Abraham Baldwin (November 22, 1754March 4, 1807) was an American minister, patriot, politician, and Founding Father who signed the United States Constitution. Born and raised in Connecticut, he was a 1772 graduate of Yale College. After the Revolutionary War, Baldwin became a lawyer. He moved to the U.S. state of Georgia in the mid-1780s and founded the University of Georgia. Baldwin was a member of Society of the Cincinnati.
Baldwin served as a United States Senator from Georgia from 1799 to 1807. During his tenure, he served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate from 1801 to 1802.
Early life, education and career
Abraham Baldwin was born in 1754 in Guilford in the Connecticut Colony into a large family, the son of Lucy (Dudley) and Michael Baldwin, a blacksmith, and descended from Elder John Strong. His half-brother, Henry Baldwin, was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. After attending Guilford Grammar School, Abraham Baldwin attended Yale College in nearby New Haven, Connecticut, where he was a member of the Linonian Society. He graduated in 1772.
Three years later after theological study, he was licensed as a Congregationalist minister. He also served as a tutor at the college. He held that position until 1779. During the American Revolutionary War, he served as a chaplain in the Connecticut Contingent of the Continental Army. He did not see combat while with the Continental troops. Two years later at the conclusion of the war, Baldwin declined an offer from Yale's new president, Ezra Stiles, to become Professor of Divinity. Instead, he turned to the study of law and in 1783 was admitted to the Connecticut bar.
He was elected as representative to the U.S. Congress in 1788. The Georgia legislature elected him as U.S. Senator in 1799 (this was the practice until popular election in 1913). He served as president pro tempore of the United States Senate from December 1801 to December 1802. He was re-elected and served in office until his death.
Death and legacy
On March 4, 1807, at age 52, Baldwin died while serving as a U.S. senator from Georgia. Later that month the Savannah Republican and Savannah Evening Ledger reprinted an obituary that had first been published in a Washington, D.C., newspaper: "He originated the plan of The University of Georgia, drew up the charter, and with infinite labor and patience, in vanquishing all sorts of prejudices and removing every obstruction, he persuaded the assembly to adopt it." His remains are interred at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, DC.
- The United States Postal Service made a 7¢ Great Americans series postage stamp in his honor;
- Places and institutions were named for him, including:
- Baldwin County in Alabama and Georgia;
- Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia;
- Abraham Baldwin Middle School in Guilford, Connecticut;
- Baldwin streets in Madison, Wisconsin and Athens, Georgia.
- The University of Georgia erected a statue of Baldwin on the historic North Campus quad in his honor as its founding father.
Bibliography
See also
- List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1790–1899)