Christopher Columbus Baldwin (May 18, 1830 – May 12, 1897) was the Naval Officer of the Port of New York from 1894 to 1897 who was prominent in New York Society during the

Gilded Age In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mar ...

Early life

Baldwin was born in 1834 at his family's estate, Bunker Hill, near Millersville in

Anne Arundel County, Maryland Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, Mar ...

. He was the son of William Henry Baldwin (1792–1874) and Jane Maria (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Woodward) Baldwin (1798–1866). His father served with distinction in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, under Commodore Lewis Warrington, and his grandfathers both served in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, commissioned officers in the 1st Maryland Regiment under General William Smallwood. He was educated in the South and moved to New York before the beginning of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

Career

After moving to New York, he was associated with the dry goods business of Woodward, Baldwin & Co., which did a lot of business in the South, and controlled several of the largest manufacturers in the South. In this role, he served as president of the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of ...

for four years when he resigned due to management differences with the other major stockholders. In 1884, he was appointed a member of the New York Aqueduct Commission by then Gov.

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

, who was a close friend of his. He succeeded George W. Lane and served for four years, retiring in 1888. After the Commission, where he was instrumental in the construction of the

Croton Aqueduct The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water supply network, water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842. The great aqueduct (water supply), aqueducts, which were among the first in t ...

, he returned to railroads and with D. J. Mackey, he invested in the Evansville and Crawfordsville Railroad. He was also a director of the New-York Life Insurance Company and a trustee of the New-York Security and Trust Company. In 1894, then President Cleveland appointed him Naval Officer of the Port of New York, Baldwin replaced Theodore B. Willis, who had been appointed by President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...

. He served in this role until his death in 1897.

Society life

In 1892, his son, daughter, and himself were included in Ward McAllister's " Four Hundred", purported to be an index of New York's best families, published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. He owned a cottage in Newport, known as the "Baldwin villa" which was located at the corner of Bellevue Avenue and Narragansett. The cottage was rented to Gouverneur Kortright in 1895. In 1896, he rented Mrs. A. M. King's Newport cottage on Ayrault Street for the season. He hosted Donald M. Dickinson at the home in July 1896. Baldwin was a member of the Manhattan Club, the Metropolitan Club, the Union Club, the

Knickerbocker Club The Knickerbocker Club (known informally as The Knick) is a gentlemen's club in New York City that was founded in 1871. It is considered to be the most exclusive club in the United States and one of the most Aristocracy (class), aristocratic gent ...

, the Democratic Club and Reform Clubs, the Southern Society, the Down Town Association, the South Side Sportsmen's Club, and the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...

. He was also a governor of the Newport Casino and member of the Westchester Country Club.

Personal life

Baldwin was married to Sarah "Sallie" Roman (1843–1873). She was the daughter, and sole heir, of James Dixon Roman (1809–1867), a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

who was president and part owner of Old Hagerstown Bank. Together, Baldwin and Sallie were the parents of four children: * Susie Blow Baldwin (d. 1873) * James Dixon Roman Baldwin (1869–1912), a lawyer who did not marry. * Louise Roman Baldwin (1871–1950), who married William Benjamin Bristow (1861–1955), the son of

Benjamin Bristow Benjamin Helm Bristow (June 20, 1832 – June 22, 1896) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 30th U.S. Treasury Secretary and the first Solicitor General. A Union military officer, Bristow was a Republican Party reformer an ...

, the 30th U.S. Treasury Secretary and 1st

Solicitor General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

, in 1907. * Columbus Calvert Baldwin (1872–1899), who died unmarried at age 26 of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

. Baldwin died in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

on May 12, 1897.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin, Christopher C. 1830 births 1897 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople