Stephen G. Baldwin
A scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of Grant County, the late Stephen G. Baldwin here passed his entire life, and his exalted integrity of character, as well as his large and worthy achievements in connection with the practical activities of life, gave him prestige as one of the representative citizens of his native county, where he ever held inviolable place in the confidence and high regard of his fellow men, so that there is all of propriety in according to his memory a special tribute in this publication.
On the old Baldwin homestead farm, situated on the banks of Deer Creek, in Mill township, Grant County, Indiana, Stephen G. Baldwin was born on the 3d day of August, 1850, and has passed the closing years of his life in the city of Marion, the judicial center and metropolis of the county, where he was summoned to eternal rest on the 13th of October 1909, -known and revered as one of the noble and loyal citizens and representative business men of the county's capital city. The conditions and influences of the home farm compassed the boyhood and early youth of Mr. Baldwin and he thus learned the lessons of practical industry in the formative period of his life. After completing the curriculum of the Deer Creek District School he continued his studies in the graded school at Jonesboro, and thus he laid a firm foundation for the broad and liberal education which he later gained through self-discipline and the advantages of the Bryant & Stratton Business College in the city of Indianapolis, and the training further fortified him for the responsibilities and actions of active business affairs. As a boy he had not only assisted in the work of the home farm but also in that of the shoemaker's shop maintained by his father in the village of Jonesboro.
In 1874, at the age of twenty-four years, Mr. Baldwin established himself in the insurance and loan business at Marion, and in these lines he was one of the first in the city to build up a large and substantial business. In this important line of enterprise he continued, with large and worthy success, until his death, when he was succeeded by his only son who still remains at the head of the S. G. Baldwin Insurance & Loan Agency, which perpetuates the name of its honored founder.
Mr. Baldwin was a man of broad views, was generous and tolerant in his judgment, was loyal and progressive as a citizen, and his name and memory are revered by all who came within the circle of his benignant influence. Though he had no desire to enter the turbulent stream of practical politics, he was well fortified in his views concerning matters of governmental and economic import and was a stanch supporter of the cause of the Republican party.
He was imbued with great love for nature "in her visible forms," and found pleasure in the propagation of flowers and ornamental shrubbery, about his attractive residence premises, on South Washington Street, the place becoming a veritable floral bower under his effective labors and artistic predilections. He took vital interest in all that touched the progress and prosperity of his home city and county and was a valued member of the Marion Commercial Club, of which he was a director at the time of his death.
On the 23d of August, 1877, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Baldwin to Miss Elizabeth C. Horne, who was born and reared in Grant County and who is a daughter of the late Dr. Samuel S. Horne, Sr., of Jonesboro.
Centennial History of Grant County Indiana 1812-1912. The Lewis Publishing Co., 1914