Legislator Details
Henry P. Baldwin portrait from Chapman(O) p.152
Vital Records Information:
Marital Information:
married Harriet M. Day, 1835. She died. married Sibyle Lambard, 1866; children: 7
Number of Children: 7
Background
Education:
public school education and academic courses
Biographical Sketch:
Parents died when he was 12 (father John; mother dau. of Rev. Nehemiah Williams). Both were of Puritan descent. Became a clerk until age 20 to support himself until starting his own business in Woodsocket, RI, 1834. Moved to Detroit, MI, & est. wholesale business in boots & shoes, 1838; dir. of the Michigan State Bank & pres. of the 2nd Nat'l Bank of Detroit 1863-1887. Pres. of the Detroit National Bank 1883-1887. Founded the State Public School for Dependent Children; recommended the establishment of the Eastern Insane Asylum; the Board of Health; and the State House of Corrections. Pursued funding for the State Capitol Building. Appointed to the US Senate upon the death of Sen. Zachariah Chandler in 1879. Very active in the "Protestant Episcopal" diocese in Detroit. Served as president of St. Luke's Hospital and Church Home as well as the Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument Association.
Notable Facts:
Michigan Senator from the Second District, 1861-62; Chairman of the Finance Committee; member of the committee on Banks and Corporations; chair of the joint committee investigating the acts of the state treasurer; chair of the committee to improve the Sault Canal
Governor of Michigan 1869-1873; appointed & then elected to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Zachariah Chandler, served from 11/17/1879-1883; delegate to Republican National Convention, 1876; Chairmen of State Republican Committee; Trustee of Eastern Asylum at Pontiac;
He was captured on board a ship by a Confederate vessel and ransomed during the Civil War.