Thomas F. Bayard

Thomas Francis Bayard was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat from Wilmington, Delaware. He served three terms as United States Senator from Delaware and made three unsuccessful bids for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. In 1885, President Grover Cleveland appointed him Secretary of State. After four years in private life, he returned to the diplomatic arena as Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He died in 1897 and he was buried in Wilmington.

About Thomas F. Bayard in brief

Thomas Francis Bayard was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat from Wilmington, Delaware. A Democrat, he served three terms as United States Senator from Delaware and made three unsuccessful bids for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. In 1885, President Grover Cleveland appointed him Secretary of State. After four years in private life, he returned to the diplomatic arena as Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Bayard died in 1897 and he was buried in Wilmington. He was the second son of James A. Bayard Jr. and Anne née Francis. The Bayard family was prominent in Delaware as Bayard’s father would be elected to the U.S. Senate in 1851. His grandfather was also a Senator; and great-grandfather Richard Bassett, who served as Senator from and Governor of Delaware. Several other relatives served in high office, including his great-great-uncle Nicholas Bayard, who was Mayor of New York City. On his mother’s side, Bayard descended from Philadelphia lawyer and financier Tench Francis Jr. The elder James Bayard encouraged his son to help organize an independent militia, the Delaware First Guard. In 1860, Thomas Bayard occupied an unusual position as Lieutenant General of the Delaware National Guard. He died in Wilmington in 1897, and was buried at the Delaware State Cemetery. He is survived by his wife, Louise Lee, and their 12 children, all of whom were born in Delaware. He also leaves behind a son, James A Bayard Jr., who also served in the Senate, and a daughter, Mary Ann, who died in 1998.

He had a son and daughter-in-law, both of whom died in Delaware during the Second World War. His son was a member of the Democratic National Committee and served as a delegate to the 1860 Democratic National Convention. He supported Robert M. T. Hunter of Virginia for the Democrats’ nomination for the presidency, but told Thomas that he thought the nominee, Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, was untrustworthy. The subsequent election of Abraham Lincoln and secession of the Deep South led both Bayards to fear for the future of the Union and propose a convention of all states to resolve their differences. In the meantime, ThomasBayard was appointed United States Attorney for Delaware and served only a year in the position before moving to Philadelphia to open a practice with his friend William Shippen, a partnership that lasted until his death in 1858. He married Louise Lee in October 1856, and the marriage produced twelve children. He later became a well-known lawyer in Wilmington and was a partner in a law firm in Philadelphia until his retirement in 1869. His conservatism extended to financial matters as he became known as a staunch supporter of the gold standard and an opponent of greenbacks and silver coinage which he believed would cause inflation. He sought increased cooperation with Great Britain, working to resolve disputes over fishing and seal-hunting rights in the waters around the Canada–United States border. His conservative politics made him popular in the South and with Eastern financial interests.

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