James Asheton Bayard Sr.
United States Senator
from Delaware
In office
November 13, 1804  March 3, 1813
Preceded byWilliam H. Wells
Succeeded byWilliam H. Wells
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Delaware's At-large district
In office
March 4, 1797  March 3, 1803
Preceded byJohn Patten
Succeeded byCaesar A. Rodney
Personal details
Born
James Asheton Bayard

(1767-07-28)July 28, 1767
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DiedAugust 6, 1815(1815-08-06) (aged 48)
Wilmington, Delaware
Political partyFederalist
SpouseAnn (Nancy) Bassett
Children6, including Richard and James
Parent(s)James Asheton Bayard
Ann Hodge
Residence(s)Wilmington, Delaware
Alma materPrinceton University
ProfessionLawyer
Signature

James Asheton Bayard Sr. (July 28, 1767 – August 6, 1815) was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party, who served as U.S. Representative from Delaware and U.S. Senator from Delaware.[1]

Early life and family

Coat of Arms of James A. Bayard

Bayard was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, son of Dr. James Asheton Bayard and Ann Hodge. The Bayards descended from a sister of Dutch Director-General Petrus Stuyvesant and came to Bohemia Manor, Cecil County, Maryland in 1698. Upon the premature death of his parents, the younger James went to live with his uncle, Colonel John Bubenheim Bayard, in Philadelphia. He graduated from Princeton College in 1784, studied law under General Joseph Reed and Jared Ingersoll, was admitted to the Delaware Bar in 1787, and began a practice in Wilmington, Delaware. Bayard married February 11, 1795, Ann or Nancy Bassett, the daughter of wealthy Delaware lawyer and U.S. Senator Richard Bassett. They had six children, Richard, Caroline, James Jr., Edward, Mary, and Henry M. and lived on the southwest corner of 3rd and French Street in Wilmington,[1] where they owned slaves.[2]

U.S. House of Representatives

Bayard was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1796, and served there for three terms, from March 4, 1797 until March 3, 1803. While in the U.S. House "he was distinguished as an orator and constitutional lawyer and became a leader of the party in the house." He especially distinguished himself as one of the impeachment managers appointed in 1798 in the impeachment proceedings against William Blount, a U.S. Senator from Tennessee.[1] Blount was accused of inciting the Creeks and Cherokees to help the British take New Orleans from the Spanish. While the U.S. House impeached him, under Bayard's leadership, the United States Senate dropped the charges in 1799 on the grounds that no further action could be taken beyond his dismissal. This set an important precedent for the future with regard to the limitations on actions which could be taken by U.S. Congress against its members and former members.

Bayard also played an important part in the U.S. presidential election of 1800. With the vote tied in the Electoral College, it was a group of Federalists led by Bayard who broke the deadlock by agreeing to allow the election of Thomas Jefferson by the House of Representatives.[3] When it seemed the Federalists were about to vote for Aaron Burr, Bayard is believed to have followed the advice of Alexander Hamilton and persuaded his Federalist colleagues to abstain from voting. It was also believed he struck a deal with the incoming Jefferson, to refrain from the wholesale removal of Federalists from appointed positions. The young Bayard enlisted Representative Samuel Smith (Maryland politician) to negotiate with Jefferson on Federalist control of the Philadelphia and Wilmington custom offices.[4] Jefferson subsequently permitted the Federalist office holders to retain their posts.

Just before John Adams left office as U.S. President he used the provisions of the Judiciary Act of 1801 to make many "midnight" judicial appointments. Among those was Bayard's father-in-law, Richard Bassett. Resigning as Governor of Delaware, Bassett accepted an appointment as a federal judge, but soon was out of work when Jefferson had the act repealed. Bayard himself declined an appointment as Minister to France offered by President John Adams in 1801.

So effective was Bayard in opposing Jefferson's administration that an all-out effort was made by the Democratic-Republicans to defeat him in his attempt at a fourth term in 1802. Caesar Augustus Rodney, nephew of the Revolutionary President of Delaware Caesar Rodney, defeated Bayard by 15 votes. However, two years later, in 1804, the result was reversed with Bayard besting Rodney. In the best Delaware tradition, the two remained friends throughout their electoral rivalry.

U.S. Senate and Peace Commissioner

Although re-elected to the U.S. House in 1804, Bayard never returned there, because before the term began, on November 13, 1804, he was elected by the Delaware General Assembly as U.S. Senator, filling the vacancy caused by the resignation of William H. Wells. He began a term of his own the following March 1805, was reelected six years later in 1810, and served in the Senate until his resignation on March 3, 1813.[1]

By his own admission, it mattered little who represented Delaware, given the smallness of the state; if the two senators and one representative happened to be all Federalists, all the better, since the party was in a considerable minority by the decade of the 1800s. Like most of his party, Bayard opposed "Mr. Madison's War" as the War of 1812 was sometimes scornfully called, but like the Democratic-Republicans, he was outraged at the British actions on the high seas and recognized the need for action. As the possibility of war became more likely, he urged caution, thinking of the lack of preparedness of the army and navy and especially of the vulnerability of coastal Delaware. On June 17, 1812, he was one of 13 senators to vote against declaring war on Britain. However, once the war began he and all Delaware Federalists wholeheartedly supported the war effort, avoiding the suspicion of treason earned by Federalists in New England.

