William Baldwin

As printed in 1908

WILLIAM BALDWIN, formerly justice of the peace in Moorefield Township, and a surviving veteran officer of the great Civil War, was born at Urbana, Ohio, January 11, 1834, and is a son of Samuel V. and Catherine (Van Meter) Baldwin.

The paternal grandfather was Joseph Baldwin. He was a Virginian by birth and married in his native state. When he decided to come to Ohio he traded a tannery for 120 acres of land in Moorefield Township, Clark County, Ohio. In a flat-boat he brought his family and possessions from Wheeling down the Ohio, and when they landed, he traded the boat for a wagon and they traveled overland in this to Clark County. Eventually he became one of the largest capitalists of the county, largely through the business sagacity of his eldest son, William Baldwin. The latter went from Virginia to New York and there prospered in the mercantile business and invested a large amount of money in land in Ohio. He died unmarried and his father was his heir to 2,000 acres of land. Joseph Baldwin died on the farm which is now the home of his grandson, William Baldwin.

Samuel V. Baldwin was born in Virginia and was ten years old when his father came to Ohio. He was afforded excellent educational advantages and was a man of brilliant parts. He graduated from Miami University, at Oxford, and subsequently became a leading member of the bar at Urbana, of which city he was prosecuting attorney for many years. He married Catherine Van Meter.

William Baldwin's youth was passed on his grandfather's farm and at Urbana, with his parents, and he grew to manhood with a fortunate environment. When the Civil War was precipitated he was eager to take part in the struggle and his first enlistment was for three months in Company K, Second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry Militia. His second enlistment was in the Sixty-sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served for twenty-three days as a private and was then promoted to be second lieutenant in Company D, Twenty-sixth Regiment, later to be first lieutenant and still later to be captain of Company G, which continued to be his rank through the period of the war. He was on special duty, however, during the greater part of the time, serving as brigade inspector and as aid-de-camp to General E. P. Fyffe, and also on the staff of General George B. Buell as assistant general inspector of brigade. Captain Baldwin was ever at the post of duty and he did not escape some of the terrible wages of war. At the battle of Missionary Ridge he was shot in the head while in the lead of his company charging the enemy. Before Kenesaw Mountain, June 22, 1863, he received a bulletin the leg which debarred him from field service ever after. For a period of eighteen months he served in the Veteran Reserve Corps, and he filled the position of post adjutant of the battalion, during the discharge of the state troops at Augusta, Maine. Captain Baldwin's executive ability was still further recognized when he was sent to take command at Fort Sullivan, and after his duties were over there he was sent home on waiting orders, and subsequently received his honorable discharge.

After the close of his army service he returned to peaceful pursuits and in 1869 he went to Wichita, Kansas, where he lived until 1876, when he accepted a government clerkship in the quartermaster general's office at Washington City, where he remained for five years. Prior to entering the army Mr. Baldwin had graduated from the Cincinnati Law School and had engaged in the practice of his profession at Urbana. During his residence at AVichita he practiced law, and for five years was city attorney, and for one term was judge of the Probate Court. He had become a very prominent political factor and was a member of 1lie Kansas State Legislature when he decided to remove to Washington. In 1882 Mr. Baldwin returned to Clark County and subsequently he served as a justice of the peace in Moorefield Township. He is one of the representative citizens of this section.

After his return from the army Captain Baldwin was married to Emily Read, who is a daughter of Joel Read, and they have four children, namely: William residing at Osborn, Ohio; Blanche, who married James W. Roberts; Leah, who married Andrew G. Dey, residing at Springfield; and Read, residing at home. There 'are five grandchildren in the family. Mr. Baldwin is a Mason.

As printed in 20th century history of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio, and representative citizens (1908). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.