The Baldwin Family

The Baldwin Family, with Their Connections, The Pecketts, Chases and Strickland's.

Benjamin Baldwin, Esq., and his wife, Lydia Peters, were natives of Hebron, Conn. She was a daughter of John Peters, Jr., of that place, and a sister of General Absalom and Colonel John Peters, men of distinction in the genealogy of the Peters family.   Mr. Baldwin and his wife, not long after their marriage, emigrated from their native town in Connecticut, to this Coos country, then just beginning to be settled. They at first took up their abode in Thetford, Vt. Among the first settlers there, were John Chamberlin, Benjamin Baldwin, and Joseph Hosford. The wives of Baldwin and Hosford were sisters. They were there as early as 1765, if not a year sooner. They all came from Hebron, above mentioned.  The Baldwins remained in Thetford not more than two or three years, when they removed to Orford, N. H. Their third child, Benjamin P., was born there, April 23, 1767.  .John Mann, Jr., his relative, is said to be the first English child born in that town, May 21, 1766, and probably Benjamin P. Baldwin was the second, as he was born but a few months later. In the year 1774 Benjamin Baldwin built a saw-mill in this, then Mooretown, Vt., on the falls in Wait's River,  half a mile or so above its confluence with the Connecticut. His wife's brother, Colonel John Peters, a year or two before, had erected a grist-mill on the same stream, a short distance below. The desirable site which Baldwin had selected for his saw-mill was for many subsequent years occupied in the same way. A grist-mill, a sash and blind factory, and a shop for the manufacture of mackerel kits, etc., have superseded the old saw-mill, and are full of business, at this writing, in the same locality. The white two-story house on the Western bank of Wait's River, about a half a mile above the falls, and still in good condition, was built by Mr.  Baldwin, and there he lived for many years, and finally died. In addition to lumber business, he owned and cultivated a good farm, and was a good deal occupied in public affairs. We have not the precise date of his settlement here, but it must have been about the time of his building his saw-mill, in 1774. In the year 1778 he represented this town in the convention at Windsor to take measures for the organization of a new State. He also officiated, at least in 1782 and 1789, as Town Clerk. For how many years he performed the duties of a Justice of the Peace does not at present appear. Having raised up a large family, and long lived, comfortably and usefully, enjoying the respect and good will of all around him, he quietly passed away, at the age of eighty-five years. His funeral services were performed by the writer of this, on Lord's day, February 22, 1818.

Mrs. Lydia Peters Baldwin was a woman highly distinguished for her cheerfulness, resolution, and energy.  Besides bringing up a large family of her own, and managing her domestic affairs in an exemplary manner, she for many years was extensively, and with remarkable success, in the practice of midwifery. Her business was not confined to Bradford, but extended into the neighboring towns, particularly of Corinth, Fairlee, Piermont, and Orford. When possible for her to go, whether by day or night, in sunshine or storm, she was ready. A great part of her traveling was on her own side-saddle; but much also on her pillion, behind the man on horseback who had come for her. How it was possible for a woman situated as she was, to perform such an amount of service in this department of the medical profession, seems strange indeed.

From an old memorandum of hers, still extant, the following summary has been gathered. In the course of fifty years and six months subsequent to August 18, 1768, when she must have been living in Orford, this remarkable woman assisted in the introduction of nine hundred and twenty-six children into this state of probation! Of this whole number four hundred and eighty were sons, and four hundred and forty-six were daughters. Of twins there were ten pairs, or nearly one pair in everyone hundred of children born. Five of these pairs consisted each of two daughters, one pair of sons, and four pairs of a son and daughter each. Of the nine hundred and twenty-six children, twenty-six were still-born; fifteen of these, including one pair of the twins, were females, and eleven were males, that is, less than three in every hundred.  And of the whole number born, only seven were illegitimate ; namely, five sons and two daughters. In all these cases of birth only one mother died in child-bed. In that case her infant, female, died with her.   Previous to 1773 Mrs. Baldwin had officiated only on eight such occasions, and her last case was January 20, 1819. She died about seven years later September 3, 1825, at her old home, in the family of her son, Benjamin P. Baldwin, Esq., at the age of eighty-five years. She was, in the days which tried men's souls, decidedly patriotic, and so continued.  She was, during its existence, a member of the Congregational church in this place, under the pastoral care of Rev. Gardner Kellogg, and is understood to have retained her hope in Christ to the last. A woman who accomplished a work so great and good, deserves to be held in honorable and lasting remembrance.

