Bartlett Bailey

Bartlett Bailey, 91, died peacefully on Saturday, December 21, 2019 at the Clinton County Nursing Home in Plattsburgh, NY. Bartlett was born on April 16, 1928 in Pasadena, CA. He was the son of the late Margaret Bleecker and Harlow Bailey. He is predeceased by his loving wife of 67 years, Isabelle Hunt, his brother, William Coate, his son Harlow Bailey and his daughter-in-law, Candace Pepper Bailey. Bart is survived by his children Susanna Bartlett Brooks, Eleanor Woodruff (Allen), Livingston Hunt Bailey, Russell Bleecker Bailey and Nicholas Bleecker Bailey (Eve) and his nephew, Eric Coate. Also his beloved grandchildren, Morgan, Margaret and David Brooks, Marshall Woodruff and Harlow Bailey. Bartlett also had five Great-grandchildren, Skylar and William Brooks, Nicholas and Noah White and Avery Evers and Jackson Brooks.
In 1934, Bart and his mother sailed around the continent, through the Panama Canal, on a shipping freighter, to return to Margaret’s home on Staten Island, NY where he spent his growing up years. He attended the Staten Island Academy. He served in the US Marine Corps as a Sergeant from 1946-1949 and remained a proud Marine throughout his long life. After a short period of time at Champlain College in Plattsburgh he returned to the Island, married Isabelle and reentered the service to fight in the Korean War. Bart was a Chosin Reservoir survivor and returned home to his wife and new baby daughter in 1951. Several years later, they moved to Skillman, New Jersey where they raised Black Angus cattle and had five more children! However, Bart’s heart was not in farming. In 1962 he bought his first restaurant. He named it Black Bart’s, in memory of a fellow Marine who had tagged him “Black Bart” after the famous pirate. This was where he found his passion.
In 1968, Bart and Isabelle decided New Jersey was becoming too crowded, and wanted to move the family north. Bart had spent some summers on Lake Champlain at the home of a family friend in Burlington, VT. After a search, they fell in love with the small village of Essex, NY and bought the Old Dock House. The family successfully ran the “Dock” until 1980 when he bought a second restaurant, The Westport Hotel in Westport, NY. He and his sons Harlow and Livingston totally renovated the hotel and ran it successfully until 1984 when he retired from the restaurant business. Bart was the chef/owner of both of these restaurants and was known for his generous and creative entertaining.
Bart was an entrepreneur at heart. He was a creative and forward thinker. He had a passion for designing gardens and planting trees wherever anyone would let him! In his early years, he had been an avid fisherman in the streams of New Jersey. He loved wooden boats and collected many, which he used in unique ways. For several summers at the Old Dock, wooden boats from both sides of the Lake came for the Annual Antique Boat Review. One summer the Vermont Symphony Orchestra entertained customers on the lawn. During the long, cold winters, he would open with hot spaghetti dinners or piles of steamed shrimp and homemade Dock House Bread. Bart was happiest when sitting at a big table filled with family and friends enjoying a meal. He will be missed. He is now with the love of his life, Isabelle, and they are surely talking about their long life together.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Elizabethtown-Lewis Emergency Squad, P.O. Box 443, Elizabethtown, NY 12293.