Legend of Bill Bailey

Brazoria County boasts of some interesting
ghosts, the most famous perhaps,
being that of Brit Bailey,

  Scots-Irish colonial
settler and descendant of William Morris
of Braveheart fame.
When he died, Brit was, at his own request,
buried standing-up,
facing the west, with his gun at his side.
He wanted to take his jug along too,
but his widow said no. Since then, every seven
years or so, a light appears out on Bailey's Prairie.
Many have pursued that light but to no avail.
It is, of course, Brit's lantern.

He's out there, still trying to find his jug.
The story of Bailey's ghost along with many others,
will be found in Ghosts Along the Brazos
in the Brazoria County Historical
Museum's Windows Book and Gift Shoppe.
It was written by the late Catherine Munson Foster who,
for forty years as a
county librarian, told these famous ghost stories
to the county's third-graders.
Nearly five generations grew up with Ms Foster's
stories. As a result, ghosts play a central role
in the county's culture.
Just about everyone in the county has one.

 

  Foster, Catherine. Ghosts Along the Brazos.
Waco: Texian Press, 1977.
Brazoria County's own legendary storyteller presents
her repertoire
of local ghost stories in print.
These stories, like the legend

of Brit Bailey's ghost, have been part of the oral tradition
of Brazoria County, Texas, for 150 years.

Golson, Josephine Polley. Bailey's Light. San Antonio: The Naylor Co., 1950.

The granddaughter of early settler,
Brit Bailey, tells his story,
including the fascinating
details of his request to be buried standing
up, facing West, so no man could say

"Here lies old Brit Bailey."

  Thank you Breeze for the background