06/13/2026
Today - June 12th, 2026 - would have been the 81st birthday of a precious lady - a well-known and beloved Matriarch of a beautiful island called Sapelo - just off the coast of Georgia - in McIntosh County. She loved her people, and she loved the land on which they lived. In celebration and commemoration of her birthday - I would like to share with you - my story to honor a beautiful person that I was blessed to get to know and love. Happy 81st Birthday to Mrs. Cornelia Walker Bailey. We sure do miss her!
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A Lady Named Cornelia 💐
Once upon a time, there was an incredible lady named Mrs. Cornelia Walker Bailey - from the beautiful Sapelo Island - on the coast of Georgia. She was born on June 12, 1945 to her parents - Hicks Walker and Hettie Bryant. She was a descendant of Bilali Muhammad - who was an enslaved person from West Africa. Bilali worked as overseer of all of the activities conducted on the large plantation of Sapelo Island owner - Thomas Spalding.
In the early years of her life, Mrs. Cornelia and her family lived in the settlement of Belle Marsh - which was one of several communities of descendants on the North End of Sapelo Island - who traced their heritage several generations back to freed slaves who had purchased land there. Later, Mrs. Cornelia married Julius Frank Bailey, and they lived with their children and grandchildren in the Hog Hammock community on the South End of the island.
Having traced her ancestry all the way back to West Africa - in 1989, she traveled to Sierra Leone - to study the similarities between the traditions of West Africa and her home on Sapelo Island. She discovered that - although separated by thousands of miles of land and water - life there was very familiar to her life on Sapelo - in that each place shared similar language patterns, agricultural methods, cooking styles, and traditions that she had known all of her life.
Mrs. Cornelia described herself as “A real saltwater Geechee”, and she was proud of her heritage - as she should have been. She worked hard to discover and preserve the rich history of the land and people that she so dearly loved. In fact, to recognize her tireless work in cultural preservation, in 2004, Mrs. Cornelia received a Governor's Award in the Humanities from the former Governor Sonny Perdue. She also taught others the things that she had learned from her beloved father and mother - such as basket making, knitting cast nets, and herb collecting. In her own words, she perfectly described life on Sapelo Island, when she said “We are one, bound by the spirit of an island and Bilali the slave. Bound by high tide, fields, gossip, smoke mullet, and our faith!”
One of the things that I fondly recall about her is that she was real, and she was so full of wisdom. I loved to listen to her speak. Whenever I had the chance, I listened intently to her tell about the days of old, and reminisce about the memories of things and people she had treasured throughout her life. She was a fascinating and entertaining storyteller - a griot, if you will - and captivated those around her when she was speaking. It was almost as if she was transported through time, and was actually living in the stories that she was telling. I sweetly remember stopping by her little store - which was located close to her home and her guest house - The Wallow Lodge. There, she sat regally on the front porch - talking to guests from near and far about her life - growing up and living on a beautiful Georgia barrier island called Sapelo. I knew that I was in the presence of someone great - an island treasure indeed.
The world grew darker on October 15, 2017 - the day she went to sleep sweetly in the arms of Jesus. Now, she rests peacefully on her beloved Sapelo Island - in the Behavior Cemetery - with those she loved so much throughout her life - her precious Mother and Father - and now her beloved Julius. When her eyes closed in eternal rest, volumes of stories and history was apparently lost - but yet it wasn’t. Mrs. Cornelia was wise, and she made sure that she left a roadmap - for those who would come after her - to follow. Her book - which was a memoir named “God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man: A Saltwater Geechee Talks About Life on Sapelo Island, Georgia” - is timeless. Written with the help of Christena Bledsoe - and published in 2000 - Mrs. Cornelia’s book tells story after story about her childhood on Sapelo Island, as well as tales about her ancestors and the history of the place she called home. Her story - in her own words - will forever let others know that she was here, and that she made a difference in the lives of those of us who were blessed to know and love this great lady. It is fitting that she should be remembered!
Mrs. Cornelia was also a co-writer of another fantastic book named "Sapelo Voices: Historical Anthropology and the Oral Traditions of Gullah-Geechee Communities on Sapelo Island, Georgia!” In that book, she went about the island in 1992 - doing oral history interviews with the elder members of the Hog Hammock community. She asked them questions of their memories of the ways of the past, and took a walk with them down memory lane of days long gone. That book is a treasure because the elders shared - in their own words - about the lives that they had lived on a Georgia barrier island.
Several years have now passed since that sad day - the day she left us to go to her Heavenly Home on High. Yet still - her people are pressing forward in the things she taught them to do. The work she and Ms. Inez Grovner began in 1993 - with the creation of the Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society, or SICARS - continues to this day. Their goal was to work to preserve and maintain the traditions - and the way of life - of their people. A new generation of descendants is now carrying the torch - of Sapelo Island traditions and customs - that was lit so long ago. Through blood, sweat - and yes, at times tears - still they march on to keep their culture alive for those yet to come - just as had been done for them - by Mrs. Cornelia, Bilali, and countless other descendants down through time.
Each year - on the third Saturday in October - the island community of Hog Hammock holds a festival called Cultural Day - which celebrates the Gullah-Geechee traditions on Sapelo - dating from Africa to the present day. It is a Homecoming of sorts - a day when Sapelo descendants return home - and other guests are able to come over on the ferry - to enjoy a day of entertainment, demonstrations, island tours, and some of the very best food imaginable. By celebrating the heritage left to them by strong, proud, and good people, the residents of Hog Hammock honor the memories of those who came before them. No doubt - Mrs. Cornelia looks down upon their efforts - and she smiles with great joy and pride.
I had the wonderful privilege to know this precious lady - who was always so kind to me. Even though she is no longer with us - to see the harvest of the fruits of her labor - her legacy will live on forever. Her story of survival, faith, and endurance will be told time and time again throughout the ages. She was loved by many people - near and far - including me. I miss her greatly, but feel blessed that I was able to know her, and be touched by her goodness.
May she rest on now - forever in peace - my beloved friend. She was loved for the remarkable person that she was, and is greatly missed by grateful people all over the globe - who continue to celebrate her life and legacy. There have been many words written and spoken about this great lady, but to me - one of the best words to describe her would be love: love for God, love for her people, and love for the land under her feet - on a special island in Georgia called Sapelo. The world is a much better place because - there was once a lady named Cornelia!
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Stacy Rowe
Sapelo Island, GA
