Baylor, Robert Emmett Bledsoe

Baylor, Robert Emmett Bledsoe (bā`lər), 1793?–1873, American jurist, founder of Baylor Univ., b. Kentucky. He served in the War of 1812, studied law, and served in the Kentucky legislature. Moving (1820) to Alabama, he served in the Alabama legislature and was (1829–31) a U.S. Representative from Alabama before moving again (1839), this time to Texas. He was a district and supreme court judge in the Republic of Texas and was prominent in drafting the state constitution, which became operative upon the annexation of Texas. He became a state judge under the new constitution. Baylor was also a Baptist preacher and is chiefly remembered because he drew up and secured passage of a charter for a college that became Baylor Univ.