***************
YOUNG JONAH CAME ALONE BUT WELL PREPARED
By Richard Baldwin Cook
(copyright 2010)
Young Jonah came alone but well prepared,
To prairie Springfield, OH, ‘bout eighteen-four.
Anglican, a drover and surveyor,
He opened up a tavern and held court.
Ere long, pert Sarah Scott had caught his eye.
They wed when she was not above fifteen.
Childbirth most likely caused this child to die.
Leaving small ones to Jonah's harsh regime.
He took another wife and raised them all.
Food, shelter, clothing, books, them to be read.
He'd met the great Tecumseh, watched him fall.
A people unprepared, a nation's dread.
The skills that such as Jonah Baldwin brings,
The gifts that made White prairie men be kings.
***************
Jonah Baldwin's parents were William Baldwin (abt 1716-1785) and Jane Hedges (1752-aft 1785). William Baldwin was born in Chester County PA and died Sept 7, 1785 in Berkeley County, West Virginia (then part of Virginia). William was married twice and fathered a total of 14 children. His first wife was Mary _____ (1723-abt 1771), who bore William seven children. After her death, he married Jane Hedges in 1773. They also had seven children, including Jonah (1777-1864). When they married, William Baldwin was 57 and Jane Hedges, 21.
In 1750-51, William and Mary Baldwin moved from Chester to near Winchester, VA. Brother Frances Baldwin moved also, a relocation which coincides with the opening of land offices in western PA and VA, to accommodate thousands of colonists and immigrants, moving west from Chester, Lancaster, Bedford and York Counties, PA.
William was a son of Thomas Baldwin and Mary Beal, married on March 20, 1714, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Chester. Thomas' parents were Frances Baldwin (?-1712) and Cicely Coebourne, of Chester, PA. Francis and brothers, Thomas and John, were from Oxford shire, England, sons of Mary ____ and William Baldwin. [. . .]
Jonah Baldwin's mother, Jane Hedges, second wife of William Baldwin, was a daughter of Agnes Powelson (abt 1720-aft 1804). Her father was Jonah Hedges (?-?). Jonah Hedges' mother was Catherine Stalcop (1688-1749) of Newcastle City, DE, granddaughter of Swedish immigrant John Stalcop (aka Andersson) (?-?), who reached America (New Sweden) in Nov, 1641, on the ship Charitas. John's wife was Christina Jonsson/Carlsdotter, from Finland.
Jonah's father was English immigrant Joseph Hedges (?-1732), who died in Monocacy, Maryland. Joseph's father was Charles Gent Hedges (?-1730) who died in England not long before Joseph's own death in America. Charles Gent Hedges was the son of Sir Charles Hedges (1649-1712/14), who graduated from Doctors College Oxford in 1675. [. . .] Sir Charles was Secretary of State to Queen Anne (1665-1714; Queen: 1702-1714). This was back in the day when the Secretary of State was a secretary. A note has been preserved. Queen Anne to Sir Charles: "send me some good pens, for those I have are soe bad I can hardly make them writt." [. . .] In the 1880's, beginning in Bourbon County, KY, English lawyers rummaged around in search of Hedges heirs. [. . .] No satisfactory candidate was found. As a result, this sketch has been prepared on a computer in Cockeysville, Maryland rather than with one of Queen Ann's good pens, at a desk in Berkshire, Wanborough, Wiltshire, Burrows, or Macroon Castle, Cork. [. . .]
The Hedges of England are a well remembered clan whose presence on that island began with the Norman Conquest in 1066. As with much medieval genealogy, we are dependent upon the common occurrence of surnames, the common use of first names and the coincidences of location as the sum of our knowledge. This is the Hedges case, to a tee. The Hedges of Cornwall were known as de Lacy (de Laci) in the early records. For centuries, they were either de Lacy or de Lacy alias Hedges. Beginning in the 1600's it is all Hedges and no more de Lacy.
In 1804, Jonah Baldwin (1777-1864/5) made his way to Clark County in central Ohio, on the Western frontier. [. . .] Jonah probably journeyed to Ohio from his parents' home in Berkeley County, in present day West Virginia. [. . .] William Baldwin was a tanner. Jonah learned the trade of saddlery, no doubt from his father, but Jonah never worked at this trade in Ohio. In Clark County, Jonah became a farmer and rancher, first near New Moorefield, buying and selling cattle and driving them himself to markets east of Springfield, and perhaps to the river town of Cincinnati. Jonah was also a surveyor, a likely indication of the high quality of his (Episcopal?) schooling. He was employed off and on in laying out roads in Ohio and Indiana.
Young Jonah attended private school in Winchester, Virginia. His early education formed in Jonah the habit of reading, a habit he followed and recommended throughout his life. [. . .]
Jonah Baldwin built the first two-story house in Springfield. This residence also served as a tavern. Although a tavern owner, Jonah was recalled as temperate and even hostile to alcohol. From his tavern-owning days to his death, Jonah's views on alcohol might have changed. In 1871, six years after Jonah's death, local historian John Ludlow of Springfield, Ohio, spoke of Jonah Baldwin as strict, honest, conscientious and possessing considerable "natural ability" including "a remarkable memory of circumstances and dates." Jonah's early schooling in Virginia may have been sponsored by the Episcopal Church. He was a member of the first Episcopal vestry in Springfield; that first church was located on the southwest corner of High and Limestone Streets.
