The New International Encyclopædia/Baldwin, Abraham

BALDWIN, Abraham (1754–1807). An American statesman. He was born at Guilford, Conn., and graduated at Yale in 1772. In 1777 he entered the army as chaplain, and served until the close of the Revolutionary War, when he removed to Savannah, Ga. In 1784 he was sent to the State Legislature, and from 1786 to 1788 was a delegate to the Continental Congress. He was a prominent member of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and as such cast an important vote, leading to a compromise, the result of which was the creation of the United States Senate. He was a member of Congress from 1789 to 1799, and was United States Senator from 1799 until his death, serving in 1801 and 1802 as president pro tem. In 1802 he was one of the three Georgia commissioners who negotiated the cession to the Federal Government of a large part of the State’s western lands. He conceived the plan of the University of Georgia, obtained a charter for it, and from 1786 to 1801 served as its first president.