Henry P. Baldwin

Henry P. Baldwin (around 1874)

Henry Porter Baldwin (born February 22, 1814 in Coventry , Rhode Island , † December 31, 1892 in Detroit , Michigan ) was an American politician and from 1869 to 1873 the 15th governor of Michigan.

Early years and advancement

Henry Baldwin attended local schools in his home in Rhode Island. At the age of 12 he became an orphan. He then worked as a shop clerk. He later opened his own shop in Woonsocket. In 1838 Baldwin moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he traded boots and shoes. Politically, he was a founding member of the Republican Party and a delegate to the founding party convention in Jackson in 1854, also in Michigan. In the ecclesiastical field, he was a patron of the Episcopal Church. Between 1861 and 1862, Baldwin was a member of the Michigan State Senate. From 1863 to 1887 he was a director of Michigan State Bank and the Second National Bank of Detroit. In 1868, Baldwin was elected as his party's candidate for the new governor of his country.

Michigan governor

Baldwin took up his new office on January 6, 1869. After being re-elected in 1870, he remained in office until January 1, 1873. During this time the school system was improved. Improvements have also been made in the penal system. At that time, the construction of a new capitol in the capital began. Major forest fires broke out in Michigan in 1871 and the state sponsored the victims.

Another résumé

After the end of his tenure, Baldwin remained politically active. In 1879 he entered the US Senate on behalf of a deceased senator. He stayed there until 1881. From 1880 to 1882 he was party chairman of the Michigan State Party. He then resumed his position as bank president until 1887. Henry Baldwin died on New Year's Eve in 1892.

literature

• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 2, Meckler Books, Westport, 1978. 4 volumes.

Web links

• Henry Baldwin in the National Governor Association (English)
• Henry P. Baldwin in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Henry P. Baldwin in the database of Find a Grave (English)