Editing Matthias W. Baldwin

{{short description|American inventor, early abolitionist, and machinery manufacturer}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name=Matthias W. Baldwin
| image=Baldwin-Matthias-1899.jpg
| caption=
| birth_date={{Birth date|1795|12|10|mf=y}}
| birth_place=[[Elizabethtown, New Jersey]], U.S.
| death_date={{death date and age|1866|9|7|1795|12|10|mf=y}}
| death_place=[[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| resting_place=[[Laurel Hill Cemetery]], Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| occupation = Inventor, machinery manufacturer
}}

'''Matthias William Baldwin''' (December 10, 1795 &ndash; September 7, 1866) was an [[Americans|American]] inventor and machinery manufacturer, specializing in the production of [[steam locomotive]]s. Baldwin's small machine shop, established in 1825, grew to become [[Baldwin Locomotive Works]], one of the largest and most successful locomotive manufacturing firms in the United States. The most famous of the early locomotives were ''Old Ironsides'', built by Matthias Baldwin in 1832.<ref name=Ironside>{{cite web| website=Virginia.edu| url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/transport/railroad.html| title=Early Railroads| at=Old Ironsides; img. 6| access-date=2013-01-08| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808022220/http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/transport/railroad.html| archive-date=2018-08-08}}</ref> Baldwin was also a strong advocate of [[abolitionism]].

==Early years==
Matthias W. Baldwin was born December 10, 1795, in [[Elizabethtown, New Jersey]]. He was the youngest of five children born to a prosperous [[carriage]] builder named William Baldwin.{{sfn|Calkins|1867|page=12}} Following his father's death in 1799, executors of the Baldwin estate proved unequal to the task, however, and his widow and children were left in difficult financial circumstances owing to their poor management.<ref name=NCAB>{{cite book| chapter=Matthias William Baldwin| title=National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Volume 9| location=New York| publisher=James T. White & Co.| year=1899| page=476}}</ref>

Although he received a very satisfactory [[common school]] education, Baldwin's inclination and aptitude related to mechanical tinkering from an early age.<ref name=NCAB /> Toys would be deconstructed and reassembled to learn their inner workings and spare bits and pieces of machinery would be put to new use in a makeshift workshop inside his mother's home.<ref name=NCAB />

[[File:Baldwin-FirstSteamEngine-1828.jpg|thumb|right|160px|Baldwin's first stationary steam engine, built in 1828.]]

In 1811 the 16-year-old Baldwin was made an [[apprentice]] jewelry maker to the Woolworth Brothers of [[Frankford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Frankford, Pennsylvania]] (now part of the [[City of Philadelphia]]).<ref name=NCAB /> Apprenticeship in these days was a virtually coercive relationship marked by long hours of labor and miserable compensation. In 1817, shortly before the fixed term of his [[indenture]] was completed, Baldwin moved together with his mother to [[Philadelphia]].<ref name=NCAB /> There the budding jewelry maker was employed by the firm of Fletcher & Gardner, one of the leading jewelry manufacturers of the city.<ref name=NCAB />

Baldwin proved to be a valuable [[journeyman]] employee over the next two years.<ref name=NCAB /> In 1819 Baldwin quit Fletcher & Gardner and began to work as an independent silversmith.<ref name=NCAB /> Baldwin quickly proved himself a skilled and innovative craftsman and developed a revolutionary new technique for making [[gold plating|gold plate]].<ref name=NCAB /> Rather than the painstaking application of [[gold leaf]] to [[base metal]], Baldwin's method of manufacture made use of [[soldering]] a piece of gold to the base metal and rolling the two together until the requisite thickness was attained.{{sfn|Calkins|1867|p=23}} Baldwin's technique came to gain wide acceptance as the industry standard although, unfortunately for him, it was never protected through the acquisition of a [[patent]].{{sfn|Calkins|1867|p=23}}

