Joseph Glover Baldwin
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Joseph Glover Baldwin (January 21, 1815 – September 29, 1864) was an American attorney and humor writer who served as an associate justice of the
Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the judiciary of California, courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly ...
from October 2, 1858, to January 2, 1864.


Biography

Born in
Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the northwesternmost Administrative divisions of Virginia#Independent cities, independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Frederick County, Virginia, Frederi ...
, Baldwin was educated in Stanton, Virginia.Donna R. Causey,
Biography: Joseph Glover Baldwin born 1815
, ''Alabama Pioneers'' (February 4, 2014).
He displayed precocious talents; while still a teenager he worked as a Deputy Court Clerk and a newspaper editor. He
read law Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship un ...
in the office of his uncle, Judge Briscoe G. Baldwin, to become a lawyer and was admitted to the bar by age 19.Mary Alice Kirkpatrick,
Joseph G. Baldwin (Joseph Glover), 1815-1864
, ''Documenting the American South'' (2004).
Proceedings on the Death of the Hon. Joseph G. Baldwin
Cal. Reports Vol. 26 (October 4th, 1864).
In 1836, Joseph Baldwin moved to
DeKalb County, Alabama DeKalb County is a County (United States), county in the Northeast Alabama, northeastern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 71,608. Its county seat is Fort Payne, Alabama, For ...
, thereafter moving to
Gainesville, Alabama Gainesville is a town in Sumter County, Alabama, Sumter County, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1832, it was incorporated in 1835. At the 2010 United States census, 2010 census the population was 208, down from 220. Confederate States of Amer ...
in 1838. There, he practiced law with his brother, Cornelius C. Baldwin, and with J. Bliss. Another brother, Oliver P. Baldwin, was a lawyer, newspaper editor, and speaker in Cleveland and later Richmond, Virginia. Gainesville was in Sumter County, which had a sizeable and growing population profiting from a booming economy and from enslaved labor farming the rich soil; the people Baldwin associated with were "men of the first rank in the legal profession, of high attainments in scholarship, of genuine literary taste and culture, and of fun-loving spirits and mirth-provoking propensities"—these were the "flush times" he would describe in his first book. In 1843, Baldwin was elected as a Whig to the
Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...
. Entry for Joseph G. Baldwin. In August 1849, he was defeated by Democrat Samuel Williams Inge in a bid for the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
by only 400 votes. In 1850, Baldwin moved to
Livingston, Alabama Livingston is a city in and the county seat of Sumter County, Alabama, United States and the home of the University of West Alabama. By an act of the state legislature, it was incorporated on January 10, 1835. At the 2010 census the population w ...
, where he continued to practice and to write. He published a book of humorous stories, ''The Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi: A Series of Sketches'' (1853), and a collection of sketches of US politicians, ''Party Leaders'' (1855). In 1853, Baldwin moved to Mobile, and in 1854 to California, where he served as counsel on a number of important cases. In 1858, following the death of Chief Justice Hugh Murray, Baldwin was nominated by the Democratic Party, as well as endorsed by the Lecompton Democrat convention, and elected by the people to serve out the remainder of Murray's term on the California Supreme Court from October 2, 1858, until January 2, 1862. Chief Justice
Stephen Johnson Field Stephen Johnson Field (November 4, 1816 – April 9, 1899) was an American jurist. He was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from May 20, 1863, to December 1, 1897, the second longest tenure of any justice. Prior to this ap ...
praised Baldwin's opinion in ''Hart v. Burnett'' (1860), concerning pueblo land grants, as a model of scholarly learning. In July 1861, he was put forward for nomination by the Breckenridge Democratic Party for another term on the court, but he declined the nomination.
Edward Norton Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. After graduating from Yale College in 1991 with a degree in history, he worked for a few months in Japan before moving to New York City ...
was elected to fill Baldwin's seat. After stepping down from the bench, Baldwin resumed the practice of law in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
. In April 1864, he signed the loyalty oath to the Union required of attorneys that fellow Southerners
Solomon Heydenfeldt Solomon Heydenfeldt (1816 – September 15, 1890) was an American attorney who was an associate justice of the California Supreme Court from 1852 to 1857. He was the second Jewish justice of the court, after Henry A. Lyons, but was the first ...
and James D. Thornton refused to sign. Baldwin died in San Francisco on September 29, 1864.


Personal life

In 1839, he married Sidney Gaylard White and they had at least six children. Their son, Alexander W. Baldwin, became an attorney and was appointed as a judge of the
United States District Court for the District of Nevada The United States District Court for the District of Nevada (in case citations, D. Nev.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Nevada. The court has locations in Las Vegas and Reno. Cases from the District of Nevada ...
. He died in November 1869 in a railway accident in
Alameda County, California Alameda County ( ) is a List of counties in California, county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and List ...
. In 1863, during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, another son, Joseph G. Baldwin, Jr., was accused of plotting with a group of sympathizers with the
Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...
to capture military posts in California. He died August 14, 1864, at 20 years of age, in
Warm Springs, California Warm Springs is a census-designated place in Riverside County, California. Warm Springs sits at an elevation of . The 2020 United States census reported Warm Springs' population was 1,586. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau ...
. Their daughter, Kate S. Baldwin, married John B. Felton, who was her father's law partner and later mayor of
Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
. She died December 13, 1888, in Oakland. Of the three other children: two sons, Sidney died young and John died in 1868 at age 22; and a daughter, Cornelia Baldwin, resided with her mother.


References


Selected publications

* Baldwin, Joseph G. (1853)
''The flush times of Alabama and Mississippi. A series of sketches''
Archive.org. * Baldwin, Joseph G. (1855)
''Party leaders; sketches of Thomas Jefferson, Alex'r Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John Randolph, of Roanoke, including notices of many other distinguished American statesmen''
Archive.org.


External links


Alabama Pioneers page on Joseph G. BaldwinCalifornia Supreme Court Historical Society page on Joseph G. Baldwin
California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.


See also

*
List of justices of the Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the highest judicial body in the state and sits at the apex of the judiciary of California. Its membership consists of the Chief Justice of California and six associate justices who are nominated by the Govern ...
*
Stephen Johnson Field Stephen Johnson Field (November 4, 1816 – April 9, 1899) was an American jurist. He was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from May 20, 1863, to December 1, 1897, the second longest tenure of any justice. Prior to this ap ...
* Warner Cope {{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin, Joseph G. 1815 births 1864 deaths People from Winchester, Virginia Republican Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives Justices of the Supreme Court of California Writers of American Southern literature California Republicans U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century California state court judges 19th-century American lawyers People from Gainesville, Alabama Lawyers from San Francisco 19th-century members of the Alabama Legislature