Baldwin, Christopher Columbus, 1800-1835

Christopher Columbus Baldwin (1800-1835), son of Eden and Abigail Force Baldwin, studied at Leicester Academy and Harvard College, from which he was expelled after a disturbance and just before graduation in May 1823. He studied law with John Davis and Charles Allen and was admitted to the bar in October 1826. He began his practice in Worcester but moved to Barre and then Sutton in 1830, before returning to Worcester in 1832.

Baldwin was especially interested in history and genealogy. He became a close friend of William Lincoln (1801-1843), and they jointly edited and published in 1825-1826 the Worcester Magazine and Historical Journal. In October 1827 Baldwin was elected to membership in the American Antiquarian Society and succeeded Lincoln as temporary librarian and cabinet keeper. In 1829 Baldwin also succeeded Lincoln as editor of the National Aegis. In May 1830 when Baldwin moved his law practive to Barre, he resigned as editor of the Aegis and as temporary librarian of the Society.

Upon his return to Worcester in 1832, Baldwin was elected permanent librarian of the American Antiquarian Society, a post which he held to his death. He was an indefatigable collector and antiquary, soliciting books, newspapers, and relics for the society cabinet. Baldwin was also an enthusiastic antiquary, freguently visiting graveyards and copying epitaphs as well as collecting materials for a history of Sutton, Mass. Baldwin never wrote the history of Sutton and his tenure as librarian was cut short due to a fatal carriage accident in Ohio during a trip West in 1835.