Spellings of Bayless have many variations: Bayles, Bayliss, Bailes, Balus, Ballis, and due to handwriting, some are Bayley, as the double ’s’ could look like a “y”’.
The best information at hand is that John Bayles, b:1617 in England, d: 1682 Long Island, NY. Married to Rebecca Whitney in 1640 on Long Island, NY. This family was the earliest of my ancestors to arrive in America.
Their migration path led to New Jersey in 1708, Virginia in 1774, Washington County, TN in 1787, into AL in 1808, and then AR in 1879 and OK in 1900. As of this writing, it is not positively known from whom Josiah Franklin Bayless was descended.
My Maternal Grandmother was Iris Estella Bayless, more commonly known as Essie. She was born in Arkansas in 1880. She was the daughter of George Washington Bayless and Charlotte Caroline Ritter.
When I was a small boy, we visited Uncle EB in Okmulgee, OK. Actually he was Everett Bayless Ritter and was Charlotte Caroline’s brother, so he really was a great great uncle.
Bayless Family Photo c. 1918
(Identities were made by my mother Avie Ruth Appleby Brooks) L-R: Gus Prickett, EB Cody (Edmund Bayless), Addie Cody (wife of EB), Charlotte Caroline Ritter Bayless (mother of EB), Orville Cody (son of EB), Bonnie Jean Arnold (daughter of Edith Cody Arnold), Eiffel Beardsley, Leon Beardsley, Edith Cody Arnold, Sarah Jane Bayless Beardsley ( wife of Charles Beardsley), Edith Prickett (married Leo Martin), Avie Mary Aveline Bayless Prickett, (wife of Gus), Charles Beardsley. Avie Prickett and Sarah Beardsley are sisters. EB Cody was the son of Charlotte Cody (later Bayless) and Jacob Cody. Edith was probably EB’s sister since Charlotte had two children when she married George Bayless.