Benjamin Baldwin, Esq., and wife, were blessed with a family of four daughters and five sons, all of whom, with the exception of one of the sons, lived to marry, and have families of their own.

1 Lydia, born November 26, 1762, married Andrew Crook, of Piermont, N. H. He was for many years a Deacon of the Congregational church there, and was justly esteemed one of the excellent of the earth. They had a family of three sons and four daughters. Lydia married Joseph Root; Betsey, Daniel Hogan; Cynthia, James Robinson, all of Piermont. John married Anna Dutton, of Orford, and had one son, Andrew, and one daughter, Sarah Anna, wife of George Jenkins, of Bradford. These all had children. Sarah Crook and her brothers, Andrew and Isaac, died unmarried. Of the above named children of Deacon Crook and wife, Mrs.  Robenson, at this writing, is the only individual remaining.

2 Elizabeth, born November 20, 1764, married John Moore, Esq., of Bradford. He built, and with his family long occupied, the large yellow house, still standing on a lofty eminence beside the South road, some two miles West of the village. The original occupants of that house are now all gone, some to their long home, and the rest, with their families, scattered widely abroad through our country. Not one of the descendants is now left in Bradford. Esquire Moore and wife were worthy members of the Congregational church in Bradford, and peacefully departed to their final rest in good old age.  They left four sons and four daughters. John, the oldest son, married Mary Dyke, a good woman, whose intellectual powers, after many years, failed, and she died at the asylum for the insane, at Brattleboro. Mr. Moore was an honest farmer in Bradford, and a humble christian, whose end was peace. He died March 16, 1873, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. He never had son or daughter. His sister Betsey married Timothy Underwood, of Bradford, and removed to Hardwick; Polly married Nathaniel Waugh, of Bradford; Anna married Josiah Moore, of West Fairlee, and removed with him into the Western country; Lydia married Jonathan Austin, of Bradford, and went with him to Michigan; Roswell married, and died at Ann Arbor, Michigan; Benjamin married Mary, a daughter of Dr. Bliss, of Vershire; he was a fine singer, and devoted christian, and died of cholera at Maumee, lnd. William spent some time as a sailor, returned home, married a Miss Wells, of Newbury, and removed West. The several members of this family are understood to have had children of their own, of whom no particular account can here be given. Most of the parents, if not all, were esteemed good christian people. 

3 Benjamin P. Baldwin. Of him and his family, a separate account hereafter.

4 Theopolis, born August 25, 1761, married Hannah Mann, a sister of John Mann, Esq., of Orford, N. H. They lived for several years in Bradford, and thence moved to the township of Holland, Erie county, New York, where they died. They had at least four children, John, Hannah, Harriet, and William.

5 Cynthia, born May 9, 1772.   Died young. 

6 Lucy, born at Bradford, February 9, 1775, married William Kendall, of this town. They had one son, Langdon, who became a resident of Barnet, Vt. At  this date still living.

