From http://oasis.harvard.edu/html/gra00007.html
Baldwin, William, 1779-1819. Papers of William Baldwin,
1803-1844: A Guide
Archives, Gray Herbarium Library, Harvard University Herbaria
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
December 1982
(c) The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Descriptive Summary
Call No.: ACZ8221
Repository: Gray Herbarium Library
Title: Papers of William Baldwin, 1803-1944 (inclusive); 1817-1819 (bulk)
Quantity: 61 letters
Administrative Information
Processed by:Lynn McWhood
December 1982
Acquisition Information: Baldwin's letters were given to Asa Gray by William Darlington, probably between (when Reliquiae Baldwinianae
was published) and 1863 (when Darlington died).
Note: Baldwin's botanical notes and herbarium came into the possession of John Torrey, ca.1834-1836, and were used by Asa Gray in the
preparation of his Rynchospora monograph (Annals of New York Lyceum of Natural History 3: 191-220), but Gray does not appear to have
owned them.
Use Restrictions: Permission to examine materials needs to be obtained before viewing collections.
Biography:
William Baldwin was born on March 29, 1779, to a Quaker family in Newlin, Chester County, Pennsylvania. He was educated in rural schools
and taught for a while before deciding to study medicine. While attending his first year of medical lectures at the University of Pennsylvania,
1802-1803, he developed a friendship with William Darlington, then also a first-year medical student. Unable to afford to attend the second year
of lectures, Baldwin continued to work as an assistant of Dr. William A. Todd. During this time he met Dr. Moses Marshall, who aroused an
interest in botany. After serving as a surgeon on a merchant shop to Canton, China (1805-1806), Baldwin was able to a attend the 1806-1807
lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, and he received his M.D. in 1807. He moved to Wilmington, Del., where he met and married Hannah
M. Webster (ca. 1808) and practiced medicine. In 1811 he moved to Georgia for health reasons and began collecting plants of the area. With
the outbreak of the War of 1812, Baldwin accepted a commission as a naval surgeon, based at St.Marys, Georgia, for 2 1/2 years and at
Savannah, Georgia, for 2 years. With his naval service ended, Baldwin sent his family back to Wilmington while he went south and botanized,
especially in East Florida (winter-spring 1816-1817). During this time he renewed his correspondence with William Darlington. From late 1817
to July 1818 he served as surgeon on the frigate Congress on its voyage to Buenos Aires and other South American ports, and he carried out
some botanical exploration on the trip. After his return, with the encouragement of Darlington,Baldwin began work on a botanical study, which
was to be titled: "Miscellaneous Sketches of Georgia and East Florida, to which will be added a descriptive catalogue of new plants,
with notices of the works of Pursh, Elliott and Nuttall, to which will be added an appendix containing some account of the vegetable
productions on the Rio de la Plata, etc." Work on this was halted by his acceptance of an appointment as botanist on the expedition of Maj.
Stephen H. Long to the Rocky Mountains. He left with the expedition in March 1819; his health deteriorated along the way and he was forced
to leave the group. He died in Franklin, Missouri, on September 1, 1819.
References: Darlington, William, compiler. Reliquiae Baldwinianae: selections from the correspondence of the late William Baldwin, M.D. ...
with occasional notes, and a short biographical memoir. Philadelphia: Kimber & Sharpless, 1843. Elliott, Clark. Biographical Dictionary of
American Science. Harshberger, John W. The Botanists of Philadelphia and Their Work. Philadelphia, 1899, pp. 119-125. [Reprint of an
article by J.H. Redfield, Botanical Gazette 8 (1883): 233-237.]
Note: Isabella Batchelder James prepared a short biography of Baldwin, which is in the archives (see Biographical & Autobiographical section
of Archives Guide). It appears to be based on Darlington's account.
Scope and Content:
The Baldwin papers consist of letters to William Darlington from or about William Baldwin.
1) There are 48 letters from Baldwin to Darlington, 1803-1819; 45 of these are from 1817-1819 and have been reproduced in Darlington's
Reliquiae Baldwinianae. A note by Gray indicates that the published versions left out "sentences reflecting severely on Nuttall." The published
volume, however, includes 6 letters which are not in this collection: letters dated June 19,1817; July 3, 1817; Dec. 3, 1817; July 17, 1818; Feb.
4, 1819; April 5, 1819. One of these (July 3, 1817) can be found in Mrs. Gray's autograph collection.
2) There are 3 letters from John J. Lowry, in whose home Baldwin died, to Darlington, 1819 and 1844. One of these, dated Sept. 15, 1819,
was reproduced in ReliquiaeBaldwinianae.
3) There are 10 letters from Hannah M. Baldwin, William Baldwin's widow, to Darlington, 1819-1820, 1836 and 1843. Included with these
letters is a petition for a pension for Hannah, in Darlington's handwriting, dated Jan. 13, 1820, and signed by Hannah Baldwin. There is also a
draft of a letter from Darlington to Hannah Baldwin, dated Dec. 13,1836, on the back of one of Hannah's letters. An extract of a letter from
Hannah dated Dec. 30, 1819, was reproduced in the biographical memoir included in Reliquiae Baldwinianae, and Darlington's Dec. 13, 1836,
letter was also reproduced in Reliquiae Baldwinianae.
