Elihu Whittlesey Baldwin (born

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

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, December 25, 1789; died Crawfordsville,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, October 15, 1840) was a prominent American Presbyterian minister and the first president of

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832 by several Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, it enrolls nearly 900 students. The college offers an undergraduate liberal arts cur ...

Life

Elihu Baldwin was the second of six children of Deacon Jonathan Baldwin (1758-1843) and his wife Submit (Lord) (1764-1855). The Baldwins had moved from

, Connecticut to a new settlement in Durham, New York and later continued to move west, spending the end of their lives in Atwater,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. The Baldwins were joined in Durham by Jonathan's brother Seth and his family, including future missionary Dwight Baldwin (1798-1886). Baldwin was admitted to

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1807; he took five years to complete his studies, taking time off to teach to help pay his way. After spending several years teaching at an academy in Fairfield, Baldwin was admitted to the

Andover Theological Seminary Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. ...

in 1814 and was ordained September 10, 1817. He was initially employed by the Young Men's Society of New York City as a missionary in the area of

Corlaer's Hook The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal Street (Manhattan), Canal to Houston Stre ...

, then a neighborhood notorious for prostitution and drinking. By March 1818 he had founded the seventh Presbyterian church in New York City, meeting in that district, and by the time of Baldwin's death the congregation had grown to over 1900 members. In 1835 Baldwin was asked to take up the presidency of a college to be erected in Crawfordsville, Indiana; he accepted and proceeded to raise funds for the new institution and move his family there. Baldwin presided over a difficult beginning; the college's first building burned down in 1838 and needed to be rebuilt. Baldwin fell ill during a trip taken for the college and died October 15, 1840.

Publications

Baldwin published several short works published as religious tracts: "On Fashionable Amusements" (New England Tract Society, 1815) and "Universalism Exposed" (New England Tract Society, 1823). He also published works aimed at use in Sunday schools - a book of moralizing stories, "The Five Apprentices" (1828) and "The Young Freethinker Reclaimed" (American Sunday-School Union, 1829). Two of Baldwin's sermons were published in the publication "The National Preacher" in the December 1827 issue. His inaugural speech was published as "An Address Delivered in Crawfordsville, Indiana, July 13th, 1836: On Occasion of His Inauguration as President of Wabash College", and also his "Address on the encouragement of emulation in the education of youth : delivered before the Education Convention of Indiana" (1837).

Family

Baldwin married Julia C. Baldwin (1800-1850) (not a close relation) on May 12, 1819. They had seven children, three of whom died in childhood. Julia (1822), Joseph (1826), Frances (1829), and Mary (1841) survived to adulthood.The Baldwin genealogy from 1500 to 1881, Charles Candee Baldwin, Cleveland: Leader Printing Co., 1881, p. 558 Joseph, a lawyer, was a state senator in Missouri in 1864.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin, Elihu W. 1789 births 1840 deaths People from Durham, New York Yale College alumni Andover Theological Seminary alumni American Christian writers American Presbyterian missionaries People from the Lower East Side American Presbyterian ministers Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Wabash College People from Crawfordsville, Indiana