Jonah travelled widely as a surveyor. In 1824, he was commissioned by the federal government to survey a post road from the unincorporated town of Chicago to Detroit. The survey was published in 1825. [. . .] The earliest users of the new road were soldiers, who carried the mail in knapsacks. In 1832, soldiers and civilians, including Abraham Lincoln, participated in the so-called "Black Hawk War," and marched over the route. A year later, stage coaches were carrying passengers and baggage three times a week. [. . .]
The process of the settlement of Springfield had begun in the spring of 1795 when two members of a survey party, David Lowry and Jonathan Donnel, became excited at the quality of the land in this region northeast of Fort Washington, built in 1789 on the Ohio River, to protect ‘Losantville.' On returning to Ft. Washington, they partnered with Patten Shorts, who had already purchased and entered the land they were interested in and who needed surveying services to determine the boundaries of his property. [. . .]
An early Clark County history records as few as fourteen families in Springfield when Jonah Baldwin arrived in 1804. [. . .] Clark County, incorporated in 1818, was named for General George Rogers Clark, who opened the region for settlement. In Aug 1780, Clark came upriver from Louisville, with 1,000 men and destroyed the nearby Shawnee town of Piqua (pages 239, 256). [. . .]
A hand written note in Clark County archives preserved the information that in 1820 the population of the hamlet of Springfield had increased to 510. [. . .] In 1818, the year of the county's incorporation, leading citizens of Springfield offered to subscribe $2,215 for the construction of the county Courthouse. [. . .] Springfield got the courthouse, with Jonah Baldwin subscribing $100. In that same year Jonah Baldwin was elected one of three of the original trustees of Springfield Township. In 1823, Jonah was elected a grand juror.
Even before he helped subscribe and build the courthouse in 1818, Jonah Baldwin was seen as a founding community leader of the hamlet of Springfield. On January 11, 1812, he was elected Justice of the Peace, thereafter conducting official business from his tavern. [. . .]
In 1807, although a newcomer to the community (but who wasn't?), Jonah Baldwin was designated a Commissioner to represent the community in a council with Tecumseh. A record of this council states, "One of the Commissioners in the council with Tecumseh held in the village in 1801 [1807] was Jonah Baldwin, who was selected because of his sound judgment and excellent character." [. . .] The Commission had been convened to determine the circumstances of the murder of one of the White settlers. A report of the Commission sessions with Tecumseh reported, as follows:
[. . .] During its session, the two tribes of Indians became reconciled to each other, and peace and quiet was gradually restored to the settlement. The Indians remained in Springfield for three days, amusing themselves in various feats of activity and strength such as jumping, running and wrestling, in which Tecumseh generally excelled. At this time, Tecumseh was in the thirty-eighth year of his age, five feet ten inches high, with erect body, well developed and of remarkable muscular strength. His weight was about one hundred and seventy pounds. There was something noble and commanding in all his actions. Tecumseh was a Shawnese; the native. Pronunciation of the name was Tecumtha, signifying 'The Shooting Star.' He was brave, generous and humane in all his actions."
This charitable assessment of Tecumseh might not have been shared by many English-speaking settlers on the Ohio and Indiana frontier. For years after the gathering in Springfield, Tecumseh led Shawnee and other tribes in opposition to the loss of hunting grounds and the destruction of Indian towns. [. . .]
Jonah Baldwin tried the secret society of the Masons but apparently dropped out. In 1809, he and Samuel Simonton attended an organizational meeting of Masons in Urbana. This lodge alternated its meetings between Urbana, Dayton and Springfield, but the difficulty of travel prompted the Springfield and Urbana Masons to seek their own charter and lodge, which was granted in 1810. After 1815, the members from Springfield applied for a charter under the name Morning Star Lodge, No. 27. The charter was granted in 1818, but there is no record of any meetings or of any participation by Jonah Baldwin after the earlier dates. [. . .]
Born during the War for Independence, Jonah would live to see the Civil War (1861-65). Although 83 when the war began, he took an active interest in it, and was a firm supporter of the Union. [. . .]
In 1809, Jonah Baldwin married Sarah Scott (1791-1817). In 1823, after Sarah had died, Jonah married Amelia Needham (1797-1868), a daughter of Dr. William A. Needham, who came from Vermont to Springfield, Ohio in 1814, and practiced medicine there until his death in 1832. [. . .] Jonah and Amelia were the parents of five children, Sarah, Mary, Minerva, Bettie and Henry [. . .] Note the first of Amelia's babies: Sarah Baldwin; did Amelia permit Jonah to name their first child for his first wife? [. . .]
Jonah Baldwin, and his first wife, young Sarah Scott (1791-1817) were the parents of three children: Jane, Nancy, and Joseph Baldwin. Through their daughter Jane, Jonah and Sarah Scott Baldwin were the fourth great grandparents of this contributor, as follows: Jonah and Sara Baldwin's daughter, Jane Hedges Baldwin (1809-1893) married Marmaduke Moore (1808-1883) of Cynthiana, KY; they were the parents of Benjamin Moore (1837-1894), who, with his wife Mary Aurelia Mayo Moore (1839-1901), were the parents of Mary Baldwin Moore Taylor (1863-1936), mother of John Oliver Taylor Jr (1891-1960), my grandfather - the father of three daughters, including Elizabeth Taylor Cook (1918-2000). In addition to daughter Jane, Sarah and Jonah
__________________
This brief biography has been taken from Volume I of a book of family history entitled ALL OF THE ABOVE I, by Richard Baldwin Cook. For additional information, visit the contributor profile, #47181028.
