Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/172

BALDWIN, Abraham, statesman, b. in Guilford, Conn., 6 Nov., 1754; d. in Washington, D. C, 4 March, 1807. He was graduated at Yale in 1772, and held a tutorship there from 1775 to 1779. From 1777 until the close of the war he was a chaplain in the army. At Gen. Greene's request, he removed in 1784 to Savannah, where he was admitted to the Georgia bar, and in the same year sent to the state legislature. Here he originated the plan of the university of Georgia, drew up the charter by which it was endowed with 40,000 acres of land, and, notwithstanding the prejudices of

many members of the assembly against the project, secured its success. He was afterward president of the university for several years. He was a delegate to the continental congress from 1785 to 1788, and was a member of the constitutional convention, 25 May to 17 Sept., 1787, taking an active part in its discussions. He was a representative in congress from 1789 until 1799, and was then sent to the senate, where he remained until his death, serving again as its president pro tempore in 1801 and in 1802. While in congress he voted in favor of locating the seat of government on the Potomac. After the death of his father, in 1787, he took charge of his six half-brothers and sisters and educated them. One of these was Henry Baldwin, noticed below; another was the wife of Joel Barlow, the poet. A large number of needy young men owed to him the means of obtaining an education.

BALDWIN, Ashbel, clergyman, b. in Litchfield, Conn., 7 March, 1757; d. in Rochester, N. Y., 8 Feb., 1846. He was graduated at Yale college in 1776, and was a quartermaster in the revolutionary army. On 3 Aug., 1785, he was ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Seabury in Middletown. This was the first Episcopal ordination in the United States. He was ordained priest in September following, and became rector of St. Michael's church, Litchfield, where he remained till 1793. From 1793 to 1824 he was rector of Christ church, Stratford. He then held parishes in Wallingford, Meriden, North Haven, and Oxford, until in 1832 he became disabled by age. His records show that he had preached 10,000 times, and baptized 3,010 persons. He was secretary of the general convention, and also of the diocesan convention of Connecticut.

BALDWIN, Charles H., naval officer, b. in New York city, 3 Sept., 1822; d. there, 17 Nov., 1888. He entered the navy in 1839, and became passed midshipman 2 July, 1845. In the war with Mexico he served on the frigate "Congress," and was in two shore engagements near Mazatlan while that place was occupied by the U. S. forces. In November, 1853, he was made lieutenant, and on 28 Feb., 1854, he resigned. He re-entered the service in 1861, and commanded the steamer "Clifton," of the mortar flotilla, at the passage of forts Jackson and St. Philip, 24 April, 1862, and at the first attack on Vicksburg, 28 June, 1862. On 18 Nov., 1862, he became commander, and in 1868 and 1869 was fleet-captain of the North Pacific squadron. He was made captain in 1869, and in 1869 and 1871 was ordnance inspector at Mare island, Cal. On 8 Aug., 1876, he was made commodore, and from 1876 to 1879 was a member of the board of examiners. On 31 Jan., 1883, he was raised to the rank of rear admiral, and assigned to the command of the Mediterranean squadron. He attended officially the coronation of the emperor of Russia, and in 1884 was placed on the retired list.

BALDWIN, George Colfax, clergyman, b. in Pompton, N. J., 21 Oct., 1817. He was graduated at Madison university, Hamilton, N. Y., and has been for many years pastor of the First Baptist church in Troy, N. Y. He is author of "Representative Women of the Bible" (New York, 1855); "Representative Men of the New Testament" (1859); "The Model Prayer"; a volume of lectures (Boston, 1870), and other works.

BALDWIN, Henry, jurist, b. in New Haven, Conn., 14 Jan., 1780; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 21 April, 1844. He was graduated at Yale college in 1797, studied law, and became a prominent member of the bar. Removing to Pennsylvania, he settled at Pittsburg, and in 1817 was sent to congress as a federalist, and was twice reelected. He resigned in 1822, and in 1830 was made justice of the U. S. supreme court. In the same year Yale college gave him the degree of LL. D. He was the author of "A General View of the Origin and Nature of the Constitution and Government of the United States" (Philadelphia, 1837).

BALDWIN, Henry Porter, governor of Michigan, b. in Coventry, R. I., 22 Feb., 1814; d. in Detroit, Mich., 31 Dec, 1892. He became a clerk in Pawtucket, where he remained eight years, and on becoming of age engaged in business on his own account in Woonsocket. In 1838 he moved to Detroit, where he became a prominent merchant and president of the second national bank, and was in 1861 and 1862 a member of the state senate. He was governor from 1869 to 1873, and in 1879 was appointed to the U. S. senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of senator Zachariah Chandler, serving until 1881. While governor he secured an appropriation for the enlargement of the University of Michigan, and projected the state capitol at Lansing. Mr. Baldwin was a prominent member of the Episcopal church and well known for his many acts of liberality and public spirit.

BALDWIN, Jeduthan, soldier, b. in Woburn, Mass., 13 Jan., 1732; d. in Brookfield, Mass., 4 June, 1788. He commanded a company during the French and Indian war, and served in the expedition against Crown Point during the autumn of 1775. In the siege of Boston he displayed engineering ability, designing the defences of the American forces, and on 16 March, 1776, was made assistant engineer, with the rank of captain, to the continental troops. He was subsequently ordered to New York and became lieutenant-colonel 26 April, 1776. In September, 1776, he was sent to Canada, and later was made engineer, with the rank of colonel. He served under Gen. St. Clair at Ticonderoga in 1777, and with his regiment was at West Point in 1780. He resigned from the army on 26 April, 1782. He was a member of the Massachusetts provincial congress in 1774-'5. He bequeathed £100 to Leicester (Mass.) academy.

BALDWIN, John Denison, journalist, b. in North Stonington, Conn., 28 Sept., 1809; d. in Worcester, Mass., 8 July, 1883. He supported himself from the age of fourteen, pursued academical, legal, and theological studies in New Haven,