John Baylis Earle

John Baylis Earle (October 23, 1766 – February 3, 1836) was a U.S. Representative from South Carolina who served in the Eighth Congress from 1803 to 1805. A member of the Republican Party—historically known as the Democratic-Republican Party—he was part of a prominent political family in the early South Carolina upcountry, being a nephew of Elias Earle and a cousin of Samuel Earle, both of whom also served in Congress.

Earle was born on October 23, 1766, on the North Carolina side of the North Pacolet River near what is now Landrum, in the Carolina backcountry. In his youth he moved to South Carolina, where he completed his preparatory studies. Growing up in a frontier region during the Revolutionary era, he was drawn early into military service, an experience that helped shape his later public career.

During the American Revolutionary War, Earle served first as a drummer boy and later as a soldier in the Rutherford County Regiment of the North Carolina militia. His service in this local regiment placed him among the many young men of the backcountry who took part in the struggle for independence. After the war he returned to civilian life and engaged in agricultural pursuits, establishing himself as a planter in what would later become Anderson County, South Carolina.

Earle entered national politics as a representative of South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives. Elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Eighth Congress, he served from March 4, 1803, to March 3, 1805. As a member of the Republican Party representing South Carolina, John Baylis Earle contributed to the legislative process during his one term in office, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents during a significant period in American history, when the young republic was consolidating its institutions under the Jeffersonian administration. He was re-elected in 1804 but declined to take the seat, choosing instead to return to his private affairs.

After leaving Congress, Earle resumed his agricultural pursuits, continuing to manage and develop his plantation holdings. At the same time, he remained active in public service at the state level. He served as adjutant and inspector general of South Carolina for sixteen years, a position that placed him in charge of the organization, training, and oversight of the state militia. In this capacity he served throughout the War of 1812, helping to maintain South Carolina’s military readiness during a period of renewed conflict with Great Britain.

In the later phase of his career, Earle continued to play a role in South Carolina’s political life. He was a member of the South Carolina nullification convention of 1832 and 1833, which was called to consider the state’s response to federal tariff laws and became a central episode in the Nullification Crisis. His participation in this convention reflected his ongoing engagement with the major constitutional and political controversies of his time, particularly the balance of power between the federal government and the states.

John Baylis Earle died in Anderson County, South Carolina, on February 3, 1836. He was interred in the cemetery on his plantation, known as “Silver Glade,” in Anderson County. Through his family connections he was linked to subsequent generations of Southern public officials: his daughter married Thomas Harrison, a comptroller general of South Carolina, and through her he was the grandfather of Confederate Provisional Congress member James Thomas Harrison and the great-grandfather of Mississippi Lieutenant Governor James T. Harrison Jr.