Nicholas Baylies Explained

Nicholas Baylies
Office:Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
Term Start:1831
Term End:1833
Predecessor:Ephraim Paddock
Successor:Jacob Collamer
Birth Date:9 April 1768
Birth Place:Uxbridge, Massachusetts, British America
Death Place:Lyndon, Vermont, U.S.
Resting Place:Elm Street Cemetery, Montpelier, Vermont, U.S.
Party:Federalist
Spouse:Mary Ripley (m. 1798)
Children:3
Relatives:Thomas Baylies (grandfather)
Education:Dartmouth College
Profession:Attorney

Nicholas Baylies (April 9, 1768April 14, 1847) was a Vermont lawyer, politician, and judge. He served as a justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1831 to 1833.

Biography

Nicholas Baylies was born in Uxbridge, Massachusetts on April 9, 1768, the son of Deacon Nicholas Baylies (1739–1831) and Abigail Wood Baylies (1742–1788), and the grandson of Thomas Baylies, a well known New England ironmaster. He was educated in Uxbridge, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1794.

Baylies moved to Woodstock, Vermont after finishing college, and studied law with Charles Marsh. After attaining admission to the bar, Baylies practiced law in Woodstock as Marsh's partner until 1809, when he relocated to Montpelier. In 1813, Baylies served on the state Council of Censors, which met every seven years to review actions of Vermont's government and ensure their constitutionality. He served as state's attorney of Washington County from 1813 to 1815. From 1814 to 1815 he served on Vermont's executive council. He was state's attorney again from 1825 to 1826. In 1831, Baylies was appointed an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, succeeding Ephraim Paddock. He served until 1833, when he was succeeded by Jacob Collamer.

As an attorney, Baylies was recognized for his legal acumen and technical expertise; among his written works was a three volume reference work on British and U.S. common law, 1814's A Digested Index to the Modern Reports of the Courts of Common Law in England and the United States.

In 1835, Baylies moved to Lyndon, Vermont to live with his daughter Mary and son-in-law, George Cahoon. He continued to practice law almost until his death, and argued a case to the Vermont Supreme Court a few months before he died.

Death and burial

Baylies died in Lyndon on April 17, 1847. He was buried at Elm Street Cemetery in Montpelier.

Family

In 1798, Baylies married Mary Ripley (1778–1830), the daughter of Dartmouth College Professor Sylvanus Ripley, and granddaughter of Dartmouth's founding president, Eleazar Wheelock. Eleazer Wheelock Ripley was her brother.

The children of Nicholas and Mary Baylies included:

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