Mollie Arline Kirkland Bailey

Who is Mollie Arline Kirkland Bailey?

Mollie Arline Kirkland Bailey, known as the "Circus Queen of the Southwest", was a circus musician, singer, war-time nurse, and according to some accounts, spy for Confederate States of America generals John Bell Hood and Jubal Anderson Early.

Bailey was born near Mobile, Alabama to William Kirkland and Mary Arline, who owned a prosperous plantation. Her exact birth date is unknown, with different sources placing it between the mid-1830s and 1844. Bailey exhibited early talent in dramatic arts, including putting on plays with her siblings and mimicking peoples' mannerisms. As a young girl Bailey was considered a bit of a tomboy, and as was customary at the time, her parents decided to send her to a ladies academy near Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Around the age of 14, while home from school for a short vacation, Bailey attended a circus performance and became infatuated with a cornet player, James A. Bailey. The attraction was mutual and Bailey sought her parents' permission to marry, but her father refused to allow her to wed someone associated with a circus. While her father was away on a business trip in 1858, Bailey eloped with Gus; they were married soon after, and honeymooned with the circus. After "borrowing" a few horses and a wagon from her family's plantation, the new couple, together with one sibling each, formed the "Bailey Family Troupe". The new troupe toured throughout the American South, singing, dancing and performing in a vaudeville style. Bailey's father never accepted their marriage, though she came home to the plantation at least twice to ask for his approval. William Kirkland disinherited his daughter and the two never reconciled.