Robert Emmet Bledsoe Baylor

(1793-1873) Noted lawmaker, judge, lay preacher, served in the legislatures of his native Kentucky and of Alabama. Represented Alabama in U.S. Congress, 1829-1831. Came to Texas 1839. Was Associate Justice Supreme Court, Republic of Texas, 1840-1846. Judge 3rd Judicial District, 1846--1863. Helped organize Baptist churches, Masonic lodges, Texas State Baptist Convention. For leadership in their founding, Baylor University and Mary Hardin-Baylor College were named for him. Had to organize courts in some of the 8 counties of his 3rd Judicial District. He carried Bible along with law books. After week of court, he would remain in a town to preach on Sunday, then ride his horse as far as 50 miles to hold court on Monday morning. Was a judge when Texas pioneered such legal rights as community property and homestead exemption, now accepted throughout the U.S. and much of the world. (1965) Baylor and 19 other State Judges in Confederate Texas considered such wartime matters as seizure of aliens' property, conscription of soldiers, and exemption by substitution. Involved in many suits were slaves, land, personal property, contracts and debts. Such criminal charges as assault, slander, fraud and murder were also tried in District Courts. (1965)

Robert Emmet Bledsoe Baylor is a historical marker in Belton, Bell County, dedicated in 1965. It is one of 226 historical markers documented in Bell County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 411 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 31.0664, -97.4647 near Belton. The nearest cataloged historic site is Texas Baptist Educational Society (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include The Rev. George Washington Baines, A Memorial to Civil War Education in Texas, and Scott and White School of Nursing.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5027004296. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.