Nancy A. Bailey (maiden name: Chidester) was born on August 5, 1811, possibly born in Cooperstown, New York, to Daniel and Nancy Chidester. She married Theodore Bailey in April 1834, and they had a son named James. The family moved to Port Stanley, Canada, around 1842 and then to Alabama around 1850. They settled in Dunkirk, Wisconsin, around 1855, and her husband worked as a farmer there. Her son James joined the Union army, and he died during the Battle of Malvern Hill. She passed away on June 9, 1868.