Zam-Zam
Senator
American abolitionist:
Baldwin was a devout member of the Presbyterian Church and a consistent donor to religious and secular charitable causes throughout his life.[3] In 1824 he was a founder of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.[3]
In 1835, he donated money to establish a school for African-American children in Philadelphia and continued to pay the teachers' salaries out of his own pocket for years thereafter.[3] Baldwin was an outspoken supporter for the abolition of slavery in the United States, a position that was used against him and his firm by competitors eager to sell locomotives to railroads based in the slaveholding South.[3]
Baldwin was a member of the 1837 Pennsylvania State Constitutional Convention and emerged as a defender of voting rights for the state's black male citizens.[3]
Baldwin married a distant cousin in 1827, Sarah C. Baldwin. Together, they had three children.
One of his last philanthropic efforts was the donation of 10% of his company's income to the Civil War Christian Mission in the early 1860s.
Baldwin died on September 7, 1866, at his country home in Wissinoming, a Philadelphia neighborhood.[3]
At the time of its founder's death, the Baldwin Locomotive Works had produced some 1,500 steam locomotives.[5] The company ultimately produced a total of some 75,000 steam locomotive engines, before it terminated production in 1956.[5] He is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia.
A statue of Baldwin was first erected in Philadelphia in 1906, and moved in front of Philadelphia City Hall in 1936. In late May 2020, it was briefly defaced with the words "colonizer" and "murderer", and was cleaned soon afterward. The incident increased interest in Baldwin's legacy, according to the president of the volunteer group Friends of Matthias Baldwin Park.[8]
Baldwin was a devout member of the Presbyterian Church and a consistent donor to religious and secular charitable causes throughout his life.[3] In 1824 he was a founder of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.[3]
In 1835, he donated money to establish a school for African-American children in Philadelphia and continued to pay the teachers' salaries out of his own pocket for years thereafter.[3] Baldwin was an outspoken supporter for the abolition of slavery in the United States, a position that was used against him and his firm by competitors eager to sell locomotives to railroads based in the slaveholding South.[3]
Baldwin was a member of the 1837 Pennsylvania State Constitutional Convention and emerged as a defender of voting rights for the state's black male citizens.[3]
Baldwin married a distant cousin in 1827, Sarah C. Baldwin. Together, they had three children.
One of his last philanthropic efforts was the donation of 10% of his company's income to the Civil War Christian Mission in the early 1860s.
Baldwin died on September 7, 1866, at his country home in Wissinoming, a Philadelphia neighborhood.[3]
At the time of its founder's death, the Baldwin Locomotive Works had produced some 1,500 steam locomotives.[5] The company ultimately produced a total of some 75,000 steam locomotive engines, before it terminated production in 1956.[5] He is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia.
A statue of Baldwin was first erected in Philadelphia in 1906, and moved in front of Philadelphia City Hall in 1936. In late May 2020, it was briefly defaced with the words "colonizer" and "murderer", and was cleaned soon afterward. The incident increased interest in Baldwin's legacy, according to the president of the volunteer group Friends of Matthias Baldwin Park.[8]
Matthias W. Baldwin - Wikipedia
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