YOUNG JONAH CAME ALONE BUT WELL PREPARED
By Richard Baldwin Cook
(copyright 2010)
Young Jonah came alone but well prepared,
To prairie Springfield, OH, ‘bout eighteen-four.
Anglican, a drover and surveyor,
He opened up a tavern and held court.
Ere long, pert Sarah Scott had caught his eye.
They wed when she was not above fifteen.
Childbirth most likely caused this child to die.
Leaving small ones to Jonah's harsh regime.
He took another wife and raised them all.
Food, shelter, clothing, books, them to be read.
He'd met the great Tecumseh, watched him fall.
A people unprepared, a nation's dread.
The skills that such as Jonah Baldwin brings,
The gifts that made White prairie men be kings.
***************
Jonah Baldwin's parents were William Baldwin (abt 1716-1785) and Jane Hedges (1752-aft 1785). William Baldwin was born in Chester County PA and died Sept 7, 1785 in Berkeley County, West Virginia (then part of Virginia). William was married twice and fathered a total of 14 children. His first wife was Mary _____ (1723-abt 1771), who bore William seven children. After her death, he married Jane Hedges in 1773. They also had seven children, including Jonah (1777-1864). When they married, William Baldwin was 57 and Jane Hedges, 21.
In 1750-51, William and Mary Baldwin moved from Chester to near Winchester, VA. Brother Frances Baldwin moved also, a relocation which coincides with the opening of land offices in western PA and VA, to accommodate thousands of colonists and immigrants, moving west from Chester, Lancaster, Bedford and York Counties, PA.
William was a son of Thomas Baldwin and Mary Beal, married on March 20, 1714, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Chester. Thomas' parents were Frances Baldwin (?-1712) and Cicely Coebourne, of Chester, PA. Francis and brothers, Thomas and John, were from Oxford shire, England, sons of Mary ____ and William Baldwin. [. . .]
Jonah Baldwin's mother, Jane Hedges, second wife of William Baldwin, was a daughter of Agnes Powelson (abt 1720-aft 1804). Her father was Jonah Hedges (?-?). Jonah Hedges' mother was Catherine Stalcop (1688-1749) of Newcastle City, DE, granddaughter of Swedish immigrant John Stalcop (aka Andersson) (?-?), who reached America (New Sweden) in Nov, 1641, on the ship Charitas. John's wife was Christina Jonsson/Carlsdotter, from Finland.
Jonah's father was English immigrant Joseph Hedges (?-1732), who died in Monocacy, Maryland. Joseph's father was Charles Gent Hedges (?-1730) who died in England not long before Joseph's own death in America. Charles Gent Hedges was the son of Sir Charles Hedges (1649-1712/14), who graduated from Doctors College Oxford in 1675. [. . .] Sir Charles was Secretary of State to Queen Anne (1665-1714; Queen: 1702-1714). This was back in the day when the Secretary of State was a secretary. A note has been preserved. Queen Anne to Sir Charles: "send me some good pens, for those I have are soe bad I can hardly make them writt." [. . .] In the 1880's, beginning in Bourbon County, KY, English lawyers rummaged around in search of Hedges heirs. [. . .] No satisfactory candidate was found. As a result, this sketch has been prepared on a computer in Cockeysville, Maryland rather than with one of Queen Ann's good pens, at a desk in Berkshire, Wanborough, Wiltshire, Burrows, or Macroon Castle, Cork. [. . .]
The Hedges of England are a well remembered clan whose presence on that island began with the Norman Conquest in 1066. As with much medieval genealogy, we are dependent upon the common occurrence of surnames, the common use of first names and the coincidences of location as the sum of our knowledge. This is the Hedges case, to a tee. The Hedges of Cornwall were known as de Lacy (de Laci) in the early records. For centuries, they were either de Lacy or de Lacy alias Hedges. Beginning in the 1600's it is all Hedges and no more de Lacy.
In 1804, Jonah Baldwin (1777-1864/5) made his way to Clark County in central Ohio, on the Western frontier. [. . .] Jonah probably journeyed to Ohio from his parents' home in Berkeley County, in present day West Virginia. [. . .] William Baldwin was a tanner. Jonah learned the trade of saddlery, no doubt from his father, but Jonah never worked at this trade in Ohio. In Clark County, Jonah became a farmer and rancher, first near New Moorefield, buying and selling cattle and driving them himself to markets east of Springfield, and perhaps to the river town of Cincinnati. Jonah was also a surveyor, a likely indication of the high quality of his (Episcopal?) schooling. He was employed off and on in laying out roads in Ohio and Indiana.
Young Jonah attended private school in Winchester, Virginia. His early education formed in Jonah the habit of reading, a habit he followed and recommended throughout his life. [. . .]
Jonah Baldwin built the first two-story house in Springfield. This residence also served as a tavern. Although a tavern owner, Jonah was recalled as temperate and even hostile to alcohol. From his tavern-owning days to his death, Jonah's views on alcohol might have changed. In 1871, six years after Jonah's death, local historian John Ludlow of Springfield, Ohio, spoke of Jonah Baldwin as strict, honest, conscientious and possessing considerable "natural ability" including "a remarkable memory of circumstances and dates." Jonah's early schooling in Virginia may have been sponsored by the Episcopal Church. He was a member of the first Episcopal vestry in Springfield; that first church was located on the southwest corner of High and Limestone Streets.
