- ALMON BALDWIN, who is engaged in general farming and resides
on section 13, Bradford
- Township, is numbered among the pioneer settlers of the county,
dating his residence to 1842. He has endured the trials and hardships
of pioneer life, has seen its broad and uncultivated prairies
transformed into fertile farms, has witnessed the rapid growth
of town and bounty, and has aided in the progress and transformation
which have made Rock the banner county in this great commonwealth.
- Mr. BALDWIN is a native of the Buckeye State, born at Kingsville,
Ashtabula County, Oct. 20,
- 1840. His parents, Charles Mason and Sarah (PURDY) BALDWIN,
were natives of Litchfield, Conn., but after their marriage removed
to Kingsville, where the birth of our subject occurred. He was
one of a family of eleven children, namely; Willis A., Artemus,
Margaret W., Lucy A., Rachel W., Charles W., Henry, Ann E., James,
Almon and Fannie. Of this number three were enlisted soldiers
in the Union army, and fought gallantly in defense of the stars
and stripes which now float so proudly over our united Nation.
Charles W., who served in a Minnesota Regiment, returned uninjured
at the close of the war, and is now living in Sheffield, Ashtabula
Co., Ohio; James enlisted in September, 1861, and served three
years in the 4th Wisconsin Battery, re-enlisted in the same company,
and was discharged after the close of hostilities.
- Our subject has passed nearly his entire life in Rock County.
He received his education in the
- schools of Clinton, and was reared to farm life. His parents,
who had removed from Ohio to Wisconsin in 1842, settled in Clinton,
making that their home until 1866, when they removed to Spotsylvania
Court House, Va. Residing in the South until 1871, they then
returned to Bradford Township where they passed the remainder
of their lives. The death of the father occurred on the 2nd day
of March, 1883, and the mother was called to her final home Jan.
28, 1886.
- Almon remained under the parental roof until the breaking
out of the Rebellion, when, stirred with
- patriotic impulses and a desire to preserve the Union, he
enlisted, Sept. 6, 1861, in the 4th Wisconsin Battery, in which
he served for three years. His term of enlistment having expired
he re-enlisted becoming a member of Company K, 8th United Veteran,
in which he continued until the close of the war. He participated
in many of the most important and hard-fought battles, and was
always found at his post of duty. Shortly after his discharge
he formed the acquaintance of Miss Jennie FENN, daughter of Joel
and Ann FENN, and a native of Newark, Wayne Co., N.Y., who was
visiting near his home in Wisconsin and on the 12th day of July,
1865, led her to the marriage altar. Seven children have been
born of their union, four of whom are living - Mary E., Lettie
M., Curtis M., and Bennie W. The deceased are Bertha L., who
died Oct. 21, 1886, Anna H., who died July 20, 1874; Raymond
E., who was born Feb. 17, 1882, died in infancy. Thus have we
given a brief sketch of the life of one of Rock County's most
worthy citizens who from the pioneer days has been identified
with its history, and from this many friends receives the highest
respect.
-
- Taken from "The Portrait and Biographical Album of
Rock County, Wis." (c)1889, pp. 936-937.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
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