Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor (1793-1873)

R.E.B. Baylor, for whom Baylor University is named, was a prominent leader in diverse arenas of public service: military, judicial, political, educational, fraternal and religious. A Kentucky native, he served in the War of 1812 and the Creek Indian War, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Following successes in law and politics in Kentucky and Alabama, he moved to Texas in 1839 and taught school at La Grange, later settling at Gay Hill (7 mi. W), where he built his home, Holly Oak. Baylor was judge of the Third Judicial District and associate justice of the Republic of Texas Supreme Court, 1841-45. He continued as district judge during statehood, retiring in 1863. A Mason, he was Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Texas. It was perhaps as a Baptist leader that Baylor received his greatest recognition. Converted to Christianity in 1839, he helped found the Texas Baptist Education Society in 1841. With W.M. Tryon and J.G. Thomas, he worked to start a Baptist university. Chartered in 1845 as Baylor University, it opened at Independence the following year and included a female department later chartered separately as Baylor Female College. Baylor served as a trustee for both institutions and taught law classes, accepting no pay for teaching. Judge R.E.B. Baylor died on Dec. 30, 1873, with burial here on the Windmill Hill campus. The university moved to Waco in 1886, and in 1917, reburial of his remains occurred at Baylor Female College (now Mary Hardin-Baylor University) in Belton. This marker commemorates the judge's productive years here, from which his influence spread worldwide and is still in evidence today. (2006)

Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor (1793-1873) is a historical marker in Independence, Washington County, dedicated in 2006. It is one of 156 historical markers documented in Washington County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 368 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 30.3158, -96.3453 near Independence. The nearest cataloged historic site is Baylor University for Boys (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Home Built in 1845 by General Jerome B. Robertson, Baylor University on Windmill Hill, and Houston, Sam.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5507013679. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.