7 Absalom, born March 10, 1778, married Miss Lydia Bliss, of this place, and long resided on his farm in what is now called West Bradford, keeping entertainment for travelers. Mr. Baldwin died April 10, 1850, aged seventy-two years and one month. Mrs. Baldwin, his wife, died February 4, 1860, in the seventy-seventh year of her age. These parents had four sons and four daughters. One of the sons died in childhood. Absalom, Jr., born October 2, 1808, died June 1, 1842. Lydia, born August 4, 1804, married William Clifford, had one or more children, and died November 17, 1840. William, born July 25, 1807, married Judith Burgin, had one son, went to California, where he remained for several years, and then resumed his residence in Bradford, where he died suddenly, September, 1874. Hannah, born April 11, 1815, married John Shumway, of Bradford. George, the youngest member of this family, born November 24, 1817, occupied the old homestead of his father, attending not merely to agricultural, pursuits, but being somewhat extensively engaged for many years in the business of a drover, buying sheep and cattle in Vermont, and selling the same in the vicinity of Boston. He married Miss Hannah Merrill, of the same neighborhood with himself. She was born there February 13, 1822, and their marriage took place December 25, 1840. They were blessed with two sons and two daughters. Abbie W. Baldwin was born May 24, 1844; Jesse A., June 24, 1847; George W., born June 25, 1852: Ida H., born January 25, 1855. All still residents of Bradford; Miss Ida pursuing a course of education at the Abbott Academy for young ladies, at Andover, Mass.

8 William, the fourth son of Benjamin Baldwin, Esq., and wife, was born September 23, 1782. He had a liking for the sea, and for some years pursued the business of a sailor; but finally settled down in his native place. He married Miss Hannah Webster, of Massachusetts, by whom he had one son, Emery, and a daughter, Lydia, who married Washington Merrill, of Methuen, in that state, and died there. Mr. Baldwin, as life was declining, became melancholy, partially insane, and terminated his mortal existence by an act of suicide.

And this suggests the remark that there have been, within the recollection of the writer, eight instances of that lamentable crime in Bradford-six men and two women. Of the men, one drowned himself in a small brook, three hanged themselves, one shot himself, and one took poison. Of the two women, one hanged herself, and the other cut her own throat. Three or four other women have in different ways attempted the fatal act, and failed.  In most, or all, of these cases, the individuals were respectable people, in comfortable circumstances; but who, under the various trials incident to the present life, had fallen into a state of Melancholy so criminal that, regardless of consequences, they committed the fatal act, probably, in most cases, under the false impression that it was less criminal to take their own lives than it would be to take the life of any other person. Let these sad cases be a loud warning to survivors, to guard against all gloominess of mind, against every thought tending toward self-destruction. Bear the trials of life with christian submission, wait quietly on God, humbly and faithfully aiming to do his pleasure, and all with you will soon be well.  

9 John Dennie, the youngest member of the family of Benjamin Baldwin and wife, was born June 8, 1785.  He married Abigail, daughter of Joshua Barron, of Bradford. In the course of his life he, like many other men, became deplorably intemperate, in the use both of whiskey and tobacco : and is said to have been thoroughly reformed, in a sudden and very remarkable manner. The story, as told me by a near relative, is, substantially, this:

Mr. Baldwin, in the silence of night, is roused from his slumbers by a loud knocking at his bedroom door. He listens and hears, or thinks he hears, an unearthly voice saying, with authority, "John leave off drinking whiskey.'' With consternation, but firmness, he replies, "I will, if you will take away my appetite for it." A solemn pause-then, "John! quit, entirely, the use of tobacco." His reply the same as before. Then he is left in solemn silence to reflect, with fear and trembling, on what he had heard, and the critical circumstances in which he found himself. And, marvelous to tell, his appetite, both for intoxicating liquor and for tobacco also, from that time ceased and John became in both respects a thorough-going temperance man. My informant was inclined to think that there might not have been anything supernatural in the case. Be that as it may, the effect seems to have been most happy. Mr. Baldwin and wife were then residing in the Western country, and had previously embraced the religion of the Mormons. While making arrangements to go and unite with them, at Nauvoo, they both died, at Racine, Wisconsin, leaving one son, John, and two daughters, Julia and Lydia.

