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Adelaide Susan Steinberg Bailey was a pioneer woman in British Columbia's history. She grew up in Yale, yet she managed to obtain the skills and knowledge to become one of the first frontier teachers in British Columbia. She taught for thirty years with excellence and enthusiasm, and contributed much to the establishment of several new communities.
Adelaide Bailey was born in San Francisco on December 11, 1857, the first child of Benjamin Bailey and Sarah Margaret Paterson. Her father, born in Boston, came to California lured by the promise of gold. Similarly, her mother, with her parents Captain and Mrs. Paterson, travelled from Hobart, Tasmania, aboard her father's schooner to the California gold fields. In 1860 Benjamin Bailey was drawn to British Columbia by better prospects in the new Cariboo gold rush, and had the foresight to establish a freight trading business in Yale where the road through the Fraser Canyon was under construction. A year later, his wife and two children sailed to British Columbia aboard the steamer Brother Jonathan to join him. After a brief stay at the Colonial Hotel in Esquimalt, they obtained passage across the Strait of Georgia and up the Fraser River to Hope. There they were met by Mr. Bailey and travelled upstream to the bustling frontier town of Yale -- the gateway to the Cariboo. Mrs. Bailey never was favorably impressed with Yale, despite being assured by Governor Douglas that "there will be trails and wagon roads, even a railway built through here before long."(f.1) There were times that she had to close the curtains to prevent Adelaide and her siblings from seeing lawbreakers hung. It was in this rough town that Adelaide grew up. The Baileys lived in Yale for twenty years and twelve of their fifteen children were born there, including a set of twins, which incited great celebration among the whites and much curiosity among the Indians. However rustic this community had been, Adelaide managed to acquire education and was knowledgeable enough to pass the Teachers Certification examination in Victoria in June of 1875 at the age of seventeen. She also became proficient at playing the piano, a talent that was very advantageous in future years.
Adelaide was well suited for her chosen career...