Ervin George Bailey (1880-1974) was an industrialist and manufacturer and the founder of the Bailey Meter Company, a major manufacturer of industrial meters and controls in Cleveland, Ohio. Bailey was born in Damascus, Ohio, December 25, 1880, to George W. and Ruthetta Butler Bailey. His early interest in mechanics and his inventive ability led to a degree in mechanical engineering from The Ohio State University in 1903. Bailey's career in fuels utilization began in the testing department of the Consolidation Coal Company of Fairmont, West Virginia. In 1907 he joined the staff of Arthur D. Little Laboratories in Boston, Massachusetts. From 1909 to 1915 Bailey worked as a mechanical engineer for the Fuel Testing Company of Boston, Massachusetts, a firm in which he was also a partner. Recognizing the need for a manufacturing source for his inventions in the fuels control field, he founded Bailey Meter Company in 1916. To be closer to his major market, Bailey moved his operations to Cleveland, Ohio, in June 1919. In 1926 Bailey Meter Company was purchased by The Babcock and Wilcox Company. Bailey remained with Babcock and Wilcox, serving as president of their Fuller LeHigh Company division from 1926 to 1936, as chairman of Bailey Meter Company from 1944 to 1956, and as a vice-president of The Babcock and Wilcox Company from 1931 to 1951. During his lifetime Bailey was awarded one hundred and forty-one United States patents for his inventions in the fields of fluid and combustion control. Bailey was a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and served as its president in 1948. He was also a member of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London, England. Bailey authored many articles on metering, control, fuels and combustion, and engineering education. On August 23, 1904, he married Carrie Huntington in Columbus, Ohio. They had two children, George Huntington Bailey and Katharine Bailey Hoyt. Ervin George Bailey died on December 18, 1974.
The Ervin George Bailey Papers, 1918-1974, consist of biographical sketches, diaries and notebooks, historical sketches, and speeches and writings.
The collection is of value to researchers studying twentieth century business history in Cleveland, Ohio, particularly the engineering aspects of a corporation such as Bailey Meter Company, the attention to the development of a sales force with a technical background, and the concept of continuing education for its engineering staff.
The collection is generally arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.
All photographs have been removed to the photograph and print collection.
Processed by Patricia J. Stahley in 1997
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4743 Ervin George Bailey Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Victoria Hoyt Kurtz, 1996
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.