3 Benjamin Peters Baldwin, the eldest son in this first family of the name of Baldwin, in Bradford, was born at Orford, N. H., April 23, 1767. At the age of eight years he came with his parents to reside in this town, then almost a wilderness, the year in which the memorable battle at Bunker Hill was fought; and here continued to witness, and take an active part in, the various endeavors here made for the improvement of society, during the seventy-eight subsequent years of his life. His principal occupation was that of a farmer, on the same place which had been cultivated by his father, though he had occasion to attend to various other kinds of useful business.  His advantages for acquiring a thorough education were, in the days of his youth, necessarily very limited; vet he so managed as to become a successful teacher of common schools, a business in which, while a young man, he took great interest, and gave good satisfaction. He also made himself well acquainted with the art of surveying; and for many years, indeed during his subsequent life, had many calls for his services in that business, not only in this but other places.   He also owned a saw-mill, at which an extensive business was for many years carried on. In town affairs, parish and educational matters, and as Justice of the Peace, his advice and services were deemed almost indispensable. He was an active man, and always had his mind and hands full of business.  Esquire Baldwin was a happy man; more happy at least than most men are; he was accustomed to meet us with a smiling countenance ; the pressure of his warm hand was peculiarly cordial, and his words ever affectionate and kind. He shed sunshine about him, wherever he went. He was a man of truth, of strict integrity and up-rightness in all his transactions. You might have committed to him any amount of money, untold, with perfect safety. He was prudent and charitable in speaking of others: a peacemaker in society, cheerfully doing good to all, as he had opportunity. He honored the Sabbath, and was strict in his attendance on public worship; and forward to do his part, not only for the support of the gospel at home, but for its universal promulgation. He felt a lively interest in the right training of the rising generation, and watched over their progress in useful knowledge and virtuous ways, with parental solicitude and satisfaction. He was, indeed, an honor and blessing to this community, and especially to his own family, and somewhat numerous relatives.

At the age of twenty-nine,  November 17, 1796, Mr.  Baldwin married Miss Mehitable Gordon, of Windham, N. H., who continued his faithful companion during the remaining fifty-seven years of his life. In the course of the year 1828, Capt. Baldwin and wife, under a deep conviction of duty, and from love to Christ and his cause, as they trusted, made a public profession of religion, and were received into, communion with the Congregational church, with which they had long been accustomed to unite in public worship. Their path, during the remnant of their days, was as the shining light; and they both finally departed this life sustained and comforted by the consolations which the gospel affords to all the truly pious. Mr. Baldwin died November 6,1853, in the eighty-seventh year of his age; and Mrs. Baldwin, his wife, January 14, 1857, at the age of eighty-three years.

This worthy couple, at their decease, left an interesting family of four sons and four daughters, of whom a brief account will now be given. One daughter and two sons had previously died in childhood.

1 Cynthia, born December 3, 1797, married Giles Peckett, by occupation a blacksmith, who lived in Bradford, and died there, leaving a family of four sons and five daughters. Their eldest daughter, Cynthia Peckett, married Lewis Brown, of St. Johnsbury; Mary, Thomas Brickett, of Boston; Frank pursued the life of a mariner, was promoted to the office of Captain, and was on board of the Glasgow, which sailed from Liverpool for Philadelphia, and was lost at sea, leaving not a solitary individual to tell by what sad disaster. Ellen married Charles Browning ; and Maria, Edwin Plympton, both of Boston, Edwin married Mary Ann Worthen, of Bradford, but removed to Boston; James also married and became a resident of the same city; the gentlemen all being prosperously engaged in various commercial sorts of business; John Wesley married and established himself in business at Brooklyn, N. Y. Louisa married Dana Patten, a literary gentleman and teacher in Winchester, Mass. These various families take great pleasure in making their good mother Peckett as happy as possible. Mr. Patten has since removed to Portland. Maine, engaged in his chosen profession.

