William Henry Baldwin
of Hale township, Hardin county, Ohio, d. 1903.

Date of birth: ca. 1827.
Place of birth: Champaign county, Ohio.
Records disagree about his date of birth. Hardin county death records give his age at death as 75y, 7m, which would calculate to a birthdate of 26 January 1828 if intended to be exact [Hardin co., OH death records, 3: 14]. A typescript "History of William Henry Baldwin" stating that it was written by his youngest daughter Florence (Baldwin) Kelly in 1959 gives the birthdate as 26 June 1826 and the place as Champaign co., OH near West Liberty (which is in Logan county just across the county boundary). Newspaper obituaries (cited below) give his age at death as 76. His gravestone gives 1827 as the year of birth [Wolf Creek cem., personally examined by compiler]. The 1900 census gives June 1827 as the date of birth [1900 cen., Hardin co., OH, ED46, p. 7].

Date of death: 26 August 1903.
Place of death: Kenton, Hardin county, Ohio.
Place of burial: Wolf Creek Cemetery, Hardin county, Ohio.
[Hardin co., OH death records, 3: 14; Obituary of W. H. Baldwin, Kenton Daily Democrat, 28 August 1903; Obituary of W. H. Baldwin, Hardin County Republican, 4 September 1903; gravestone of W. H. Baldwin ("1827-1903") at Wolf Creek cem., personally examined by compiler]

Father: Daniel Baldwin, b. TN, 1793, d. Logan co., OH, 6 March 1866.
Mother: Hannah Williams, b. 15 1mo. [January] 1797, d. Hardin co., OH, 8 October 1847.
His parentage is given, among other places, in his death record [Hardin co., OH death records, 3: 14] and in the typescript history written by his daughter Florence.

Spouse:
m. Hardin co., OH, 16 or 17 June 1847, Margaret Smith, b. Logan co., OH, 10 July 1828, d. Hardin co., OH, 26 October 1906.
Smith Family Records give the marriage date as 16 June 1847, the Hardin co. marriage records as 17 June 1847 [Hardin co., OH marriages, 1: 194].

Children:
There are numerous sources for the relationships, but no known family Bible giving the dates, which have been taken from various sources. Letters written from the youngest child, Florence (Baldwin) Kelley, to several other family members in the 1950's give the list of children (except for the child who died as a baby) and their marriages (and children), but no dates. The estate record of William Henry Baldwin lists his wife as Margaret Baldwin of Kenton and his children as Walter Baldwin of Ridgeway, Ella Bailey of Payne, Paulding co., Enos Baldwin of Ridgeway, Mary Eaton of Ridgeway, Hannah Allen of Kenton, Josephine McElree of Kenton, and Flora Kelly of Welston, Jackson co. (all in Ohio) [Will of William Henry Baldwin, Hardin co., OH Will Book G: 387]. There is a family group photo, taken probably in the 1890's, and a typescript guide to the photo, made at an uncertain date, includes birthdates of all of the children (year only for Josephine) and some death dates.

Walter Baldwin, b. 1848, d. Ridgeway, Hardin co., OH, 15 April 1908;
m. Hardin co., OH, 22 December 1870, Mary Jane Robinson, b. 1850, d. 1921.
The guide to the family photo gives his birthdate as 23 Dec. 1848, but also gives his death date very wrongly as 13 Oct. 1890. The 1900 census give Feb. 1848 [1900 cen., Hardin co., OH, ED46, p. 6]. His obituary gives his death date as 15 April 1908 [Obituary of Walter Baldwin, Kenton Daily Democrat, 16 April 1908]. His gravestone confirms has dates as 1848-1908 and those of his wife as 1850-1921 [Wolf Creek Cemetery, Hardin co., OH, personally checked by compiler].

Nancy Ellen ("Ella") Baldwin, b. 30 January 1850, d. Payne, Paulding co., OH, 13 January 1933;
m. Hardin co., OH, 12 February 1873, Lycurgus Lorenzo Bailey, b. 1 June 1846, d. Payne, 5 March 1929.
[Hardin co., OH marriages, 5: 36] The birth and death dates of Ella Baldwin and Lycurgus Bailey come from their death records [OH Dept. Health, Div. Vital Stat.]. The guide to the family photo agrees about her birthdate and disagrees by one day on her death date, giving 12 Jan. 1933.

