Howard was the son of Hamlet Bayley and Esther Ashcroft and was born in Wordsley, Staffordshire, England in 1862. Cora was the daughter of James Kinter Sponsler and Susanna Parker Milliken and was born in Dauphin, Pennsylvania. Howard Bayley had emigrated from England with his brother, Neville, about 1880, and they settled in Pittsburgh where the marriage took place on 8 October 1890. Howard was in the restaurant business in Pittsburgh and later managed hotel apartments in New York City. Howard died in 1920 and Cora died in 1931. They are buried in the Dauphin Cemetery in Dauphin, Pennsylvania.