2 Louisa, the second daughter of B. P. Baldwin, born September 1, 1800, married Epapras B. Chase, eldest son of Moses Chase, Esq., of Bradford. Her husband.  General Chase, as he was afterwards styled, took up his residence in Lyndon, Vt, and was there for many years engaged in commercial, agricultural, railroad, and banking business, and was quite successful in his various pursuits.  Both he and his wife were much respected, and both died giving highly satisfactory evidence of being prepared for a better world.    They left at their decease two sons, Henry and Charles, with families of their own; and five daughters, namely, Charlotte, wife of Dr. Cahoon, since deceased, Emily, Adaline, Mary and Martha ; all, both sons and daughters, well educated and highly estimable young people, living near each other in Lyndon. 

3 Susan Baldwin, born August 15,1802, married Horace Strickland, of Bradford, a gentleman for a long time engaged in the foundry business here: Town Clerk of Bradford for one year, Representative for two years, and Side Judge of Orange County for two years. They had two daughters. Miss Charlotte spent, not only in Canada but in France and Switzerland., both time and money in the diligent study of the French language and literature, and turned her acquisitions to good account, while officiating as a highly esteemed teacher in the Abbott Academy for Ladies, at Andover, Mass. Her sister, Lucy Ann, married Charles B. Botsford, a pious man, and merchant, in Boston, and took up her residence there. Both  Mrs. Strickland and her daughters were beloved members of the same church in Bradford to which her parents had belonged. Mrs. S. died at Bradford, October 4, 1874, aged seventy-two years.

4 Benjamin Gordon Baldwin was born May 13, 1800.  When about eight years of age he met with a sad disaster. One winter day, when' going to the village, he joined a lumberman's team, moving in the same direction, and, full of boyish animation to catch a ride, mounted a heavy timber, the hind end of which was dragging on the ground.  By some mishap one of his feet was caught between the log and frozen ground, and became horribly crushed. It was supposed at first that amputation must be the result, but the conclusion of the surgeons was to make an effort to save it, which proved successful, though the youthful sufferer ever after carried with him an effectual memento of the disaster. This event, it is believed, contributed an influence to change his whole course of subsequent life and to make him a more distinguished and useful man than he otherwise might have been.  Gordon, in due season, determined to acquire, if possible, a liberal education, and prepare for the business of professional life. He fitted for College under the instruction of his pastor and friend, Rev. S. McKeen, and graduated at Dartmouth in the class of 1827. Among his classmates were John K. Converse, Alpheus Crosby, Sewell Tenney, and others of like stamp. Mr. Baldwin studied the profession of law, and became established in honor-able and successful business at Pottsdam, N. Y. He there continued, enjoying the high esteem of his fellow citizens, to the day of his death, which occurred January, 1873, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. Among other pleasant things said of him, in the sermon of Rev. Mr.  Furbish, at his funeral, are the following: "Benjamin G.  Baldwin united with the Congregational church in Pottsdam July 5, 1835. He realized that he was not his own, but had been bought with a price, and consecrated freely his unusual powers of mind, heart and will to the Redeemer's service."

"From this consecration resulted his rare example of Christian benevolence. He did not save his wealth for the purpose of giving it away in the hour of death ; but extraordinary benevolence, directed by great wisdom, characterized his entire life.

" Another fruit of his Christian life was his conscientiousness. In whatever position of life he moved, he impressed all about him that he was determined, at all events, to do right. This stern, unflinching rectitude he exhibited in a marked degree while practicing law, and while he held offices of trust from his fellow citizens.

" He loved the House of God, and all its ordinances and here renewed his strength. His place was regularly filled in the Bible class, and he was a pillar in the church.  He was a diligent man, and felt that he had work to perform while God continued him here: work, not only for himself, but others; and up to the hour of his last sickness he willingly spent, and spared not himself. May his piety, his rectitude, his patience and well-doing, be emulated by us all, and our town shall never cease to bless him." The memory of such a man is indeed precious.  Mr. Baldwin married Miss Emeline Lamphear. of New Hampshire, an estimable and pious lady, who survived him.   They had no children.