Jonah travelled widely as a surveyor. In 1824, he was commissioned by the federal government to survey a post road from the unincorporated town of Chicago to Detroit. The survey was published in 1825. [. . .] The earliest users of the new road were soldiers, who carried the mail in knapsacks. In 1832, soldiers and civilians, including Abraham Lincoln, participated in the so-called "Black Hawk War," and marched over the route. A year later, stage coaches were carrying passengers and baggage three times a week. [. . .]
The process of the settlement of Springfield had begun in the spring of 1795 when two members of a survey party, David Lowry and Jonathan Donnel, became excited at the quality of the land in this region northeast of Fort Washington, built in 1789 on the Ohio River, to protect ‘Losantville.' On returning to Ft. Washington, they partnered with Patten Shorts, who had already purchased and entered the land they were interested in and who needed surveying services to determine the boundaries of his property. [. . .]
An early Clark County history records as few as fourteen families in Springfield when Jonah Baldwin arrived in 1804. [. . .] Clark County, incorporated in 1818, was named for General George Rogers Clark, who opened the region for settlement. In Aug 1780, Clark came upriver from Louisville, with 1,000 men and destroyed the nearby Shawnee town of Piqua (pages 239, 256). [. . .]
A hand written note in Clark County archives preserved the information that in 1820 the population of the hamlet of Springfield had increased to 510. [. . .] In 1818, the year of the county's incorporation, leading citizens of Springfield offered to subscribe $2,215 for the construction of the county Courthouse. [. . .] Springfield got the courthouse, with Jonah Baldwin subscribing $100. In that same year Jonah Baldwin was elected one of three of the original trustees of Springfield Township. In 1823, Jonah was elected a grand juror.
Even before he helped subscribe and build the courthouse in 1818, Jonah Baldwin was seen as a founding community leader of the hamlet of Springfield. On January 11, 1812, he was elected Justice of the Peace, thereafter conducting official business from his tavern. [. . .]
In 1807, although a newcomer to the community (but who wasn't?), Jonah Baldwin was designated a Commissioner to represent the community in a council with Tecumseh. A record of this council states, "One of the Commissioners in the council with Tecumseh held in the village in 1801 [1807] was Jonah Baldwin, who was selected because of his sound judgment and excellent character." [. . .] The Commission had been convened to determine the circumstances of the murder of one of the White settlers. A report of the Commission sessions with Tecumseh reported, as follows:
[. . .] During its session, the two tribes of Indians became reconciled to each other, and peace and quiet was gradually restored to the settlement. The Indians remained in Springfield for three days, amusing themselves in various feats of activity and strength such as jumping, running and wrestling, in which Tecumseh generally excelled. At this time, Tecumseh was in the thirty-eighth year of his age, five feet ten inches high, with erect body, well developed and of remarkable muscular strength. His weight was about one hundred and seventy pounds. There was something noble and commanding in all his actions. Tecumseh was a Shawnese; the native. Pronunciation of the name was Tecumtha, signifying 'The Shooting Star.' He was brave, generous and humane in all his actions."
This charitable assessment of Tecumseh might not have been shared by many English-speaking settlers on the Ohio and Indiana frontier. For years after the gathering in Springfield, Tecumseh led Shawnee and other tribes in opposition to the loss of hunting grounds and the destruction of Indian towns. [. . .]
Jonah Baldwin tried the secret society of the Masons but apparently dropped out. In 1809, he and Samuel Simonton attended an organizational meeting of Masons in Urbana. This lodge alternated its meetings between Urbana, Dayton and Springfield, but the difficulty of travel prompted the Springfield and Urbana Masons to seek their own charter and lodge, which was granted in 1810. After 1815, the members from Springfield applied for a charter under the name Morning Star Lodge, No. 27. The charter was granted in 1818, but there is no record of any meetings or of any participation by Jonah Baldwin after the earlier dates. [. . .]
Born during the War for Independence, Jonah would live to see the Civil War (1861-65). Although 83 when the war began, he took an active interest in it, and was a firm supporter of the Union. [. . .]
In 1809, Jonah Baldwin married Sarah Scott (1791-1817). In 1823, after Sarah had died, Jonah married Amelia Needham (1797-1868), a daughter of Dr. William A. Needham, who came from Vermont to Springfield, Ohio in 1814, and practiced medicine there until his death in 1832. [. . .] Jonah and Amelia were the parents of five children, Sarah, Mary, Minerva, Bettie and Henry [. . .] Note the first of Amelia's babies: Sarah Baldwin; did Amelia permit Jonah to name their first child for his first wife? [. . .]
Jonah Baldwin, and his first wife, young Sarah Scott (1791-1817) were the parents of three children: Jane, Nancy, and Joseph Baldwin. Through their daughter Jane, Jonah and Sarah Scott Baldwin were the fourth great grandparents of this contributor, as follows: Jonah and Sara Baldwin's daughter, Jane Hedges Baldwin (1809-1893) married Marmaduke Moore (1808-1883) of Cynthiana, KY; they were the parents of Benjamin Moore (1837-1894), who, with his wife Mary Aurelia Mayo Moore (1839-1901), were the parents of Mary Baldwin Moore Taylor (1863-1936), mother of John Oliver Taylor Jr (1891-1960), my grandfather - the father of three daughters, including Elizabeth Taylor Cook (1918-2000). In addition to daughter Jane, Sarah and Jonah
__________________
This brief biography has been taken from Volume I of a book of family history entitled ALL OF THE ABOVE I, by Richard Baldwin Cook. For additional information, visit the contributor profile, #47181028.
