310 



THE FEENCH BLOOD IN AMERICA 



James 



Asheton 



Bayard 



Federalist 

 Leader 



Family of 

 Great Senators 



of the Theological Seminary at Princeton. He died in 

 1840. 



James Asheton Bayard, son of Dr. James Asheton 

 Bayard, and nephew of Colonel John Bayard, was born 

 in Philadelphia in 1767. He graduated from Princeton 

 in 1784 in the same class with his cousin Samuel. Three 

 years later he was admitted to the bar and located in 

 Wilmington, Del. His ability as a lawyer was soon 

 recognized, and at the time he was elected to Congress, in 

 1798, he was already among the most prominent men in 

 the profession. A year after his election to Congress he 

 achieved a national reputation by his management of the 

 impeachment of William Blount. His power as an orator 

 and his wide knowledge of constitutional law soon brought 

 him to the fore in Congress, and he rapidly developed 

 into a leader of the Federalist party. In 1801, when the 

 choice lay between Burr and Jefferson, Bayard was influ- 

 ential, together with Hamilton, in swinging the scales in 

 favour of Jefferson. That same year he declined an ap- 

 pointment as Minister to France. From 1804 to 1813 he 

 represented Delaware in the United States Senate. Pres- 

 ident Madison selected Bayard as a joint commissioner 

 to act with Albert Gallatin, John Adams and Henry Clay 

 in arranging terms of peace with Great Britain in 1814, 

 and he was prominent in the negotiations which brought 

 about the ti'eaty of Ghent. While in Europe he con- 

 tracted a serious illness, and returned to his home in 

 Wilmington only to die early in the following year. 



Richard Henry Bayard, his eldest son, was born in 

 Wilmington in 1796, graduated from Princeton in 1814, 

 and then devoted himself to the law. He was a brilliant 

 lawyer, and in 1836 was made United States Senator from 

 Delaware. 



His youngest brother, James Asheton, was born in 

 1779. He, too, became a lawyer, and won high distinc- 

 tion at the bar. He was federal attorney foi- Delaware 

 during the administration of President Van Buren, and 