5 George Peters Baldwin, born January 22, 1808.  Spent the years of his minority with his parents, engaged chiefly in agricultural and educational pursuits. When in his twenty-fourth year, he determined to leave home and make trial of the business and fortunes of a sailor.  In the Summer of 1882 he engaged with Captain Briggs, of the whale ship Frances, and went on a voyage around the Cape of Good Hope, into the Indian Ocean. This voyage was so satisfactory that he went on a second, on board the same ship, and to the same ocean, in search of whales. These voyages occupied about two years. He then shipped aboard the Franklin, Captain Davis, for a voyage around Cape Horn, into the Pacific, in pursuit of sperm whales ; visited the Friendly, the Navigator's, the Galapagos, and the Sandwich Islands, the latter group three times, then went to the Northwest Coast, to Columbia River, and thence along the Coast at Cape Horn again, and reached home after an absence of three years and live months. He next went out as Mate, aboard the America, for a cruise in the North Atlantic, especially around the Azores, and off the coast of Guinea. This voyage occupied one year; and the four voyages about six years and a half. On their Pacific cruise they took fifty-three sperm whales, affording two thousand and two hundred barrels of oil.

Having had satisfactory experience of the whaler's life, he returned to Bradford, and settled down again among his kindred and old friends.    He married Miss Lydia Strickland, and, in due course of time, was blessed with an interesting family of children, of whom further mention will be made presently.

Mr. Baldwin was called by his fellow citizens, not only of Bradford, but of Orange County, to fill various official positions of public trust and importance. He was Town Clerk of Bradford from 1846 to 1855, inclusive; Representative in the State Legislature during the sessions of 1843, 1844, and 1847; State Senator in 1851 and 1852: Assistant Judge of Orange County Court for the years 1847 and 1848, and County Commissioner for Orange County under the law regulating the sale of spirituous liquors, during the years 1800, 1861, and 1862. After a release from these various public services, Mr. Baldwin sold his real estate in Bradford and bought a homestead in Concord, Mass., but in the course of a few years, his children all being settled in new homes, he returned in rather broken health, to spend with his beloved wife the evening of their days in the place of his nativity, amid old friends and familiar prospects of peculiar variety and beauty.  At this writing, June, 1873, Judge Baldwin and wife have one son and three daughters, all happily married, and pleasantly situated, and what is still better, all, as well as their mother, professedly and hopefully pious. May parents and children, the entire family, reach at last "the haven of eternal rest.

Children of Mr. George P Baldwin and wife. Lucy Emeline, born July 24, 1840; married Septembers, 1861, Edward V. R. Evans, attorney at law, then of Piermont, N. H., recently of Chelsea, Mass. Lydia Angeline, born September 30, 1841; married Thomas Stanton Brownell, of Colchester, Vt., by occupation a farmer.  Benjamin George Baldwin, born February 17, 1847, married Miss Ella Nutt, and is a merchant in Hartford.  Conn. Julia Isabelle, born June 11, 1848, married August 22, 1869, Amos H. Brown, and resides at Fitchburg, Mass.  Two sons and two daughters, whose names are not here given, died in childhood.

6 James Whitelaw Baldwin, the next son of Benjamin P. Baldwin, and probably named for his father's friend, James Whitelaw, the Surveyor General of Vermont, was born September 12, 1810. His youthful days were spent at home, in Bradford. He married Miss Hannah 0. Bean, of Piermont, N. H., November 18, 1835.  He has been long and successfully engaged in the marketing business of Boston, and owns and occupies a beautiful residence in North Cambridge. He was an original director in the Bank of Commerce, also for several years President of the Fanieul Hall Bank, both in Boston. Mr.  and Mrs. Baldwin had a family of ten children. Of these, one daughter and two sons died in their childhood. 

Helen Maria, born November 18, 1837. married J. Henry Nason, of Cambridge, and died in the thirty-fourth year of her age.

