Bayard, James Asheton, Jr.

Bayard, James Asheton, Jr.

(1799–1880) U.S. senator; born in Wilmington, Del. Son of a prominent U.S. senator, Bayard continued the family dynasty with his election to the Senate from Delaware (1851–64). He began as a conservative Democrat but after 1857 became a Republican, although he continued to oppose anti-slavery legislation and resigned in 1864 to protest the test (for anti-slavery) for officeholders. He returned to the Democrats after Lincoln's assassination and was chosen to fill out another term in the Senate (1867–69).