Thomas Henry Bayly (11 December 1809–22 June 1856), member of the House of Representatives, was born at his father's Mount Custis plantation in Accomack County, the fourth of five sons and fourth of nine children of Thomas Monteagle Bayly and his first wife, Margaret Pettit Cropper Bayly. Bayly went to private schools and in 1828 and 1829 attended the University of Virginia. Then he studied law and was admitted to the bar in Accomack County on 12 October 1831. In 1836 he won election to the House of Delegates, and in 1837 he was appointed general of the 21st Brigade Virginia Militia. Bayly relinquished both offices in 1842 when he was elected a judge of the circuit court. He served on the bench only two years but was often referred to thereafter as Judge Bayly.
Following the resignation from Congress of his cousin Henry Alexander Wise, Bayly ran for the House of Representatives as a states' rights Democrat and won the special election in the spring of 1844. He served in Congress from 6 May until his death. Bayly's eloquence, tact, and assiduity rapidly won him the favor of the Democratic Party leadership. He became chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means in the 31st Congress (1849–1851) and of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the 32d and 33d Congresses (1851–1855). Although a states' rights Democrat, Bayly was the son of a former Federalist congressman and manifested his deep devotion to the Union by searching for ways to unite southern and northern Democrats during the debates over slavery in the territories. He led the Virginia delegation in supporting Lewis Cass for president in the Democratic national convention of 1848, and he deftly pulled strings in support of the Compromise of 1850. As a consequence, many so-called southern "fireaters" despised him.
Bayly married Evelyn Harrison May, of Petersburg, on 11 May 1837. They had two daughters. He was an attractive man of impressive physique whose wit, conviviality, and courage made him extremely popular in his district. He was also outspoken and combative. Early in his congressional career he came within minutes of fighting a duel with Kentucky congressman Garrett Davis after their spirited debate in the House of Representatives turned personal and ugly, and in 1847 he reportedly shot and wounded one of his neighbors during a fight at Drummondtown (now Accomac) over a division within the Methodist Church. Thomas Henry Bayly died of consumption at his home on 22 June 1856 and was buried at Mount Custis.
Sources Consulted:
Biography in Samuel T. Ross, "Recollections of Bench and Bar of Accomack: An Address Delivered … on June 19, 1900," Onancock Eastern Shore News, 25 Jan. 1935; birth date in Bayly family Bible record (LVA photocopy); marriage reported in Richmond Enquirer, 19 May 1837, and Richmond Whig, 23 May 1837; some Bayly letters in Library of Virginia; 3 Feb. 1852 letter from Bayly describing his chairmanship of the Committee on Ways and Means in Norfolk Landmark, 3 Mar. 1892; several congressional speeches printed as pamphlets; shooting incident reported in American Beacon, and Norfolk and Portsmouth Daily Advertiser, 4 Sept. 1847; portrait in Bayly Art Museum, University of Virginia, Charlottesville; obituaries in Richmond Dispatch, 26, 27 June 1856, Richmond Enquirer, 26, 28 June 1856, and Staunton True American and Virginia Advertiser, 28 June 1856.