Benjamin Gordon, born February 29, 1840, was at this writing in Colorado, engaged in mining business.  Annie Warren, born October 16, 1846; married Henry W. K. Cutter, of Cambridge, .subsequently of Chicago.  Edward Everett, born August 7, 1848, is of the firm of C. Wright & Co., lard refiners and oil manufacturers, Boston. He married Caroline M. Prichard, of Bradford, Vt., September 1, 1874..

Eugene, born December 2, 1850, is with C. & D. Cox, wholesale shoe dealers, Boston.

James W., born August 1, 1853, is with H. Mayo & Co., fish dealers, Boston.

Miss Hattie Parks, the youngest member of the family, born January 4, 1856, was, at the same time, 1873, pursuing her course of education at Abbott Female Academy, Andover, Mass. 

7 Charles  Cotesworth  Pinkney, the  next  son of Benjamin P. Baldwin, was born December 28, 1812. He married Miss Sarah Ann Woodward, of Haverhill, N. H.  They long resided in Bradford village, where she died, January 8, 1807, in the fifty-fifth year of her age. They had a family of seven daughters and three sons. Of these, one son and one daughter died in their childhood, at Bradford. In the autumn of 1867 Mr. Baldwin removed, with his family, to Jessup, in the State of Iowa, where he continues to reside. Of his family, it may be remarked that at this time, June, 1873, Sarah Mehitabel, born July 8, 1837, is there, living with her married sister, Mrs. Gates; Lucy Adelaide, born September 1,1839. is teaching in New Jersey; Mary Elizabeth, born September 11, 1841, married Theodore White, and lives at Spencer, Iowa; Jane Hitta, born March 31, 1844, teaching near home: Helen Caroline, born 17, 1846, married Willis H.  Gates, of Sibley, Iowa: .James Whitelaw, born April 3, 1850, is married and living with his father; Susan, the youngest daughter, who is also a teacher, and Charles, the youngest son, remain with their father, who has a second wife.

Mr. C. C. P. Baldwin, while resident in his native State, was for several years High Sheriff of Orange County, and also for a time United States Marshal for the District of Vermont.

8 Lucy, the youngest daughter of Benjamin P. Baldwin, horn January 30, 1815, having a derided taste for literature, acquired a line education, and devoted several of the best years of her life to the giving of instruction to young ladies, in different Seminaries of high respectability. She was for some time Principal of the female department of the Academy, at Meriden, N. H.. and subsequently teacher of French. Geometry, and Botany, in the Ohio Female College, near Cincinnati. November 10, 1842, Miss Baldwin married Mr. Alphonso Wood, a graduate of Dartmouth College, a licensed preacher of the Congregational order, and at that time a teacher in the Academy, at Meriden, N. H. Mr. Wood subsequently pre-pared and published a valuable work on Botany, and was for some years Professor of natural history and ancient languages, in the Female College of Ohio, and finally President of the same. To advance the cause of useful learning and evangelical religion, and thus do good to all, as they had opportunity, appears to have been the persevering endeavor of both Mr. and Mrs. Wood, in the various stations which they were called to occupy. Mrs.  Wood died at West Farms, near New York, where he, again married, has continued to reside. She left with her husband one son and one daughter. The son, Frank Wood, a graduate of the University of the city of New York, is a missionary under the patronage of the Presbyterian Board in Syria, and the daughter, Lilia, a christian young lady, and teacher of music, remains with her father at West Farms, N. Y. Mrs. Lucy B. Wood died June 6, 1868, in the fifty-fourth year of her age, and her remains repose with those of her kindred dead, in Bradford, Vt.

9 William Edwin, the fifth son of Benjamin P. Baldwin, born March 1, 1817, died at the early age of eight years. One other son and a daughter died in their infancy.  Here we take our leave of this large family of the Baldwin's, with emotions both of joy and sadness; of gratitude and cordial good will, in remembrance both of the living and the deceased. Biographie Index

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