Baldwin, William, 1779-1819

Zaccheus Collins was a merchant and botanist.

William Baldwin (1779-1819) was a physician and one of the first botanists to explore the American Southeast, especially Georgia and Florida. He also explored parts of Latin America and the West Indies. He was named botanist to the expedition of Stephen Long to find the headwaters of the Missouri River but died six months into the expedition. He is known to history through his biographer William Darlington who published his letters in 1843. Baldwin was born in Newlin, Chester County, PA. He studied medicine under Dr. William A. Todd at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1807 he married Hannah M. Webster and opened a practice in Wilmington, DE. They had four children. He died at Franklin, MO.

Baldwin (University of Pennsylvania, M.D. 1807) practiced medicine in Wilmington, Del., served as a naval surgeon during the War of 1812 and as a surgeon on the frigate Congress, 1817-1818. He engaged in botanical exploration on while surving on the Congress as well as earlier collecting in Georgia and Florida. In March 1819 he was appointed botanist to the Yellowstone Expedition to the Rocky Mountains. Forced to leave the expedition because of his health, Baldwin died in September 1819.