A wealthy businessman and banker, Henry Porter Baldwin served two
terms as Governor of Michigan and became the fourth Governor to
become a U. S. Senator.
Baldwin was born in Coventry, Rhode Island in 1814. He was orphaned
at the age of 12 yet he was a clerk in a mercantile establishment.
He went into business for himself in 1834 at the age of 20. In 1835,
he married Harriet M. Day. He later married Sibyle Lambard (1866)
and they had seven children.
The Baldwin’s moved to Detroit in 1838. He established a successful
shoe manufacturing business. He later became a banker and manufactured
chewing tobacco. Both Mr. And Mrs. Baldwin were active in the community,
giving both their resources and time to charitable and cultural
activities.
Baldwin was an active Republican and was elected to the state Senate
from Wayne County in 1861. In 1868, he was elected Governor and
was re-elected in 1870. During the second term as Governor, a devastating
fire swept across Michigan from Holland and Manistee on Lake Michigan
to the Saginaw Bay and the Thumb Area. Thousands of people were
left homeless and destitute. A relief fund of over $450,000 was
raised and Baldwin’s personal contribution was over one-third.
Upon completing his second term as Governor on January 1, 1873,
Baldwin retired to private life. After the death of U. S. Senator
Zachariah Chandler in 1879, he was appointed by Governor Croswell
to fill the vacancy. He was unsuccessful in his 1881 bid for election
to the Senate seat. Baldwin, who was an easygoing and generous man,
died on New Year’s Eve in 1893.
Born: February
22, 1814
Died: December 31, 1893
Buried: Section B, Lot 9
