Roger Sherman Baldwin

Not to be confused with Roger Nash Baldwin, 20th Century founder of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Roger Sherman Baldwin
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
Personal details
Born	(1793-01-04)January 4, 1793 New Haven, Connecticut
Died	New Haven, Connecticut
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). 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.

Roger Sherman Baldwin's notebooks relating to the Amistad case, 1840. Yale University Archives

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.

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
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