"32nd Governor of Connecticut" Roger Sherman Baldwin Cut Signature JG Autograph

Description

Up for auction the "32nd Governor of Connecticut" Roger Sherman Baldwin Cut Signature.
This item is certified authentic by JG Autographs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity.
ES-511
Roger Sherman Baldwin
(January 4, 1793 – February 19, 1863) was an American politician who served as the
32nd Governor
of
Connecticut
from 1844 to 1846 and a
United States Senator
from 1847 to 1851. As a lawyer, his career was most notable for his participation in the 1841
Amistad
case.
Baldwin was son of
Simeon Baldwin
and Rebecca Sherman in
New Haven, Connecticut
. He was the maternal grandson of notable founding father
Roger Sherman
(the only person to sign all four great state papers of the U.S.: the
Continental Association
, the
Declaration of Independence
, the
Articles of Confederation
and the
Constitution
). He attended
Hopkins School
, and entered
Yale College
at the age of fourteen, and graduated with high honors in 1811. At Yale, Baldwin was a member of the
Linonian Society
. After leaving Yale he studied law in his father's office in New Haven, and also in the
Litchfield Law School
, and was admitted to the bar in 1814. Although repeatedly called into public office, he devoted himself through life to the profession of his choice, attaining the highest distinction, especially in the discussion of questions of law. His defense in 1841, of the rights of the Africans of the
Amistad
, is particularly celebrated, both for his ability and for the importance of the case.
After having been a member of the city government in New Haven, in 1826 and 1828, Baldwin was elected in 1837 and again in 1838 as a member of the
Connecticut State Senate
. In 1840 and 1841 he represented the town of New Haven in the General Assembly. He was chosen Governor of Connecticut in 1844 and was reelected in 1845. On the death of Hon. J. W. Huntington in 1847, Baldwin was appointed by Governor
Clark Bissell
to fill the vacancy thus occasioned in the
United States Senate
, and in December of that year he took his seat as a member of that body. He was elected by the Legislature in the following May to the same position, which he held until 1851. After that period he held no public office, except that he was one of the presidential electors in the canvass of 1860, and by appointment of Governor
William Alfred Buckingham
was a delegate to the Peace Convention which met in Washington, in 1861, by request of the State of Virginia. He was described as a devout Christian who studied the Bible every day. Baldwin died in New Haven, February 19, 1863; at the age of 70 and was interred at
Grove Street Cemetery
. A biographical discourse was pronounced at his funeral by Rev. Dr. Dutton, which was printed in the
New Englander
for April 1863, and was also published as a pamphlet.