 She was a descendant of Bilali Muhammad, an enslaved person and a Muslim from West Africa who worked on Thomas Spalding's plantation.Bailey grew up in the settlement of Belle Marsh on Sapelo Island, one of many communities that traced their heritage back to freed slaves who purchased land on the isolated island.Bailey left Sapelo Island briefly to live with family on St. Simons Island, then settled in Hog Hammock on her return to the island in 1966.