Jurist Samuel Bayard was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 11, 1767. He was the fourth son of Revolutionary War veteran Colonel John Bayard and Margaret Hodge Bayard. With the turmoil surrounding the struggle for American independence, Bayard's childhood was spent in motion, moving from Philadelphia, to the family's manor house in Maryland, to a farm on the Schuylkill River.

Despite coming of age in a tumultuous time, Bayard excelled academically, graduating as valedictorian of Princeton College in 1784. At Princeton, he studied law with William Bradford, and upon graduating, became Bradford's partner.

After practicing law for seven years in Philadelphia, Bayard had the privilege to be appointed clerk of the United States Supreme Court in 1791. A further prestigious appointment came later in 1794 after the ratification of the Jay Treaty, when President Washington tapped Bayard as American Commissioner of Claims to represent the United States in the British courts. For four years he appeared before the admiralty courts in London, obtaining over ten million dollars in compensation for American interests.

Bayard returned to the United States in 1798 and resided for several years at New Rochelle, New York, where he was appointed by Governor Jay as presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Westchester County. In 1803 he moved to New York City, and resumed practicing law. During this time, he was active in cultural heritage, and helped establish the New York Historical Society in 1804.

In 1806 he returned to the town of Princeton, New Jersey, where he settled down and involved himself in community and state affairs. He served as treasurer and member of the board of trustees at Princeton College. He represented his fellow citizens in the New Jersey state legislature, and presided as judge of the court of common pleas of Somerset County.

In 1814 he was nominated by the Federalist Party as a candidate for United States Congress, but lost the election.

A man of faith, Bayard acted as delegate to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, helped found the Princeton Theological Seminary, and with Elias Boudinot established the American Bible Society and the New Jersey Bible Society.

Bayard married Abigail Martha Pintard on August 14, 1790. Together, they had six children: Lewis Pintard Bayard (1791-1840), Samuel John Bayard (1808-1890), Caroline Smith Bayard Dod (1814-1891), William Marsden Bayard, Maria Bayard, and Susan Bayard.

Bayard's published writings include: "A Funeral Oration, Occasioned by the death of General George Washington (1800); "A Digest of American Cases on the Law of Evidence, intended as Notes to Peake's Compendium" (1810); "Letters on the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper" (1825); and, "An Abstract of the Laws of the United States which relate to the Duties and Authority of Judges of Inferior State Courts and Justices of the Peace" (1834).

Samuel Bayard died in Princeton, New Jersey, on May 12, 1840.

A small collection of correspondence, receipts, and family death notes, the papers of jurist Samuel Bayard (1767-1840), include a diary from his time in London as American Claims Agent; correspondence with William Bradford (1755-1795), second attorney general of the United States; and a 1778 letter from William Alexander, Lord Stirling, to Governor William Livingston of New Jersey that discussed troop deployment in that state.

Provenance

Accession M2008-03. Bill G. Smith, Professor of History at Montana State University, arranged for the donation of the collection in April 2008 by Archie Alexander of Bozeman, Montana.

Preferred citation

Cite as: Samuel Bayard Papers, American Philosophical Society

Processing information

Processed by Michael Miller, November 2016.

Separated material

APS Library also possesses a printed copy of a journal written by Samuel Bayard's wife: The Journal of Martha Pintard Bayard, London, 1794-1797. Call number: B B34d.

Related material

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania houses other letters written by Samuel Bayard to William Bradford; the New York Historical Society has letters from Bayard to Elias Boudinot.

Early American History Note

This collection contains materials which may be of interest to students of Early American History.

• Bayard Family

• Business Records and Accounts
• Correspondence.
• Diaries
• Legal Records

• United States -- History -- Revolutionary War, 1775-1783

• Alexander, William, 1726-1783
• Bayard, Samuel, 1767-1840
• Boudinot, Elias, 1740-1821
• Bradford, William, 1755-1795
• Livingston, William, 1723-1790

• Great Britain. High Court of Admiralty
• Law
• Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, with the United States of America (1794 November 19)