Because of that support, he was the only Federalist appointed as one of the peace commissioners who eventually negotiated the Treaty of Ghent. Resigning his Senate seat, he went to Europe and played a major role in the negotiations that ended the War of 1812 when the treaty was signed in December 1814. Subsequently, President James Madison offered him an appointment as Minister to Russia, but Bayard declined, believing a Federalist could hardly well-represent a Democratic-Republican administration.

Bayard was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in July 1815.[5] His disposition on membership is unknown, as no known correspondence confirms or denies his interest, and his death was only a few weeks after his election, and a few days after his return from Europe.

Death and legacy

After spending several months in Europe, Bayard returned home in the summer of 1815. During the trip he developed an inflamed throat and became critically ill. He lived only five days after his return and died at Wilmington. He was originally buried on Bohemia Manor, in Cecil County, Maryland. In 1842 his remains were removed, along with those of his father-in-law, Richard Bassett, and reburied in the Wilmington and Brandywine Cemetery in Wilmington. Bayard was the father of two U.S. Senators, Richard H. Bayard and James A. Bayard Jr., grandfather of another, Thomas F. Bayard Sr. and great grandfather of another, Thomas F. Bayard Jr.[1]

He was sometimes known as The Chevalier, the Goliath of his Party, and High Priest of the Constitution.

Almanac

Elections were held the first Tuesday of October. U.S. Representatives took office March 4 and have a two-year term. The General Assembly chose the U.S. Senators for six years that also began March 4. In this case he was initially completing the existing term, the vacancy caused by the resignation of William H. Wells.


Public Offices
Office Type Location Began office Ended office notes
U.S. Representative Legislature Philadelphia March 4, 1797 March 3, 1799
U.S. Representative Legislature Philadelphia March 4, 1799 March 3, 1801
U.S. Representative Legislature Washington March 4, 1801 March 3, 1803
U.S. Senator Legislature Washington January 15, 1805 March 3, 1805 [6]
U.S. Senator Legislature Washington March 4, 1805 March 3, 1811
U.S. Senator Legislature Washington March 4, 1811 March 3, 1813
United States Congressional service
Dates Congress Chamber Majority President Committees Class/District
1797–1799 5th U.S. House Federalist John Adams at-large
1799–1801 6th U.S. House Federalist John Adams at-large
1801–1803 7th U.S. House Republican Thomas Jefferson at-large
1803–1805 8th U.S. Senate Republican Thomas Jefferson class 2
1805–1807 9th U.S. Senate Republican Thomas Jefferson class 2
1807–1809 10th U.S. Senate Republican Thomas Jefferson class 2
1809–1811 11th U.S. Senate Republican James Madison class 2
1811–1813 12th U.S. Senate Republican James Madison class 2
Election results
Year Office Subject Party Votes % Opponent Party Votes %
1796 U.S. Representative James A. Bayard Federalist 2,292 56% William Peery Republican 1,783 44%
1798 U.S. Representative James A. Bayard Federalist 2,792 61% Archibald Alexander Republican 2,142 39%
1800 U.S. Representative James A. Bayard Federalist 2,674 53% John Patten Republican 2,340 47%
1802 U.S. Representative James A. Bayard Federalist 3,406 50% Caesar A. Rodney Republican 3,421 50%
1804 U.S. Representative James A. Bayard Federalist 4,398 52% Caesar A. Rodney Republican 4,038 48%

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "BAYARD, James Asheton, Sr". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  2. "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, 2022-01-19, retrieved 2022-01-25
  3. "Today in History – February 17". Library of Congress. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  4. Ackerman, Bruce (2005). THe Failure of the Founding Fathers: Jefferson, Marshall, and the Rise of Presidential Democracy. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 106. ISBN 0674018664. Borden, Morton (1954). The Federalism of James A. Bayard. pp. 91–93.
  5. American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
  6. elected to fill vacancy caused by resignation of William H. Wells

References

  • Hoffecker, Carol E (2004). Democracy in Delaware. Wilmington, DE: Cedar Tree Books. ISBN 1-892142-23-6.
  • Martin, Roger A. (1995). Memoirs of the Senate. Newark, DE: Roger A. Martin.
  • Martin, Roger A. (2003). Delawareans in Congress. Middletown, DE: Roger A. Martin. ISBN 0-924117-26-5.
  • Munroe, John A. (2004). The Philadelawareans. Newark: University of Delaware Press. ISBN 0-87413-872-8.
  • Munroe, John A. (1954). Federalist Delaware 1775-1815. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University.
  • Munroe, John A. (1993). History of Delaware. University of Delaware Press. ISBN 0-87413-493-5.

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