The Baldwin Family HIstory!

THE BALDWIN FAMILY HISTORY

Contributed by George Roger Baldwin

Part I – Narrative History

The use of a surname is of recent origin.  In all primitive societies only first names were used.  True surnames, in the sense of hereditary designations, date in England from about the year 1000. The name first appears in Shropshire after the Norman Conquest in 1066.  The early history of England and Normandy contain many references to individuals with the name of Baldwin. A few of these are recorded here.

Tradition tells us that as far back as 672 A.D. there was a person who used the name; and at the time of Alfred the Great, the Baldwin’s were Earls of Flanders. The Bruges and Court of Flanders in 873 was called “Baldwin of the Iron Arm.”  In 1204 a Baldwin was Emperor of Constantinople and in 1120 one was the Archbishop of Canterbury.  The Chapel of St. Leonard’s in Buckinghamshire shows a Baldwin Coat of Arms; a squirrel (holding three oak leaves) poised above three oak leaves *shipped in pairs.”  According to Robert L. Baldwin’s catalogue of brass rubbings, there is a 1611 Baldwin Brass in Beechampton, Buckinghamshire.  Baldwin de Hampden, a Norman and a great English patriot, was a favorite of the Saxon King Edward the Confessor.

In the Doomsday Book, the first great census of England is recorded Baldwin, son of Harluin, a dweller in Gloucestershire and an owner of great tracts of land.  Many other notables by the name of Baldwin are mentioned in early documents but their genealogical connection with the present Baldwins cannot be clearly traced.

It is reported that King Henry VIII in 1542 bestowed the Manor of Dundridge, located in Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, upon Sir John Baldwin, Chief Justice, who held the estate until his death in 1545.  It then went to his grandson Thomas Packington, son of his daughter Agnes.  In 1577 Thomas Packington “alienated” (deeded) it with other property to Henry and Richard Baldwin.  Sir John Baldwin, as Chief Justice, is said to have presided over the trials and executions of Sir Thomas More and Anne Boleyn.

The name is probably of Danish origin, coming to Normandy with the Norse invasions, and hence to England.  One authority claims that Baldwin is a Saxon name meaning “bold winner.”  Another says it comes from the ancient words “bald” meaning quick and” win” meaning conqueror.  Another meaning given was “bold courageous friend.”

Like most surnames it has been spelled in many ways:  Bawdweyn, Baldwyn, Bawdwen, Bawdwin, and Baldwin.  The different spellings for names was common in a time when few could write and those who did write used the spelling that seemed most like the spoken name.

Apparently, most of the Baldwin families who came to America came from Buckinghamshire County, between Oxford and London, where they were gentlemen farmers.  One of the largest settlements of Baldwins in New England was in Milford, Connecticut, where some Baldwins settled as early as 1638 and there were other early settlements at various places in New England.   But the Baldwins, who are our ancestors, immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1668.  There are also some records indicating another line of Baldwins settling in North Carolina, moving to Virginia and from there scattering westward, some of them in Ohio.

General William Baldwin

General William Baldwin was born in Hook Norton, Oxfordshire, England and at some point married Mary. He distinguished himself by commanding the Left Wing of Cromwell’s army in the celebrated Battle of Marston Moor in 1644.  After the downfall of Cromwell in 1656 and the restoration of the monarchy, Charles II made life uncomfortable for the Baldwins.  So, General William Baldwin with three sons (possibly five sons as the number has been disputed) started for America.  General William Baldwin died on the voyage and was buried at sea.  Thomas, Francis, and John, the General’s three sons, arrived in America in 1668.  Records have them showing up in records in Pennsylvania in the 1680’s.

The three sons of the said William of England settled in Pennsylvania.  They became a numerous family.  One of their sons became a Quaker and moved to North Carolina and he and his sons were out of the War of the Revolution as Tories or because they would not fight. One of his daughters was the mother of General Coffee who distinguished himself at the Battle of New Orleans.”

Thomas Baldwin

Son of General William Baldwin

Thomas (b. 1657, d. 1731) came from England, settled on the Delaware and/or the Brandywine and after raising three sons (Thomas, Joseph and Anthony) died. Thomas was probably the oldest of the three brothers; Thomas, Francis and John Baldwin that arrived in America and this relationship of the three is attested to in the will of John, 1731, by this statement, “to the children of brother Thomas and brother Francis, 5 shillings each.” Quoting from the Baldwin Genealogy, page 727:  “When his (Francis’s) brother John died in 1731 his will left five shillings each to ‘all my brother Francis Baldwin’s children.’ ” 

William Baldwin

Son of Thomas Baldwin

William Baldwin (b. 1687; d. 1722) died at the young age of 35 and left a wife, Mary Buffington. According to the “Buffington family in America,” written in 1965, after William’s death, Mary married Charles Turner. The will of William Baldwin is on file in Chester County, Pennsylvania, as is an inventory of William’s estate.  The will, dated July 10, 1722 and proved August 3, 1722, starts, “Being very sick and weak of body.” Probably he died of “lung fever” or tuberculosis, which was the great killer of young adults up until the mid 1900’s.  He left two sons William and Moses.  Moses was a doctor and practiced in New Jersey (no further record).

