Roger Sherman Baldwin

Infobox Officeholder
name = Roger Sherman Baldwin


order = 17th
office = Governor of Connecticut
term_start = 1844
term_end = 1846
lieutenant = Reuben Booth
predecessor = Chauncey Fitch Cleveland
successor = Isaac Toucey
order2 = United States Senator
from Connecticut
term_start2 = November 11, 1847
term_end2 = March 3, 1851
predecessor2= Jabez W. Huntington
successor2 = Isaac Toucey
birth_date = birth date|1793|1|4
birth_place = New Haven, Connecticut
death_date = death date and age|1863|2|19|1793|1|4
death_place = New Haven, Connecticut
party = Whig, Republican
spouse =
profession =
religion =

Roger Sherman Baldwin (January 4, 1793–February 19, 1863) was an American lawyer involved in the Amistad case, who later became governor of Connecticut and United States Senator.

Early life

He was born in New Haven, Connecticut, entered Yale College at the age of fourteen, and graduated with high honors in 1811. 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 celebrated both on account of its marked ability, and also because of the peculiar interest which was felt in these unfortunate captives.

Political career

After having been a member of the city government in New Haven, in 1826 and 1828, Mr. Baldwin was elected in 1837 and again in 1838, 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.

The death of Governor Roger Sherman Baldwin occurred 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.

He was grandson of Roger Sherman, son of Simeon Baldwin, nephew of Ebenezer Baldwin, husband of Emily Pitkin Perkins, father of Simeon Eben Baldwin, grandfather of New York Supreme Court Justice Edward Baldwin Whitney, and the great-grandfather of the Princeton University mathematics professor Hassler Whitney.

Trivia

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.

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6323308 Roger Sherman Baldwin] at Findagrave.com
* [http://www.cslib.org/gov/baldwinrs.htm Connecticut Governor Roger Sherman Baldwin] from the Connecticut State Library
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000096 US Senator Roger Sherman Baldwin] US Congress
* [http://mssa.library.yale.edu/findaids/stream.php?xmlfile=mssa.ms.0055.xml Baldwin Family Papers] at Yale University
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/guidedisplay.pl?index=B000096 Roger Sherman Baldwin (1793-1863) Guide to Research Papers]
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/families/1064.html Baldwin family of Connecticut] Political Graveyard