He was born on December 14, 1761 at Norwich, Connecticut, the youngest of the eight children of Ebenezer Baldwin, farmer and blacksmith, and Bethiah (Barker) Baldwin, grand-daughter of a Massachusetts lawyer. His mother died when he was a few weeks old. His father later married Mrs. Esther (Clark) Backus, to whom Simeon was warmly attached.
Education
The boy studied with his brother, Rev. Ebenezer Baldwin, in Danbury, Connecticut, with Rev. Joseph Huntington of Coventry, Connecticut, and at "Master Tisdale's School, " at Lebanon, Connecticut He entered Yale College in 1777, from which he was graduated in 1781, the Revolutionary War having interrupted his education. He was a graduate student at Yale for a year, while teaching in New Haven, and the next year was preceptor of the academy, Albany, New York.
Career
He then returned to Yale as a tutor for three years. After studying law under Judge Charles Chauncey at New Haven, and under Peter W. Yates at Albany, he was admitted to the bar of New Haven in 1786 and gradually built up an extensive practise. For many years there were always a few men studying law under his direction, and often living in his house.
He was clerk of the United States district and circuit courts for Connecticut from 1789 to 1806, also serving at various times as collector of revenue, city clerk, alderman, and mayor of New Haven. In 1803 he was elected to Congress by the Federalists, where he served well, but not brilliantly, until 1805, when he declined a renomination. He was elected a judge of the superior court of Connecticut in 1806, and became a judge of the supreme court of errors of Connecticut in 1808, and continued in office until 1818, when he was replaced by a Democrat. After his retirement from the bench, his law practise was small, consisting mostly of patent work.
Achievements
Politics
He was elected a judge of the superior court of Connecticut in 1806, and became a judge of the supreme court of errors of Connecticut in 1808, and continued in office until 1818, when he was replaced by a Democrat.
Personality
He held the confidence of the people as a fair-minded judge, having a sound knowledge of law.
Quotes from others about the person
His grandson, Simeon Eben Baldwin, said of him, "In every line of action which he undertook to pursue, he outdistanced mediocrity, but nowhere did he attain the highest rank. "
Connections
On July 29, 1787 he married Rebecca Sherman, daughter of Roger Sherman. They had four children, of whom one was Roger Sherman Baldwin. After the death of his wife, Rebecca, Simeon Baldwin married her sister, Mrs. Elizabeth (Sherman) Burr, by whom he had five more children.