Enos David Baldwin, b. 17 October 1852, d. Hardin co., OH, 27 April 1927;
m. Hardin co., OH, 10 January 1878, Mary Jane ("Jennie") Williams, b. 17 September 1857, d. Waldo, Marion co., OH, 29 May 1929.
[Hardin co., OH marriages, 6: 52] Newspaper obituaries give a birthdate of 17 October 1852 [Obituary of Enos D. Baldwin, Kenton News-Republican, 28 April 1927; Obituary of E. D. Baldwin, Kenton Daily Democrat, 28 April 1927], and the guide to the family photo gives the same date. The official death record gives 17 October 1853 [OH Dept. Health, Div. Vital Stat.]. The gravestone of Enos D. Baldwin gives the dates 1852-1927 [Wolf Creek Cemetery, Hardin co., OH, personally checked by compiler]. The birth and death dates of Mary Jane Williams are from her death record [OH Dept. Health, Div. Vital Stat.].

[S]abrena(?) Baldwin (daughter), b. 9 May 1855, d. 28 February 1857, bur. Pioneer cem., Mt. Victory, Hardin co., OH.
This daughter is known only from a gravestone at Pioneer Cemetery in Mt. Victory, the name on which is nearly illegible from wear. The birthdate is calculated from the age of 1y, 9m, 19d given on the gravestone. The first letter of the name is mostly destroyed. When I examined the gravestone myself, I read the other letters as _ABAEMA. In a letter to me in 1995 Thomas Hamm of Spiceland, IN suggested to me that the name might be read as [S]abrena, and I have taken his suggestion here.

Mary Etta Baldwin, b. 12 May 1858, d. Ridgeway, Hardin co., OH, 4 December 1932;
m. Hardin co., OH, 24 December 1874, Phineas A. Eaton.
[Hardin co., OH marriages, 5: 169; Obituary of Mary Etta Eaton, Kenton Daily Democrat, 5 December 1932 (gives date of birth)] The guide to the family photo agrees about her date of birth.

Hannah Baldwin, b. 4 June 1862, d. 31 July 1943;
m. (1) Walter Allyn.
m. (2) Hardin co., OH, 28 March 1907, Frank McGill.
The guide to the family photo gives her dates as 4 June 1862-31 July 1943. The 1900 census gives her birthdate as June 1862 [1900 cen., Hardin co., OH, ED92, p. 5]. The record of her second marriage states that she turned 43 on 4 June 1906 [Hardin co., OH marriages, 14: 467].

Josephine Baldwin, b. 14 December, 1866 or 1867?, d. 1921;
m. ca. 1894, Westley C. McElree, b. March 1869, d. 1951.
There is much uncertainty about her year of birth. A newspaper obituary gives 14 Dec. 1869 as her date of birth, stating that her age was 51, but unfortunately the copy I have does not indicate the date of the newspaper [Obituary of Josephine Baldwin McElree, Kenton Daily Democrat, date unknown]. This date of birth can easily be rejected, as it would place her birth only a month and a half prior to the birth of her sister Florence, whose birth in January 1870 is well established. The 1900 census gives Dec. 1868 as her birthdate and March 1869 as the birthdate of her husband, and states that they had been married for 6 years [1900 cen., Hardin co., OH, ED 81, p. 7], so we can probably accept 14 December as correct, but in what year? The guide to the family photo gives 1867 (year only) as her birthdate. The dates of Josephine and Westley are given respectively as 1868-1921 and 1869-1951 on their gravestones [Wolf Creek Cemetery, Hardin co., OH, personally examined by compiler]. Her age is given as 3 in the 1870 census [1870 cen., Hardin co., OH, 393], and 14 in 1880 [1880 cen., Hardin co., OH, 94], which gives birthdates of 1866 and 1865 respectively (since she was born in December).

Florence Baldwin, b. 28 January 1870, d. May 1967;
m. Hardin co., OH, 6 June 1900, Samuel M. Kelley.
[Hardin co., OH marriages, 11: 202] Her dates are from the guide to the family photo. The birthdate is confirmed by Hardin county birth records [Hardin co., OH births, 1: 44].

Reference abbreviations

Smith Family Records = Typescript record of births, marriages, and deaths of the children of James and Mary Ann (Taylor) Smith. This record appears to have been copied from a family Bible, and was sent to me by Mrs. Mildred L. Littler of Andover, OH, in 1987. Her husband was a great-grandson of Nancy Ann (Smith) Dille, sister of Margaret (Smith) Baldwin.

Compiled by Stewart Baldwin

First uploaded 24 August 2009.