***************
YOUNG JONAH CAME ALONE BUT WELL PREPARED
By Richard Baldwin Cook
(copyright 2010)
Young Jonah came alone but well prepared,
To prairie Springfield, OH, ‘bout eighteen-four.
Anglican, a drover and surveyor,
He opened up a tavern and held court.
Ere long, pert Sarah Scott had caught his eye.
They wed when she was not above fifteen.
Childbirth most likely caused this child to die.
Leaving small ones to Jonah's harsh regime.
He took another wife and raised them all.
Food, shelter, clothing, books, them to be read.
He'd met the great Tecumseh, watched him fall.
A people unprepared, a nation's dread.
The skills that such as Jonah Baldwin brings,
The gifts that made White prairie men be kings.
***************
Jonah Baldwin's parents were William Baldwin (abt 1716-1785) and Jane Hedges (1752-aft 1785). William Baldwin was born in Chester County PA and died Sept 7, 1785 in Berkeley County, West Virginia (then part of Virginia). William was married twice and fathered a total of 14 children. His first wife was Mary _____ (1723-abt 1771), who bore William seven children. After her death, he married Jane Hedges in 1773. They also had seven children, including Jonah (1777-1864). When they married, William Baldwin was 57 and Jane Hedges, 21.
In 1750-51, William and Mary Baldwin moved from Chester to near Winchester, VA. Brother Frances Baldwin moved also, a relocation which coincides with the opening of land offices in western PA and VA, to accommodate thousands of colonists and immigrants, moving west from Chester, Lancaster, Bedford and York Counties, PA.
William was a son of Thomas Baldwin and Mary Beal, married on March 20, 1714, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Chester. Thomas' parents were Frances Baldwin (?-1712) and Cicely Coebourne, of Chester, PA. Francis and brothers, Thomas and John, were from Oxford shire, England, sons of Mary ____ and William Baldwin. [. . .]
Jonah Baldwin's mother, Jane Hedges, second wife of William Baldwin, was a daughter of Agnes Powelson (abt 1720-aft 1804). Her father was Jonah Hedges (?-?). Jonah Hedges' mother was Catherine Stalcop (1688-1749) of Newcastle City, DE, granddaughter of Swedish immigrant John Stalcop (aka Andersson) (?-?), who reached America (New Sweden) in Nov, 1641, on the ship Charitas. John's wife was Christina Jonsson/Carlsdotter, from Finland.
Jonah's father was English immigrant Joseph Hedges (?-1732), who died in Monocacy, Maryland. Joseph's father was Charles Gent Hedges (?-1730) who died in England not long before Joseph's own death in America. Charles Gent Hedges was the son of Sir Charles Hedges (1649-1712/14), who graduated from Doctors College Oxford in 1675. [. . .] Sir Charles was Secretary of State to Queen Anne (1665-1714; Queen: 1702-1714). This was back in the day when the Secretary of State was a secretary. A note has been preserved. Queen Anne to Sir Charles: "send me some good pens, for those I have are soe bad I can hardly make them writt." [. . .] In the 1880's, beginning in Bourbon County, KY, English lawyers rummaged around in search of Hedges heirs. [. . .] No satisfactory candidate was found. As a result, this sketch has been prepared on a computer in Cockeysville, Maryland rather than with one of Queen Ann's good pens, at a desk in Berkshire, Wanborough, Wiltshire, Burrows, or Macroon Castle, Cork. [. . .]
The Hedges of England are a well remembered clan whose presence on that island began with the Norman Conquest in 1066. As with much medieval genealogy, we are dependent upon the common occurrence of surnames, the common use of first names and the coincidences of location as the sum of our knowledge. This is the Hedges case, to a tee. The Hedges of Cornwall were known as de Lacy (de Laci) in the early records. For centuries, they were either de Lacy or de Lacy alias Hedges. Beginning in the 1600's it is all Hedges and no more de Lacy.
In 1804, Jonah Baldwin (1777-1864/5) made his way to Clark County in central Ohio, on the Western frontier. [. . .] Jonah probably journeyed to Ohio from his parents' home in Berkeley County, in present day West Virginia. [. . .] William Baldwin was a tanner. Jonah learned the trade of saddlery, no doubt from his father, but Jonah never worked at this trade in Ohio. In Clark County, Jonah became a farmer and rancher, first near New Moorefield, buying and selling cattle and driving them himself to markets east of Springfield, and perhaps to the river town of Cincinnati. Jonah was also a surveyor, a likely indication of the high quality of his (Episcopal?) schooling. He was employed off and on in laying out roads in Ohio and Indiana.
Young Jonah attended private school in Winchester, Virginia. His early education formed in Jonah the habit of reading, a habit he followed and recommended throughout his life. [. . .]
Jonah Baldwin built the first two-story house in Springfield. This residence also served as a tavern. Although a tavern owner, Jonah was recalled as temperate and even hostile to alcohol. From his tavern-owning days to his death, Jonah's views on alcohol might have changed. In 1871, six years after Jonah's death, local historian John Ludlow of Springfield, Ohio, spoke of Jonah Baldwin as strict, honest, conscientious and possessing considerable "natural ability" including "a remarkable memory of circumstances and dates." Jonah's early schooling in Virginia may have been sponsored by the Episcopal Church. He was a member of the first Episcopal vestry in Springfield; that first church was located on the southwest corner of High and Limestone Streets.
