Last week, we looked into the lives of the Daileys of Marysville. John W Dailey Sr. was born in 1896 in West Virginia. He was wounded in World War I and couldn’t continue his career in the military. After graduating from law school at the University of Cincinnati, he made his way to Marysville and had three children, Sara, John Jr. (Johnny) and John’s twin sister, Jeanne. Eventually John and Jeanne came to practice law in Marysville with their father and our story continues.
Johnny, who was stationed in Japan with the U.S. Army, knew his father was expecting him to come home and work in the law firm, but first he went to Nelsonville, Ohio, to practice for one year and get a feel for the law outside of Union County.
In 1962, he and Jeanne joined their father’s law firm in Marysville. Their practice was located downtown at 111 W. 5th St. Since there were three of them in the firm now, they were soon very busy and the twins liked criminal law. According to Johnny’s son, Dan, they carried a huge caseload. Soon there just wasn’t enough room in that office, so in 1967 they moved to what had been Johnny’s home with his family at 259 W. 5th St. near the county courthouse.
That home had been purchased from O.M. Scott & Sons, but originally belonged to former First Lady, Barbara Bush’s grandparents, Lula and James E. Robinson. The home was built in 1890 and Johnny’s son, Dan, lives there today. That location would be the new law office and Johnny, his wife Janet and their four children moved up the street even further west on Fifth Street.
The Dailey twins were known to take on any case that walked in their door, asking for money upfront when they could get it. When they were too busy, they simply just sent clients on down the street to other lawyers, without calling ahead to let them know someone was coming. Some said the clients would just walk in the door and say that Johnny Dailey sent them.
Dan Dailey remembers his father as a very hard worker, no vacations, and on weekends he would sit in a chair and work on briefs while watching big-time wrestling on TV. Obviously, he was an early multi-tasker. In addition to their legal work, he and his sister both read several books a week. Dan also reported, Jeanne liked her hiking boots. She was known to even wear them into court. She wasn’t a hiker, but believed in being comfortable and they were also perfect when she worked in her garden.
Johnny’s family was already established and living in Marysville and Jeanne, now in her 30s and still single, met a man named George Wells. That changed her life. Dan Dailey believes they met through the court system. She was enthralled with him. He must’ve been a charmer, and was known to be brilliant. In fact he won over most of her family, except for her father and mother, because Wells had served time in prison for bank robbery and had been on the FBI most wanted list.
They married, but when Jeanne was three months pregnant, they divorced. Apparently in those days it was not permitted for a child to take the last name of the mother (instead of the father) even though they were divorced. Jeannie wanted her son, Anthony, to be a Dailey and not a Wells. Being the good legal minds that Johnny and Jeanne were, they devised this plan. Johnny and Janet adopted Anthony to give him the Dailey name. Then Jeanne adopted him back, as a trick on the legal system and perhaps setting a precedent used later.
Jeanne and Johnny Dailey, brilliant criminal attorneys, are now both deceased.
Johnny’s youngest son, Dan, a 1982 graduate of Marysville High School, owns Union Electronics in uptown Marysville. None of the Dailey children had any interest in becoming an attorney.
Dan started his own business in 1987. In his early years he repaired as many as 1,500 televisions a year. Now his business is selling televisions, home theaters, and camera security and audio systems to buyers as far away as Texas.
Dan is known to be customer friendly, but really, some of his clients have called him in the middle of the night for electronics advice. There have been many crazy stories in dealing with the public over the years, but this one might be the best: A couple came in with an old television and they wanted him to fix it. Dan advised against it. He did not think it was worth it and in addition that it would last. They insisted on the repair. When his predictions can true, the couple was quite angry and Dan gave their money back even though they had insisted on something he advised against.
After he returned the money, they came into the store to argue about the fact that their television didn’t work. Dan was amazed. What else did they want him to do? He kept asking them to leave because he had an appointment outside of the store. They wouldn’t leave so he told them he was going to have to lock the door and they would be locked in. Still they refused to leave until they saw he was serious. Sometimes the public relations end of a business is just so tough!
You will see Dan walking all over the area with his dog, a little 5 lb. Yorkshire terrier, Baxter. In his seven years, the dog has walked or run over 8,000 miles with Dan, never asking to be carried.
So, you have it, the story of the Daileys of Marysville.
If you want to read part one of the Daileys, go to marysvillejt.com and click on community, then on, off the hook and archives.
(Melanie Behrens – melb@marysvillejt.com)