About R. E. B. Baylor
Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor (May 10, 1793 – December 30, 1873) was an American statesman, jurist, ordained Baptist minister, war veteran, slave owner, and a co-founder and the namesake of Baylor University. According to Thomas R. Phillips and James W. Paulsen, he was one of the most productive justices on the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas. == Early life == The fifth son and sixth child of twelve children born to Walker and Jane (née Bledsoe) Baylor, Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor was born on May 10, 1793, in Lincoln County, Kentucky. Baylor's ancestors had settled in Tiverton, Devon, with origins in Hungary. His uncle, George Baylor, was the first aide-de-camp to General George Washington in the American Revolutionary War and his father and uncle both served in the life guard to Washington in the Continental Army. His uncle was captured in the Baylor Massacre on September 28, 1778, near Tappan, New Jersey, and was later returned in an exchange. His father served in the 3rd Continental Light Dragoons commanded by his brother George, and was disabled by a cannonball that crushed his instep at the Battle of Germantown at the age of 17. His mother was the sister of Jesse Bledsoe, a U.S. Senator from Kentucky. R. E. B. Baylor attended the local schools around Paris, Kentucky, and was in a large manner self-taught. He was a soldier in the Kentucky militia, seeing action with Colonel William E. Boswell's Regiment during the War of 1812, participating in battles in Ohio against the British, Tecumseh, and Tecumseh's confederacy.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.