A Profile of A.J. Bayley (Continued from here)
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Having a steady income, he was married to English-born Miss Elizabeth Jones on June 25, 1850 at the Green Springs by Reverend J.A. Benton, who performed this second marriage ceremony in El Dorado County. Bayley hired the first horse and buggy ever in El Dorado County to whisk him and his new bride away on their honeymoon in Sacramento and San Francisco. Uncle Billy Rogers, owner of the horse and buggy, charged Bayley "two ounces" a day, rounding the sum down to $300 for the ten-day rental.
In September of 1850, Bayley resigned his well-paying position at the Winter's Hotel in Coloma to build a hotel at Pilot Hill, some seven miles north. His new hotel was constructed on converging Indian trails and was named the Oak Valley House. He initiated it with a two-day opening ball on November 27-28, 1851.
Profits from this reception amounted to $3,500, which impelled him to enlarge the facility. After the expansion, the main hall measured 96x30 feet and the dining room 96x20 feet. The first ball was given in the new hall in October of 1854, to which 156 tickets were sold at $10 each for proceeds of $2,200. The last ball was given on October 25, 1860, with receipts of $1,500. Bayley's fabulous Oak Valley Hotel flourished for ten years, until May 16, 1861, when the entire building and all its furnishings burned to the ground.
During those years of 1851 through 1861, A.J. and Elizabeth had born to them four children: Alcander Alonzo, born April 24, 1851; James Priest, born July 4, 1852; Jane Elizabeth (Jenny), born February 13, 1854; and Ida Mercy, born July 4, 1861.
The loss of the Oak Valley House propelled Bayley into an even bigger project, his palatial three-story brick residence, which he named the Bayley House, in anticipation of the Central Pacific Railroad being routed through Pilot Hill along the trail that John C. Fremont had mapped earlier and that was already an established route for freight haulers. Surveyors gave the Fremont Trail thumbs up as an approved route for the train. However, a brilliant engineer named Theodore Judah suggested an easier and less costly route through Auburn and Dutch Flat, to which the "Big Four" railroad tycoons eventually gave serious consideration and approval.
Without rail passengers stopping at Pilot Hill in need of accommodations and refreshment, business at the Bayley House wasn't, let's say, booming. It is said that Bayley could hear the train passing by eight miles to the north in Auburn as it chugged along on the preferred route. His stately mansion had indeed earned the nickname "Bayley's Folly".
Bayley used the house as his residence for a time. On October 9, 1862, the Twelfth Annual Ball was held there at his ranch. He raised livestock on the 640 acres surrounding his new mansion, and he was also one of the first winemakers in California, although it is said that he never imbibed the product of the vine. Wines produced on the ranch were stored in the huge wine cellar beneath the house. He also engaged in merchandising on the site with his older son, Alcander Alonzo. Son James had a ranch near his parent's house.
Being the energetic entrepreneur that he was, A.J. Bayley could not sit by while other business was prospering in the path of the railroad, so he turned his attention to Lake Tahoe, the Lake of the Sky, which was just starting to be appreciated as the most scenic spot in the Sierras. With some money that he had remaining, he bought the King Tahoe Resort in Tahoe City, where the railroad crossed the mountains. He remodeled it, furnished it with lavish appointments, and named it the Grand Central Hotel. Because of his tireless efforts and polished refinement, the Grand Central became the most luxurious hotel between Reno and San Francisco and the most popular resort in the West.
His summers were spent at the Grand Central Hotel at Lake Tahoe, but he wintered at his showplace home in Pilot Hill. It was during this period that Bayley helped organize the first Grange in California, an organization of farmers, which met in the large barn near the Bayley House. He ran for the State Assembly and was elected in 1871. He became popular and prosperous, being well-known throughout the West, but unfortunately his success took a turn for the worse when, in 1895, the Grand Central Hotel burned to the ground, leaving him in financial ruin. He looked to the Bayley House and the hope of heavier traffic through the Mother Lode bringing more business,
but the Bayley House continued to operate at a loss. Failing health overtook him and he died in 1896. Six months later his wife died and was buried along side him on a hill overlooking the exquisite mansion that A.J. Bayley designed and built.
The Old Bayley House stands as a tribute to this native of Vermont who became one of California's outstanding pioneers.
SOURCES:
The writings of Lillian Lafaille, who lived in the Bayley House in the early 1900's
The History of El Dorado County, published by Paolo Sioli in 1883
