Roger Sherman Baldwin
Not to be confused with Roger Nash Baldwin, 20th Century founder of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Roger Sherman Baldwin | |
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32nd | |
Governor of Connecticut | |
In office May 1, 1844 – May 6, 1846 | |
Lieutenant | Reuben Booth |
Preceded by | Chauncey Fitch Cleveland |
Succeeded by | Isaac Toucey |
United States Senator from Connecticut | |
In office November 11, 1847 – March 4, 1851 | |
Preceded by | Jabez W. Huntington |
Succeeded by | Isaac Toucey |
Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives | |
In office 1837-1838 | |
Personal details | |
Born |
New Haven, Connecticut | January 4, 1793
Died |
February 19, 1863 70) New Haven, Connecticut | (aged
Political party | Whig, Republican |
Spouse(s) | Emily Pitkin Perkins |
Children |
Edward Law Baldwin Elizabeth Wooster Baldwin Rogers Sherman Baldwin Ebenezer Simeon Baldwin Henrietta Perkins Baldwin George William Baldwin Emily Frances Baldwin Ebenezer Charles Baldwin Simeon Eben Baldwin |
Alma mater |
Yale College Litchfield Law School |
Roger Sherman Baldwin (January 4, 1793 – February 19, 1863) was an American politician who served as the 32nd Governor of Connecticut from 1844 to 1846 and a United States Senator from 1847 to 1851. As a lawyer, his career was most notable for his participation in the 1841 Amistad case.
Early life
Baldwin was son of Simeon Baldwin and Rebecca Sherman in New Haven, Connecticut. He was the maternal grandson of notable founding father Roger Sherman (the only person to sign all four great state papers of the U.S.: the Continental Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution[1]). He attended Hopkins School, and entered Yale College at the age of fourteen, and graduated with high honors in 1811. At Yale, Baldwin was a member of the Linonian Society. After leaving Yale he studied law in his father's office in New Haven, and also in the Litchfield Law School, and was admitted to the bar in 1814. Although repeatedly called into public office, he devoted himself through life to the profession of his choice, attaining the highest distinction, especially in the discussion of questions of law. His defense in 1841, of the rights of the Africans of the Amistad, is particularly celebrated, both for his ability and for the importance of the case.
![](../I/m/Notebook_of_Roger_Sherman_Baldwin_on_the_Amistad_case.jpg)
Political career
After having been a member of the city government in New Haven, in 1826 and 1828, Baldwin was elected in 1837 and again in 1838 as a member of the Connecticut State Senate. In 1840 and 1841 he represented the town of New Haven in the General Assembly. He was chosen Governor of Connecticut in 1844 and was reelected in 1845. On the death of Hon. J. W. Huntington in 1847, Baldwin was appointed by Governor Clark Bissell to fill the vacancy thus occasioned in the United States Senate, and in December of that year he took his seat as a member of that body. He was elected by the Legislature in the following May to the same position, which he held until 1851. After that period he held no public office, except that he was one of the presidential electors in the canvass of 1860, and by appointment of Governor William Alfred Buckingham was a delegate to the Peace Convention which met in Washington, in 1861, by request of the State of Virginia. He was described as a devout Christian who studied the Bible every day.
Baldwin died in New Haven, February 19, 1863; at the age of 70 and was interred at Grove Street Cemetery. A biographical discourse was pronounced at his funeral by Rev. Dr. Dutton, which was printed in the New Englander for April 1863, and was also published as a pamphlet.
Family
He was grandson of Roger Sherman, son of Simeon Baldwin, nephew of Ebenezer Baldwin, husband of Emily Pitkin Perkins, father of Connecticut Governor Simeon Eben Baldwin, grandfather of New York Supreme Court Justice Edward Baldwin Whitney, and the great-grandfather of the famed Princeton University mathematics professor Hassler Whitney.
In popular culture
A simplified version of the events regarding the Amistad case was made into a movie called Amistad in 1997 in which Matthew McConaughey portrayed Roger Sherman Baldwin. In Greenwich, Ct there is a town park called Roger Sherman Baldwin Park.
References
- ↑ Roger Sherman Architect of the Capitol. Retrieved February 14, 2007.
External links
- Roger Sherman Baldwin at Findagrave.com
- Connecticut Governor Roger Sherman Baldwin from the Connecticut State Library
- US Senator Roger Sherman Baldwin US Congress
- Baldwin Family Papers at Yale University
- Roger Sherman Baldwin (1793-1863) Guide to Research Papers
- Sherman Genealogy Including Families of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, England By Thomas Townsend Sherman
- Hoar-Baldwin-Foster-Sherman family of Massachusetts at Political Graveyard
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by Chauncey Fitch Cleveland |
Governor of Connecticut 1844–1846 |
Succeeded by Isaac Toucey |
United States Senate | ||
Preceded by Jabez W. Huntington |
U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Connecticut 1847–1851 Served alongside: John M. Niles, Truman Smith |
Succeeded by Isaac Toucey |