Jerome B. Baldwin, one of the prominent citizens of
Virden, who for many years has been identified with the agricultural
development of the southeastern section of Macoupin County, was born on a
farm near Crawfordsville, Indiana, April 22, 1843, and is a son of William
C. and Cyrena (Dalton) Baldwin.
William C. Baldwin was born in
Butler County, Ohio, where he remained until he attained his majority, when
he removed to Indiana. At that time few settlements had been made in
Montgomery County, Indiana, where he purchased a large tract of heavily
timbered land, erected a log cabin, and settled as one of the pioneers. He
cleared a portion of this land but never completed it, disposing of it in
1852 and removing to Illinois. The family lived for a time in Greene County,
but later settled permanently in Macoupin County, buying a tract of land in
the vicinity of Virden. Here the mother of our subject died July 31, 1880;
his father survived until 1888. They led useful, honorable lives, enduring
many of the hardships of pioneer, life, but their last days were spent in
comfort.
Although not born in Illinois, Jerome B. Baldwin has been a
resident of this State since the age of nine years and his children have
been born and reared here and all the interests of his life have centered
here. His boyhood was spent in assisting his father in the latter's farming
operations and in attending school whenever possible, although those were
not the days of well built, comfortable school houses, a log building
usually being made use of. He grew to manhood, however, a well informed,
practical farmer, capable of developing the natural resources of the rich
soil and acquainted with the best methods of raising good stock. After his
marriage he settled on a farm situated some two miles from the village of
Virden, which he continued to operate for the succeeding 14 years. This
property, which belongs to our subject's wife, is held at a high value,
being one of the best cultivated and finely improved farms in the township.
Since 1884 Mr. Baldwin has resided in Virden, where he built one of the most
comfortable homes in the place. Mr. Baldwin is a member in good standing of
the Central Baptist Church of Springfield, Illinois.
On September 1,
1870, Mr. Baldwin was married to Mary E. Gates, and they have one son, John.
Mrs. Baldwin, like her husband, comes of sturdy pioneer stock. She was born
March 25, 1844, in Sangamon County, Illinois, and is a daughter of Andrew
and Lucinda (Wood) Gates. Her father was born in Muhlenberg County,
Kentucky, and her mother in Madison County, Illinois. Mr. Gates came to
Illinois in 1831 and married in 1833. He settled on the line of Sangamon and
Macoupin counties and later entered land both in Auburn township, Sangamon
County, where he made his home, and in Virden township, Macoupin County.
Mrs. Baldwin's maternal grandparents were William and Polly (Cox) Wood, the
former of whom was born in Tennessee, and the latter in Kentucky, a member
of a distinguished old family of South Carolina. The mother of Mrs. Baldwin
was a true type of pioneer womanhood, skilled in all housewifely expedients.
Her children were reared to habits of usefulness and Mrs. Baldwin has, in
her excellent housekeeping, reflected credit upon her early training. The
family is one very highly esteemed in Virden.
Extracted 2018 May 08 by Norma Hass from Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Macoupin County, Illinois, published in 1904, pages 459-460.
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