Thomas F. Bayard

Thomas F. Bayard c. 1875, Mathew Brady photo, U.S. Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division, ID cwpbh.03619.

Birth Name: Thomas Francis Bayard

Date of Birth: October 29, 1828

Place of Birth: Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.

Date of Death: September 28, 1898

Place of Death: Dedham, Massachusetts, U.S.

Ethnicity: English, Dutch, Scottish, distant Belgian, German, French, and Swedish, 1/128th Bohemian Czech

Thomas F. Bayard was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Delaware, from March 4, 1869 to March 6, 1885, President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, from October 10, 1881 to October 13, 1881, U.S. Secretary of State, from March 7, 1885 to March 6, 1889, and U.S. Ambassador to the U.K., from June 22, 1893 to March 17, 1897.

He was a candidate for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President of the United States in 1876, 1880, and 1884.

Thomas was the son of Anne (Francis) and James A. Bayard, Jr. (James Ashton Bayard), who was a U.S. Senator from Delaware, from 1851 to 1864, and from 1867 to 1869. His uncle, Richard H. Bayard, was also a U.S. Senator from Delaware, from 1836 to 1839, and 1841 to 1845, and Chief Justice of Delaware, from 1839 to 1841.

Thomas was married to Louise Lee, until her death. The couple had twelve children, including Thomas F. Bayard Jr., who was a U.S. Senator from Delaware, from 1922 to 1929. He married into the du Pont family. Thomas (Sr.) later married Mary Willing Clymer, the granddaughter of socialite Mary Willing Clymer. She was Thomas’s second cousin.

Thomas’s patrilineal line can be traced back to Nicholas Bayard, who was born, c. 1551, in Zierikzee, Zeeland, Netherlands.

Thomas’s paternal grandfather was lawyer and politician James A. Bayard (James Asheton Bayard, the son of Dr. James Asheton Bayard and Ann Hodge). Thomas’s grandfather James was born in Pennsylvania, and was a U.S. Senator from Delaware, from 1804 to 1813. Thomas’s great-grandfather James was the son of James Bayard and Mary Asheton. Thomas’s great-great-uncle was John Bayard, a merchant, soldier, and statesman, who was a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Congress of the Confederation, in 1785 and 1786.

Thomas’s paternal grandmother was Ann (Nancy) Bassett (the daughter of Richard Bassett and Ann Ennals). Richard was a Democratic politician, who was one of the first U.S. Senators from Delaware, from 1789 to 1793, and Governor of Delaware, from 1799 to 1801. Richard was the son of Arnold Bassett and Judith Thompson. Judith’s own great-grandfather was explorer, merchant and cartographer Augustine Herman, First Lord of Bohemia Manor, from 1660 to 1686, who was a Czech emigrant, from Prague.

Thomas’s maternal grandfather was Thomas Willing Francis (the son of Tench Francis, Jr. and Ann Willing). Thomas’s grandfather Thomas was born in Pennsylvania. Tench was a merchant, lawyer, and agent for the family of Pennsylvania founder William Penn. Tench the son of Tench Francis, a prominent lawyer, who was likely born in Ireland, and of Elizabeth Turbutt/Turbitt. Ann was the daughter of Charles Willing, a merchant, trader, and politician, who was born in Bristol, Gloucester, England, and was Mayor of Philadelphia, in the 1740s and 1750s; and of Anne S. “Annie” Shippen, whose own grandfather, Thomas’s great-great-great-great-grandfather, English-born Edward Shippen, was also Mayor of Philadelphia.

Thomas’s maternal grandmother was Dorothy Willing (the daughter of Thomas Willing and Anne McCall). Dorothy was born in Pennsylvania. Thomas was Mayor of Philadelphia, President of the Bank of North America, from 1782 to 1791, and President of First Bank of the United States, from 1791 to 1807. He was the son of Charles Willing and Anne S. “Annie” Shippen, making Thomas Bayard’s grandparents first cousins. Thomas’s great-grandmother Anne was the daughter of Samuel McCall, whose father was Scottish, and of Anne Searle.

Source: Genealogy of Thomas F. Bayard – https://www.geni.com