Jonah travelled widely as a surveyor. In 1824, he was commissioned by the federal government to survey a post road from the unincorporated town of Chicago to Detroit. The survey was published in 1825. [. . .] The earliest users of the new road were soldiers, who carried the mail in knapsacks. In 1832, soldiers and civilians, including Abraham Lincoln, participated in the so-called "Black Hawk War," and marched over the route. A year later, stage coaches were carrying passengers and baggage three times a week. [. . .]
The process of the settlement of Springfield had begun in the spring of 1795 when two members of a survey party, David Lowry and Jonathan Donnel, became excited at the quality of the land in this region northeast of Fort Washington, built in 1789 on the Ohio River, to protect ‘Losantville.' On returning to Ft. Washington, they partnered with Patten Shorts, who had already purchased and entered the land they were interested in and who needed surveying services to determine the boundaries of his property. [. . .]
An early Clark County history records as few as fourteen families in Springfield when Jonah Baldwin arrived in 1804. [. . .] Clark County, incorporated in 1818, was named for General George Rogers Clark, who opened the region for settlement. In Aug 1780, Clark came upriver from Louisville, with 1,000 men and destroyed the nearby Shawnee town of Piqua (pages 239, 256). [. . .]
A hand written note in Clark County archives preserved the information that in 1820 the population of the hamlet of Springfield had increased to 510. [. . .] In 1818, the year of the county's incorporation, leading citizens of Springfield offered to subscribe $2,215 for the construction of the county Courthouse. [. . .] Springfield got the courthouse, with Jonah Baldwin subscribing $100. In that same year Jonah Baldwin was elected one of three of the original trustees of Springfield Township. In 1823, Jonah was elected a grand juror.
Even before he helped subscribe and build the courthouse in 1818, Jonah Baldwin was seen as a founding community leader of the hamlet of Springfield. On January 11, 1812, he was elected Justice of the Peace, thereafter conducting official business from his tavern. [. . .]
In 1807, although a newcomer to the community (but who wasn't?), Jonah Baldwin was designated a Commissioner to represent the community in a council with Tecumseh. A record of this council states, "One of the Commissioners in the council with Tecumseh held in the village in 1801 [1807] was Jonah Baldwin, who was selected because of his sound judgment and excellent character." [. . .] The Commission had been convened to determine the circumstances of the murder of one of the White settlers. A report of the Commission sessions with Tecumseh reported, as follows:
[. . .] During its session, the two tribes of Indians became reconciled to each other, and peace and quiet was gradually restored to the settlement. The Indians remained in Springfield for three days, amusing themselves in various feats of activity and strength such as jumping, running and wrestling, in which Tecumseh generally excelled. At this time, Tecumseh was in the thirty-eighth year of his age, five feet ten inches high, with erect body, well developed and of remarkable muscular strength. His weight was about one hundred and seventy pounds. There was something noble and commanding in all his actions. Tecumseh was a Shawnese; the native. Pronunciation of the name was Tecumtha, signifying 'The Shooting Star.' He was brave, generous and humane in all his actions."
This charitable assessment of Tecumseh might not have been shared by many English-speaking settlers on the Ohio and Indiana frontier. For years after the gathering in Springfield, Tecumseh led Shawnee and other tribes in opposition to the loss of hunting grounds and the destruction of Indian towns. [. . .]
Jonah Baldwin tried the secret society of the Masons but apparently dropped out. In 1809, he and Samuel Simonton attended an organizational meeting of Masons in Urbana. This lodge alternated its meetings between Urbana, Dayton and Springfield, but the difficulty of travel prompted the Springfield and Urbana Masons to seek their own charter and lodge, which was granted in 1810. After 1815, the members from Springfield applied for a charter under the name Morning Star Lodge, No. 27. The charter was granted in 1818, but there is no record of any meetings or of any participation by Jonah Baldwin after the earlier dates. [. . .]
Born during the War for Independence, Jonah would live to see the Civil War (1861-65). Although 83 when the war began, he took an active interest in it, and was a firm supporter of the Union. [. . .]
In 1809, Jonah Baldwin married Sarah Scott (1791-1817). In 1823, after Sarah had died, Jonah married Amelia Needham (1797-1868), a daughter of Dr. William A. Needham, who came from Vermont to Springfield, Ohio in 1814, and practiced medicine there until his death in 1832. [. . .] Jonah and Amelia were the parents of five children, Sarah, Mary, Minerva, Bettie and Henry [. . .] Note the first of Amelia's babies: Sarah Baldwin; did Amelia permit Jonah to name their first child for his first wife? [. . .]
Jonah Baldwin, and his first wife, young Sarah Scott (1791-1817) were the parents of three children: Jane, Nancy, and Joseph Baldwin. Through their daughter Jane, Jonah and Sarah Scott Baldwin were the fourth great grandparents of this contributor, as follows: Jonah and Sara Baldwin's daughter, Jane Hedges Baldwin (1809-1893) married Marmaduke Moore (1808-1883) of Cynthiana, KY; they were the parents of Benjamin Moore (1837-1894), who, with his wife Mary Aurelia Mayo Moore (1839-1901), were the parents of Mary Baldwin Moore Taylor (1863-1936), mother of John Oliver Taylor Jr (1891-1960), my grandfather - the father of three daughters, including Elizabeth Taylor Cook (1918-2000). In addition to daughter Jane, Sarah and Jonah
__________________
This brief biography has been taken from Volume I of a book of family history entitled ALL OF THE ABOVE I, by Richard Baldwin Cook. For additional information, visit the contributor profile, #47181028.