Container List
Container Listing:
BOX AK
Folder 1: Cover note in Asa Gray's Handwriting. Letters from William Baldwin to William Darlington dated: April 29, 1803; May 21,
1803; March 26, 1809; Jan 15 1817; Feb. 8, 1817; Feb. 1817 [postmarked Feb. 16]; Feb. 19, 1817; March 30, 1817; April 19,1817;
May 3, 1817; May 15, 1817; May 27, 1817; Aug. 7, 1817; Aug. 20, 1817; Aug. 29, 1817; Sept.18, 1817; Sept. 27, 1817; Oct. 30,
1817; Nov. 10,1817; Nov. 20, 1817
Folder 2: Letters from William Baldwin to William Darlington dated: Jan. 30, 1818; Feb. 11, 1818; March 11, 1818; July 7, 1818; July
23, 1818; Aug. 6, 1818; Aug. 14,1818; Aug. 16, 1818; Sept. 3, 1818; Sept. 17,1818; Sept. 24, 1818; Oct. 1, 1818; Oct. 9, 1818;
Oct. 23, 1818; Nov. 19, 1818; Dec. 7, 1818; Dec.25, 1818; Jan. 7, 1819; Jan. 21, 1819; Feb. 25,1819; March 6, 1819; March 14,
1819; March 21,1819; May 1, 1819; May 27, 1819; June 11,1819; June 25, 1819; July 22, 1819
Folder 3: Letters from John J. Lowry to William Darlington dated: Sept. 15, 1819; Dec. 15, 1819; Jan. 19, 1844 Letters from Hannah
M. Baldwin to William Darlington dated: Nov. 18, 1819; Dec. 28, 1819; Dec. 30, 1819; petition written by Darlington, Jan. 13, 1820,
signed by Hannah; Jan. 13, 1820; Jan. 20, 1820; Feb. 6, 1820; Feb. 9, 1820; Nov. 17, 1836; Dec. 8,1836, with draft of letter by
Darlington to Hannah on back, Dec. 13, 1836; Sept. 4, 1843
Index
Baldwin, William 1779-1819
Darlington, William 1782-1863
Gray, Asa 1810-1888
Baldwin, Hannah M.
Lowry, John J.
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From http://www.nybg.org/bsci/libr/Baldwin.htm
The New York Botanical Garden
ARCHIVES AND MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS
THE LuESTHER T. MERTZ LIBRARY
Personal Papers
WILLIAM BALDWIN PAPERS (1811-1819)
2.5 linear inches (1 box)
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
William Baldwin (1779-1819) was a physician and one of the first botanists to explore the American Southeast, parts of
Latin America and the West Indies. He was the initial botanist on Stephen Long's expedition to find the headwaters of the
Missouri River. Sadly, he died at Franklin, Missouri, six months into the expedition.
Baldwin was born in Newlin, Chester County, Pennsylvania. As a child, he became interested in botany through his
acquaintance with Dr. Moses Marshall, nephew of Humphry Marshall. In 1802 he began the study of medicine under Dr.
William A. Todd at the University of Pennsylvania. There he met William Darlington. Baldwin nursed him through an illness
and earned Darlington's lifelong friendship.
In 1805, short of money to continue his studies, Baldwin enlisted as ship's surgeon on a merchant ship bound for Canton
by way of Antwerp. In 1807 he was awarded his medical degree. He married Hannah M. Webster and moved to
Wilmington, Delaware, where he opened a practice. They would have four children.
In 1811 he began a correspondence with Henry Muhlenberg, who introduced him to Stephen Elliott. Baldwin's
contributions to his Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina and Georgia were acknowledged by Elliott in his book. Baldwin collected in Georgia and in
territory occupied by the Creek Indians in Florida. He was extremely sympathetic to them, comparing them favorably to those of his own race who would
displace them. In 1817 Baldwin was named a corresponding member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
In 1818, he was appointed ship's physician on the U.S. Congress, and accompanied Rodney's diplomatic mission to South America. He collected in Buenos
Aires, Rio de Janiero, and Uruguay.
The Long Expedition left on March 24, 1819. Baldwin fell ill at Franklin, Missouri and resigned from the expedition, remaining behind. He died in Franklin on
September 1, 1819, and was buried beside the Missouri River. Darlington tried unsuccessfully to obtain a military pension for Hannah Baldwin and their
children. In 1843 he published Baldwin's collected letters. These were reprinted with a new introduction by Joseph Ewan in 1969.
Baldwin's personal herbarium was sold to Zaccheus Collins after his death and subsequently purchased by Lewis David von Schweinitz. Although von
Schweinitz discarded Baldwin's labels, lists of his collections and von Schweinitz's commentaries are found in the Lewis David von Schweinitz Papers located
in The New York Botanical Garden Archives. The von Schweinitz herbarium is located at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.