Silas Baldwin

I spent a few hours yesterday in the Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton, which houses the University Archives, a fairly extensive collection of materials on Princeton alumni. Following a lead from Meme, I found the file on her paternal grandfather, Silas C. Baldwin. This is apparently his graduation photo, taken in 1865. (Then Princeton was The College of New Jersey; the name was changed in 1896.) Unfortunately, the alumnus file does not contain a lot of family information, and there's some ambiguity in what's there. But here are a few facts: Silas was born in Harford County, Maryland in 1840 (or '45) to William and Hannah (Powel) Baldwin. He attended Princeton from 1861 to 1865, and then completed an M.D. at the University of Maryland. Although we know he ended up in Arkansas, he apparently practiced medicine in Baltimore for a number of years before heading west. He married Sarah Elizabeth Brice, and Meme's father, William Alexander Baldwin, was born in 1885, but where they were at the time is unclear (unless Meme has more information).

But at any rate, the other very interesting thing they had in his file was his personal autograph book. This was apparently the 19th century equivalent of a yearbook (w/o the pictures). It's essentially a blank leather book in which dozens of his classmates wrote personal notes and reminiscences. Some of the entries are quite lengthy and give some insight into his character, pasttimes, and ideas. I can tell more to anyone interested, but I thought I'd include a couple of short entries here. He was addressed throughout as either "Si" or "Baldwin."

Dear Baldwin,
If your principles be always as strict and your habits as virtuous as your dispositions are kind, I predict for you a clear course through life, a complete overbalancing of foibles that may be alleged against you. From my heart, I wish you success and happiness now and in the future.
Yours Truly,
Galen W. Seiler of Pennsylvania

Everyone signed his name with that form, "John Doe of X." Here's another that I thought was pretty funny.

Dear Baldwin,
I shall remember you as one of the select few in the class of '65 to whose gallantry and care the fair young ladies of Princeton can be safely intrusted. Believing you to be gallant and chivalrous, I am happy to subscribe myself
Your friend,
Samuel A. Butler of Illinois

Incidentally, the autograph book was apparently purchased by a Princeton alum in Baltimore in 1957 and given to the university. They've got a lot of these in the archives. My plan is to see if they have one that belonged to one of Silas's close friends, which might have a substantial note from him. We'll see. So there he is, great-great-grandfather Si Baldwin! Does anyone think there's any family resemblance?
-Matthew