William Francis Bailey was a judge, lawyer and politician born in Carmel, NY. He studied law, served in the Civil War, and in 1863 was admitted to the bar in Brooklyn, NY. In 1867 he moved to Eau Claire, where he practiced law.

A Democrat, he was district attorney of Eau Claire County, mayor of Eau Claire from 1878 until 1879 and then again in 1884, and was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 1890.

In 1891 when the 17th judicial district was created, Bailey was elected circuit judge, serving from January, 1892, to January, 1898. Noted as one of the state's foremost legal writers of his time, he was the author of The Law of the Master's Liability for Injuries to Servant in 1894, a digest of the decisions of the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1902, and several other legal works. He was also editor-in-chief of the History of Eau Claire County, Wisconsin.

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William Francis Bailey

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]