==Machinery maker==
During the middle 1820s demand for jewelry and silverware suddenly experienced a dramatic decline, forcing Baldwin to search for a new occupation.<ref name=NCAB /> In 1825, Baldwin went into partnership with a [[machinist]] named David Mason to form a company which made industrial equipment for [[printing|printers]] and [[bookbinding|bookbinders]]: tools, dies, and machines that had previously been exclusively imported from Europe.<ref name=NCAB /> The pair became involved in the manufacture of printing cylinders and perfected an improved process for the etching of steel plates.<ref name=NCAB />

The needs of the growing firm demanded both larger quarters and an improved power source.<ref name=NCAB /> In 1828 Baldwin devised and constructed his first [[steam engine]], a stationary device that produced 5 [[horsepower]] of output and remained in use in the shop for four decades.<ref name=NCAB /> Baldwin's engine was not only the most powerful of its day but also incorporated mechanical innovation to power rotary motion, which ultimately came to have application in transport, including marine engine design.<ref name=NCAB /> The original engine still survives in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

Demand for steam engines proved to be great and Baldwin and Mason quickly supplanted their printing machinery business with an engine-making division.<ref name=NCAB /> Within a decade the firm would be regarded as the top engine maker in the country.<ref name=NCAB />

==Locomotive builder==
[[File:Old-Irosides-1832.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Baldwin's ''Old Ironsides'' engine, manufactured in 1832.]]

Baldwin put his knowledge of stationary steam engines to new use in 1831 when he constructed his first experimental steam locomotive. Based on designs first shown at the [[Rainhill Trials]] in [[England]], Baldwin's prototype was a small demonstration engine that was displayed at Peale's Philadelphia City Museum. The engine was strong enough to pull a few cars that carried four passengers each. This locomotive was unusual for the time in that it burned [[coal]], which was available locally, instead of wood.

{{anchor|Old Ironsides}}
The next year Baldwin built his first commissioned [[steam locomotive]] for the fledgling [[Reading Company|Philadelphia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad]].<ref name=Day39>{{cite book| chapter=Matthias William Baldwin| editor1-first=Lance| editor1-last=Day| editor2-first=Ian| editor2-last=Mcneil| title=Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology| location=London| publisher=Routledge| year=1995| page=39}}</ref> This engine, nicknamed ''Old Ironsides,'' traveled at the rate of only {{convert|1|mph}} in initial trials made on November 23, 1832, but the machine was later refined and improved so that a peak speed of {{convert|28|mph|abbr=on}} was attained.<ref name=Day39 /> It weighed over 5 tons, with {{convert|54|in|mm|abbr=on}} diameter rear wheels, {{convert|9.5|in|mm|abbr=on}} cylinders with {{convert|18|in|mm|abbr=on}} stroke and a {{convert|30|in|mm|abbr=on}} diameter boiler which took 20 minutes to raise steam.<ref>{{cite book| last=Kerr| first=James W.| title=Baldwin Locomotives| year=1983| publisher=DPA-LTA| location=Vermont| isbn=091929510X| page=4}}</ref> This locomotive was a [[2-2-0]] ([[Whyte notation]]) type, meaning it had one unpowered leading axle and one powered driving axle. Although contracted for $4,000, owing to performance shortcomings a compromise price of $3,500 (equal to ${{Inflation|US|3500|1833|fmt=c}} today) between the railroad and the budding Baldwin Locomotive Works was ultimately agreed upon and received.<ref>{{cite book| author=Baldwin Locomotive Works| url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbaldwin00baldiala| title=History of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1831-1920| location=Philadelphia| publisher=Martino-Pflieger Co.| year=1920| page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofbaldwin00baldiala/page/10 10]}}</ref>

Baldwin was issued {{US patent|54}} "Art of managing and supplying fire for generating steam in locomotive-engines" in 1836. As the text of the patent explained ''"The intention of this new mode of managing the fire is to enable me, at each water station, or any convenient place to have a clear coal fire waiting the arrival of the engine so that the grate or fire-place which has been in use, may be detached or slid out, and that containing the clear fire, made to occupy its place." ''

==Personal life==
[[File:Matthias William Baldwin.jpg|thumb|right|220px|[[Statue of Matthias W. Baldwin|A statue of Baldwin]] in front of [[Philadelphia City Hall]].]]

