Michael Baldwin Jr. (1774 - 1810)

Born 26 Aug 1774 in New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut

Ancestors

Died 10 Mar 1810 at age 35 in Chillicothe, Ross, Ohio, United States

Biography

Michael was born in 1774. Michael is the child of Michael Baldwin and Theodora Wolcott. ^[1] He died March 10, 1810 at Chillicothe, Ohio.^[2] He is buried at Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven.^[3]

Baldwin attended Yale, became a lawyer, and immigrated to the Northwest Territory in 1799. He rose to prominence in the Democratic-Republican Party and was a delegate to write the first constitution of Ohio. He was first speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives.^[4] One source says he never married,^[1] and another says his widow survived him and re-married.^[5] His early demise is attributed to love of drink.^[5][2]

^[6]Baldwin and Cissna

Accounts of the time record that Baldwin headed a group of ruffians who called themselves the “Bloodhounds.” They bragged that they could smell out injustice of the rich upon the poor.

Following a night of drinking at Stephen’s (Cissna) tavern, the group would march across to the government building and hold a demonstration. These frequently ended in fighting and property damage.

Contemporaries report that Baldwin was given to quick reaction, and many feared his rash behavior was driven by the emotions of his followers instead of his reason. Court records show that he was frequently jailed for contempt, yet the Bloodhounds always bailed him out.

Baldwin had clearly “hitched the wagon of his ambition” to the Bloodhounds rather than to the gentry as other lawyers did. He acted without regard to the consequences of his actions upon himself or others.

Newspaper editorials describe them as a band of cursing, quarreling, and fighting rowdies which was obnoxious to the law-abiding element of Chillicothe.

In Chillicothe, the Democratic-Republican politicians formed a public society called The Chillicothe Junto. Stephen Cissna and Michael Baldwin were founding members. Its purpose was to push for Ohio to become a state, preferably dominated by Democratic-Republicans. They met at various taverns, Stephen Cissna’s being one of the first meeting places. Key voices were John Symmes, Edwin Tiffin, Thomas Worthington, Nathaniel Massie, and Michael Baldwin.

The Chillicothe Junto (or the Regular Ohio Republicans as Worthington called them) was very successful in swaying public sentiment and forming public policy. In 1803, it was successful in getting Ohio declared a state. And this party then dominated government for the next 20 years.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "The Baldwin Genealogy from 1500 - 1881" Charles Candee Baldwin, page 421
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "The Failure of Michael Baldwin: A Case Study in the Origins of Middle-Class Culture on the Trans-Appalachian Frontier" _Ohio History_, vol 95, page 46, Andrew L. Cayton
3. ↑ "Michael Baldwin" Find a Grave
4. ↑ "Michael Baldwin" Ohio History Central
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} "A Standard History of Ross County, Lyle S. Edwards, (1917), pages 165-167
6. ↑ C. W. "Bill"Cissna Cessna Genealogist, Historian Author, found this artical at the Chillicothe Pioneer Historical Society in 1992. Published by Ruby Arnold 1972

Acknowledgements

First-hand information as remembered by Katie Pyle, Monday, September 22, 2014.