County of memorial: Lee County
Location of memorial: Water St. & Main St., Victory Park,. Keokuk
Memorial text:
In Memoriam
THEODORE F. BALDWIN
2nd Lieut. Co. D, 14th IA. Inft.
CIVIL WAR
1834 /-------/ 1922
A Pioneer Citizen of Keokuk
"Theodore F. Baldwin, for many years engaged in the lumber business in Keokuk, was born in Newark, New Jersey, August 8, 1834. In 1846 his parents, Moses Ward and Sarah (Van Riper) Baldwin, removed with their family to the Middle West, settling at Salem, Henry County, this state. In 1865 they went to Mount Pleasant, and there on the 12th of April, 1875, Moses Ward Baldwin died. His widow survived him for more than a quarter of a century, passing away at the advanced age of eighty-nine years, on the 30th of November, 1900. She was a real daughter of the Daughters of the Revolution, for her father served in the war for Independence.
"In early manhood Theodore F. Baldwin displayed laudable ambition and unfaltering energy and in his business career he learned to readily discriminate between the essential and the non-essential, so that his efforts were most wisely directed and crowned with well merited success. His early scholastic training was received in an academy at Salem, but in 1852, when only seventeen years of age, he joined the army of adventurous seekers who journeyed across the plains to California in search of gold. He traveled with an ox train but as only the sick or infirm were allowed to ride in the wagons Mr. Baldwin made most of the journey on foot from Iowa to the coast. There were eight men with the wagon train and Mr. Baldwin is today the only survivor of the number. They crossed the Missouri river near the present site of the city of Omaha and from that time on did not see a single habitation until they reached California. Mr. Baldwin met with varied success during the period of ten years which he spent on the Pacific coast. Three times he journeyed to and from California by water, crossing the Isthmus by rail. The last trip was made in 1862. when he returned to enlist for service in the Union army.
"Before leaving the west he had raised part of a company of volunteers but learning that the California regiments would not be in active service he immediately ceased his efforts in that direction and took passage for New York. He enlisted at Fort Donelson, Tennessee, joining Company D, Fourteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Colonel W. T. Shaw. The first important engagement in which he took part was at Shiloh. All day he fought with his regiment at the historic spot afterwards designated as the Hornet's Nest, and at that point the entire regiment was captured at six o'clock on the afternoon of the 6th of April, 1862. For three months he was imprisoned in the Confederate prison at Macon, Georgia, and then was paroled at Huntsville, Alabama, to the Union lines and later was exchanged at St. Louis. Soon thereafter he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and served as acting quartermaster of his regiment throughout the remainder of the struggle or until November, 1864. He participated in a number of engagements besides Shiloh, including the battles of Pleasant Hill, Cain River, Yellow Bayou, Tupelo, Pilot Knob and others, and in 1864 he was honorably discharged by order of the war department of the United States government.
"Mr. Baldwin at once returned to his home in Salem, and soon thereafter he was united in marriage to Miss Martha L. McGavic, a daughter of Samuel and Phoebe (Huber) McGavic. Two children were born of this marriage, Martha Phoebe and Caroline May.
"Not long after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin removed to Pella, Iowa, and seven years later came to Keokuk, where he established a lumberyard for the conduct of a wholesale business, forming a partnership under the firm name of Hosmer & Baldwin. That association continued for three years, at the end of which time Mr. Baldwin entered into partnership with M. L. Magoun, the relationship terminating a year later. In 1878 Mr. Baldwin purchased an interest in the firm of Taber & Company, wholesale jobbers and manufacturers of lumber, and the partnership was continued for seventeen years, or until 1895, at which time Mr. Baldwin disposed of his holdings. Later for two years he acted as manager of the Carson & Rand Lumber Company. He then retired altogether from active business and is now enjoying a well earned and well merited rest at his pleasant home at No. 123 High Street. Aside from his local business interests, Mr. Baldwin has conducted lumberyards in different parts of Iowa and Missouri, his business interests becoming extensive. He was also one of the original incorporators and stockholders of the Mississippi River Power Company. His has been an active and useful life, crowned with substantial results, which arc the direct outcome of intelligently directed effort and perseverance. He has readily discerned business opportunities and has so improved his advantages that he stands today among the prosperous and influential citizens of Keokuk — his success well earned by methods that neither seek nor require disguise.
"As a Republican Mr. Baldwin has taken a somewhat active interest in public affairs and has labored untiringly to promote the welfare and upbuilding of his city and section. He served for a number of terms as a member of the city council and was among those instrumental in the establishment of Rand Park, acting as chairman of the committee having this work in hand. He was also chairman of the board of health at the time the memorable epidemic of smallpox broke out in Keokuk and his work in that trying hour was most commendable and beneficial. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and also to Torrence Post, G. A. R., and to the Loyal Legion. The family attends the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Baldwin is an American of the truest type. Of mingled Dutch and English ancestry dating back to a pre-Revolutionary period in this country, he has lived practically in every part of the United States but the far north and has been an active participant in many of the epoch-making events of its history. Coming to Lee County at an early day, he has seen many changes and through all these years he has enjoyed the respect and esteem of his fellowmen. Honesty has been his policy throughout life and success has come to him through his own unaided and honorable efforts."
~ iagenweb.org/lee/history
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