Baldwin was a devout member of the [[Presbyterian Church]] and a consistent donor to religious and secular charitable causes throughout his life.<ref name=NCAB /> In 1824 he was a founder of the [[Franklin Institute]] in Philadelphia.<ref name=NCAB /> He was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1833.<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=1833&year-max=1833&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-04-08|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

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.<ref name=NCAB /> Baldwin was an outspoken supporter for the [[Abolitionism in the United States|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 [[Southern United States|South]].<ref name=NCAB />

Baldwin was a member of the 1837 [[Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention#History|Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention]] and emerged as a defender of voting rights for the state's black male citizens.<ref name=NCAB />

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.

==Death and legacy==
[[File:MatthiasBaldwinGrave.jpg|thumb|Matthias Baldwin memorial in [[Laurel Hill Cemetery]]]]
Baldwin died on September 7, 1866, at his country home in [[Wissinoming, Philadelphia|Wissinoming]], and was interred at [[Laurel Hill Cemetery]] in Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Matthias W Baldwin |url=https://remembermyjourney.com/memorials/matthias-w-baldwin?id=zD3EyjMp |website=remembermyjourney.com |publisher=webCemeteries |access-date=14 December 2024}}</ref>

At the time of its founder's death, the Baldwin Locomotive Works had produced some 1,500 steam locomotives.<ref name=Day39 /> The company ultimately produced a total of some 75,000 steam locomotive engines, before it terminated production in 1956.<ref name=Day39 />

[[Statue of Matthias W. Baldwin|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]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-protests-matthias-baldwin-statue-abolitionist-twitter-photos-20200612.html | first=Rob | last=Tornoe | title=Photos of defaced statue of Philly abolitionist Matthias Baldwin go viral | date=June 12, 2020 | access-date=June 13, 2020}}</ref>

==See also==

* [[Baldwin Locomotive Works]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

;Company publications
* {{cite book| author=Baldwin Locomotive Works| url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbaldwin00baldiala| title=History of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1831-1920| location=Philadelphia| publisher=Martino-Pflieger Co.| year=1920}}
* {{cite book| author=Baldwin Locomotive Works| url=https://archive.org/details/baldwinlocomotiv00baldrich| title=Illustrated Catalogue of Locomotives| edition=First| location=Philadelphia| publisher=J.B. Lippincott and Co.| date=n.d.| orig-date=c. 1871}}
* {{cite book| author=Baldwin Locomotive Works| url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedcatal00baldrich| title=Illustrated Catalogue of Locomotives| edition=Second| location=Philadelphia| publisher=J.B. Lippincott and Co.| year=1881}}
* {{cite book| author=Baldwin Locomotive Works| title=100 Years of Locomotive Progress| location=Bristol, CT| publisher=Simmons-Boardman| year=1931}}

;Independent publications
* {{cite book| first=John K.| last=Brown| title=The Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1831-1915: A Study in American Industrial Practice| location=Baltimore, MD| publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press| year=1995}}
* {{cite book| first=Wolcott| last=Calkins| url=https://archive.org/details/memorialofmatthi00calkiala| title=Memorial of Matthias W. Baldwin| location=Philadelphia| publisher=Collins| year=1867}}
* {{cite book| first=Ralph| last=Kelly| title=Matthias W. Baldwin (1795-1866), Locomotive Pioneer!| location=New York| publisher=Newcomen Society of England, American Branch| year=1946}}
* {{cite book| first=Frederick| last=Westing| title=The Locomotives that Baldwin Built| location=Seattle, WA| publisher=Superior Publishing Co.| year=1966}}
* {{cite book| first=J.H. Jr.| last=White| title=A History of the American Locomotive: Its Development, 1830-1880| location=New York| publisher=Dover Publications| year=1979}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin, Matthias W.}}
[[Category:1795 births]]
[[Category:1866 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American inventors]]
[[Category:19th-century American philanthropists]]
[[Category:American abolitionists]]
[[Category:American Civil War industrialists]]
[[Category:American Presbyterians]]
[[Category:American railroad pioneers]]
[[Category:Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Elizabeth, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Locomotive builders and designers]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Philanthropists from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Presbyterian abolitionists]]