YOUNG JONAH CAME ALONE BUT WELL PREPARED
By Richard Baldwin Cook
(copyright 2010)
Young Jonah came alone but well prepared,
To prairie Springfield, OH, ‘bout eighteen-four.
Anglican, a drover and surveyor,
He opened up a tavern and held court.
Ere long, pert Sarah Scott had caught his eye.
They wed when she was not above fifteen.
Childbirth most likely caused this child to die.
Leaving small ones to Jonah's harsh regime.
He took another wife and raised them all.
Food, shelter, clothing, books, them to be read.
He'd met the great Tecumseh, watched him fall.
A people unprepared, a nation's dread.
The skills that such as Jonah Baldwin brings,
The gifts that made White prairie men be kings.
***************
Jonah Baldwin's parents were William Baldwin (abt 1716-1785) and Jane Hedges (1752-aft 1785). William Baldwin was born in Chester County PA and died Sept 7, 1785 in Berkeley County, West Virginia (then part of Virginia). William was married twice and fathered a total of 14 children. His first wife was Mary _____ (1723-abt 1771), who bore William seven children. After her death, he married Jane Hedges in 1773. They also had seven children, including Jonah (1777-1864). When they married, William Baldwin was 57 and Jane Hedges, 21.
In 1750-51, William and Mary Baldwin moved from Chester to near Winchester, VA. Brother Frances Baldwin moved also, a relocation which coincides with the opening of land offices in western PA and VA, to accommodate thousands of colonists and immigrants, moving west from Chester, Lancaster, Bedford and York Counties, PA.
William was a son of Thomas Baldwin and Mary Beal, married on March 20, 1714, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Chester. Thomas' parents were Frances Baldwin (?-1712) and Cicely Coebourne, of Chester, PA. Francis and brothers, Thomas and John, were from Oxford shire, England, sons of Mary ____ and William Baldwin. [. . .]
Jonah Baldwin's mother, Jane Hedges, second wife of William Baldwin, was a daughter of Agnes Powelson (abt 1720-aft 1804). Her father was Jonah Hedges (?-?). Jonah Hedges' mother was Catherine Stalcop (1688-1749) of Newcastle City, DE, granddaughter of Swedish immigrant John Stalcop (aka Andersson) (?-?), who reached America (New Sweden) in Nov, 1641, on the ship Charitas. John's wife was Christina Jonsson/Carlsdotter, from Finland.
Jonah's father was English immigrant Joseph Hedges (?-1732), who died in Monocacy, Maryland. Joseph's father was Charles Gent Hedges (?-1730) who died in England not long before Joseph's own death in America. Charles Gent Hedges was the son of Sir Charles Hedges (1649-1712/14), who graduated from Doctors College Oxford in 1675. [. . .] Sir Charles was Secretary of State to Queen Anne (1665-1714; Queen: 1702-1714). This was back in the day when the Secretary of State was a secretary. A note has been preserved. Queen Anne to Sir Charles: "send me some good pens, for those I have are soe bad I can hardly make them writt." [. . .] In the 1880's, beginning in Bourbon County, KY, English lawyers rummaged around in search of Hedges heirs. [. . .] No satisfactory candidate was found. As a result, this sketch has been prepared on a computer in Cockeysville, Maryland rather than with one of Queen Ann's good pens, at a desk in Berkshire, Wanborough, Wiltshire, Burrows, or Macroon Castle, Cork. [. . .]
The Hedges of England are a well remembered clan whose presence on that island began with the Norman Conquest in 1066. As with much medieval genealogy, we are dependent upon the common occurrence of surnames, the common use of first names and the coincidences of location as the sum of our knowledge. This is the Hedges case, to a tee. The Hedges of Cornwall were known as de Lacy (de Laci) in the early records. For centuries, they were either de Lacy or de Lacy alias Hedges. Beginning in the 1600's it is all Hedges and no more de Lacy.
In 1804, Jonah Baldwin (1777-1864/5) made his way to Clark County in central Ohio, on the Western frontier. [. . .] Jonah probably journeyed to Ohio from his parents' home in Berkeley County, in present day West Virginia. [. . .] William Baldwin was a tanner. Jonah learned the trade of saddlery, no doubt from his father, but Jonah never worked at this trade in Ohio. In Clark County, Jonah became a farmer and rancher, first near New Moorefield, buying and selling cattle and driving them himself to markets east of Springfield, and perhaps to the river town of Cincinnati. Jonah was also a surveyor, a likely indication of the high quality of his (Episcopal?) schooling. He was employed off and on in laying out roads in Ohio and Indiana.
Young Jonah attended private school in Winchester, Virginia. His early education formed in Jonah the habit of reading, a habit he followed and recommended throughout his life. [. . .]
Jonah Baldwin built the first two-story house in Springfield. This residence also served as a tavern. Although a tavern owner, Jonah was recalled as temperate and even hostile to alcohol. From his tavern-owning days to his death, Jonah's views on alcohol might have changed. In 1871, six years after Jonah's death, local historian John Ludlow of Springfield, Ohio, spoke of Jonah Baldwin as strict, honest, conscientious and possessing considerable "natural ability" including "a remarkable memory of circumstances and dates." Jonah's early schooling in Virginia may have been sponsored by the Episcopal Church. He was a member of the first Episcopal vestry in Springfield; that first church was located on the southwest corner of High and Limestone Streets.
