was instrumental in obtaining Jumbo the Elephant) in 1881.
James Anthony Bailey was married to Ruth McCaddon of Zanesville, Ohio. He died of erysipelas.
He is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, in The Bronx, New York City.