***Francis Baldwin

Son of General William Baldwin

Francis (b. 1667; d. Aug. 1702) married Cicely Coebourne, a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Coebourne and in 1691 his father-in-law conveyed to him 100 acres of land on Chester Creek and in Chester, Pennsylvania. Francis was a miller and his name appears in the Chester County court records as witness to deeds in 1691, 1697, 1699, and  1700. Francis appeared as a juror in Chester Court on July 19, 1700.  There is a record of a Francis Baldwin in New Castle County in 1702. There is no New Castle County in Pennsylvania  at this time, but New Castle County, Delaware is just across the Chester County and Pennsylvania state lines and at one time it was a part of the state of Pennsylvania. Letters of administration were granted on August 17, 1702, by the Register General of Philadelphia to the widow Cicely. He left one daughter, Anna, and two sons, William and Thomas.

The Children of Francis Baldwin and Cicely Coebourne

Thomas was born and died in Chester County, Pennsylvania and took for his wife Mary Beal in St. Paul’s Church in Chester, Pennsylvania in Chester County in 1714.

William may have died before his Uncle John in 1731 as he was not mentioned in his will.  This making him not the parent of Francis Baldwin of Virginia.

John was thought to have been John Baldwin, Yeoman of the Christina Hundred whose will was probated in New Castle County, Delaware on March 31, 1745 so he must have died in 1744 or 45. He had two wives Sarah Cloud and Hannah Cloud.

Children of John Baldwin and Sarah Cloud

Francis (d. 1785 in New Castle County, DE)

William (no further information)

John (no further information)

Elizabeth (no further information)

Mary (no further information)

Sarah (no further information)

Anna married twice, first William Ford (Bethel Twp., Chester Co.) and then John Littlejohn.

Mary (no further information)

***Thomas Baldwin

Son of Francis Baldwin

Thomas was born and died in Chester County, Pennsylvania and took for his wife Mary Beal in St. Paul’s Church in Chester, Pennsylvania in Chester County in 1714.

The Children of Thomas Baldwin and Mary Beal

Thomas married Sarah and died in Kennett Twp., Chester County, Pa.

Francis was born about 1715 in Chester County, Pa, was married in 1746 Charity Hackney the widow of Joseph Hackney in Wilmington, DE  in the Holy Trinity (old Swedes ) Church and died in Berkeley County Virginia. He had three spouses Innocent Bozarth, Sarah, and Charity Hackney who was the daughter of Aaron Harlan and Sarah Heald. Charity died in 1768 in Frederick County, Va.. Berkeley County, Va was formed in 1772 out of territory taken from Frederick County.

***William Baldwin

Son of Thomas Baldwin

William (b. 1716 near Philadelphia, PA; d. Oct. 1785 in Berkeley County, VA) was the next son of Thomas Baldwin and he grew up in Chester County (possibly West Chester County by then) and as an adult moved to Virginia and settled in Berkeley County (Now West Virginia).  He was mentioned in Grandfather Coebourne’s will in New Castle County, Delaware and the deed settling the estate of his grandfather Francis Baldwin. He and his brother Francis both moved to Virginia about the same time in late 1740, William raised 12 children born to two wives Mary (Beal) and Jane Hedges. All twelve lived to have families of their own. All of the sons by the first wife Mary (except William who was lame) took an active part in the War of Revolution.

The children of William Baldwin and His first wife, Mary Beal

William (Oct. 8, 1744; d. after 1809) served in Braddock’s War against the Indians was crippled for life and could not participate in the Revolutionary War because he was lame. William was married in Berkeley County (VA) to Anna Lucas, a cousin of Governor Lucas of Ohio. He sold his land Sept. 20, 1786 too Thomas Odle. He and his sons moved to Franklin County, Georgia and by 1809 he had settled on the banks the Greater Miami above Hamilton in Butler County, Ohio.  His sons Edward and William raised large families in that section of the country. John and Lucas stayed in the South.. (Joshua)

Thomas served in the War of Revolution; he was a Major commanding an expedition in General Harmer’s campaign on the Ohio to the North of Kanawha. He married Elizabeth

John was in General Harmer’s campaign on the Ohio to the North of Kanawha.

Francis was an Ensign and Lieutenant in the 8^th Virginia Regiment serving in Washington’s army and was promoted from Ensign to Adjutant fought at Germantown, Pennsylvania, Brandywine, Monmouth and various other places during the war. He married Rhoda Jennings in 1775 in Frederick County VA. In 1785 he moved his family to Wilkes County, Georgia and in 1788 he received 255 Acres a warrant, the following year he sold it.  In 1789 he received another warrant of two tracts of land, one was 170 acres and the other was 244 acres.

In 1804 he moved to Milledgeville, Georgia and in 1807 he moved his family to Warren County, Ohio settling in an area which late became known as Roachester. Francis acquired considerable land in Ohio around Columbus, Chillicothe and Warren County,   In 1812 he built a home in Lebanon, Ohio,  He went on a trip with his daughter Mary (Polly) and her husband Col. John Moody of Texas, but died in New Orleans in 1817 of a fever.

Benjamin (b. May 21, 1759, d. Sept. 14, 1837) served under his brother Captain John Baldwin in Washington’s army as orderly sergeant and fought in the Continental Line at Germantown, Pennsylvania, Brandywine, and Monmouth. He was in General Harmer’s expedition,  and also was in the expedition of General George Rogers Clark which allowed him be at the taking of Vincennes. He is listed in McIntosh’s Campaign of 1775 and served another three years under John Garney in the Virginia Line. He married Hannah Henry and died in Warren County, Ohio.

Rebecca married Jonathon Seaman in Berkeley County, Va.

Mary married Robert Foster in Berkeley County, Va.

Children of William Baldwin and Jane Hedges

Joseph

Samuel (who died in infancy)

Jonah

Joshua

James

Rebecca