Jonah travelled widely as a surveyor. In 1824, he was commissioned by the federal government to survey a post road from the unincorporated town of Chicago to Detroit. The survey was published in 1825. [. . .] The earliest users of the new road were soldiers, who carried the mail in knapsacks. In 1832, soldiers and civilians, including Abraham Lincoln, participated in the so-called "Black Hawk War," and marched over the route. A year later, stage coaches were carrying passengers and baggage three times a week. [. . .]
The process of the settlement of Springfield had begun in the spring of 1795 when two members of a survey party, David Lowry and Jonathan Donnel, became excited at the quality of the land in this region northeast of Fort Washington, built in 1789 on the Ohio River, to protect ‘Losantville.' On returning to Ft. Washington, they partnered with Patten Shorts, who had already purchased and entered the land they were interested in and who needed surveying services to determine the boundaries of his property. [. . .]
An early Clark County history records as few as fourteen families in Springfield when Jonah Baldwin arrived in 1804. [. . .] Clark County, incorporated in 1818, was named for General George Rogers Clark, who opened the region for settlement. In Aug 1780, Clark came upriver from Louisville, with 1,000 men and destroyed the nearby Shawnee town of Piqua (pages 239, 256). [. . .]
A hand written note in Clark County archives preserved the information that in 1820 the population of the hamlet of Springfield had increased to 510. [. . .] In 1818, the year of the county's incorporation, leading citizens of Springfield offered to subscribe $2,215 for the construction of the county Courthouse. [. . .] Springfield got the courthouse, with Jonah Baldwin subscribing $100. In that same year Jonah Baldwin was elected one of three of the original trustees of Springfield Township. In 1823, Jonah was elected a grand juror.
Even before he helped subscribe and build the courthouse in 1818, Jonah Baldwin was seen as a founding community leader of the hamlet of Springfield. On January 11, 1812, he was elected Justice of the Peace, thereafter conducting official business from his tavern. [. . .]
In 1807, although a newcomer to the community (but who wasn't?), Jonah Baldwin was designated a Commissioner to represent the community in a council with Tecumseh. A record of this council states, "One of the Commissioners in the council with Tecumseh held in the village in 1801 [1807] was Jonah Baldwin, who was selected because of his sound judgment and excellent character." [. . .] The Commission had been convened to determine the circumstances of the murder of one of the White settlers. A report of the Commission sessions with Tecumseh reported, as follows:
[. . .] During its session, the two tribes of Indians became reconciled to each other, and peace and quiet was gradually restored to the settlement. The Indians remained in Springfield for three days, amusing themselves in various feats of activity and strength such as jumping, running and wrestling, in which Tecumseh generally excelled. At this time, Tecumseh was in the thirty-eighth year of his age, five feet ten inches high, with erect body, well developed and of remarkable muscular strength. His weight was about one hundred and seventy pounds. There was something noble and commanding in all his actions. Tecumseh was a Shawnese; the native. Pronunciation of the name was Tecumtha, signifying 'The Shooting Star.' He was brave, generous and humane in all his actions."
This charitable assessment of Tecumseh might not have been shared by many English-speaking settlers on the Ohio and Indiana frontier. For years after the gathering in Springfield, Tecumseh led Shawnee and other tribes in opposition to the loss of hunting grounds and the destruction of Indian towns. [. . .]
Jonah Baldwin tried the secret society of the Masons but apparently dropped out. In 1809, he and Samuel Simonton attended an organizational meeting of Masons in Urbana. This lodge alternated its meetings between Urbana, Dayton and Springfield, but the difficulty of travel prompted the Springfield and Urbana Masons to seek their own charter and lodge, which was granted in 1810. After 1815, the members from Springfield applied for a charter under the name Morning Star Lodge, No. 27. The charter was granted in 1818, but there is no record of any meetings or of any participation by Jonah Baldwin after the earlier dates. [. . .]
Born during the War for Independence, Jonah would live to see the Civil War (1861-65). Although 83 when the war began, he took an active interest in it, and was a firm supporter of the Union. [. . .]
In 1809, Jonah Baldwin married Sarah Scott (1791-1817). In 1823, after Sarah had died, Jonah married Amelia Needham (1797-1868), a daughter of Dr. William A. Needham, who came from Vermont to Springfield, Ohio in 1814, and practiced medicine there until his death in 1832. [. . .] Jonah and Amelia were the parents of five children, Sarah, Mary, Minerva, Bettie and Henry [. . .] Note the first of Amelia's babies: Sarah Baldwin; did Amelia permit Jonah to name their first child for his first wife? [. . .]
Jonah Baldwin, and his first wife, young Sarah Scott (1791-1817) were the parents of three children: Jane, Nancy, and Joseph Baldwin. Through their daughter Jane, Jonah and Sarah Scott Baldwin were the fourth great grandparents of this contributor, as follows: Jonah and Sara Baldwin's daughter, Jane Hedges Baldwin (1809-1893) married Marmaduke Moore (1808-1883) of Cynthiana, KY; they were the parents of Benjamin Moore (1837-1894), who, with his wife Mary Aurelia Mayo Moore (1839-1901), were the parents of Mary Baldwin Moore Taylor (1863-1936), mother of John Oliver Taylor Jr (1891-1960), my grandfather - the father of three daughters, including Elizabeth Taylor Cook (1918-2000). In addition to daughter Jane, Sarah and Jonah
__________________
This brief biography has been taken from Volume I of a book of family history entitled ALL OF THE ABOVE I, by Richard Baldwin Cook. For additional information, visit the contributor profile, #47181028.
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