Jacob Bayley was remembered as a patriot of strong unselfish purpose, uncompromising fidelity, and devotion to the public good, a soldier without personal ambition, a citizen, and a pioneer. In the French and Indian War he served as lieutenant in 1755, captain in 1757, and colonel in 1760, and took part in the siege of Fort William Henry, the battles of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and the capture of Montreal. In the Revolutionary War he became brigadier general in 1776 and commissary general of the Northern Department of the Colonial Army in 1777, and was associated with the Battle of Saratoga, declaring, "I am determined to fight for the United States as long as I live and have one copper in my hands." A leading citizen of Hampstead, New Hampshire, from 1746 to 1764, he founded this town in 1762, secured its first charter from New Hampshire in 1763 and its second from New York in 1772, founded its first church in 1764, and was one of its first two deacons. His public service included roles as delegate to the New York Provincial Congress in 1777, representative to the Vermont General Assembly in 1777 and 1784, member of the Council of Safety in 1777, member of the Court of Confiscation in 1777, member of the constitutional conventions of 1777 and 1793, judge of the Court of Common Pleas from 1772 to 1777, delegate to the Continental Congress in 1777, judge of the Probate Court in 1778, chief judge of the Supreme Court of Gloucester County in 1778, chief judge of the Orange County Court in 1783 and from 1786 to 1791, and member of the Governor's Council for ten terms from 1778 and from 1786 to 1794. He also declared, "I have nothing left but my farm, all else I have advanced for the public and I think it well spent if I have done any good."