Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor – (for whom Baylor University was named)
(10 May 1973 – 06 Jan 1874)
contributed by Diane E. Wilson, 2003
Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor, jurist, born in Lincoln County, Kentucky, 10 May 1793; died at Gay Hill, Texas, 6 January 1874. He was the son of Walker Baylor, who commanded Washington’s lifeguards at the battle of Germantown, and was a nephew of Colonel George Baylor. tie studied law with his maternal uncle, the Hon. Jesse Bledsoe. He served in the war of 1812 under Colonel Boswell, and was in the fight near Fort Meigs. When peace was restored he returned to Kentucky, was admitted to the bar, and soon acquired a large practice, in 1819 ha was elected to the state legislature, but during the following year removed to Alabama, where he became prominent in the legal profession. He was elected to the state legislature in 1824, and in 1829 was sent as a representative from Alabama to the 21st congress, serving till 3 March 1831. During the Creek war he commanded a regiment of Alabama volunteers, and rendered efficient set-vice in terminating the war on the borders of that state. Subsequent to his career in congress he immigrated to the republic of Texas, where he was immediately elected a judge of the district and of the Supreme Court. Judge Baylor, being a warm friend of annexation, after the change of government was elected a member of the convention that formed the present state constitution. Later he was again appointed one of the district judges, and held the office for twenty-five years. He was a devoted Baptist, and at one time a licensed preacher of that denomination. In 1845 a charter for a Baptist College, to be located at Independence, was granted by the congress of Texas, and it received the name of Baylor University, an honor warranted by the gifts of land and money made by Judge Baylor. One of the counties of Texas was also named for him.