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AARON STOCKHOLM
BALDWIN.
AARON STOCKHOLM BALDWIN, of Hoboken,
comes from one of the oldest families of New England, his ancestors
emigrating from the mother country with the early colonists.
From New England they moved into Eastern New York, and there
raised the standard of their race, conquered the primeval forests,
and exemplified in their lives the sterling traits of industry,
integrity, and progress. Like the subject of this sketch, many
of them achieved prominence in public and business affairs, wielding
a potent influence for good, and leaving behind them the memories
of an honorable name.
Mr. Bladwin was born in East Fishkill,
Dutchess County, N. Y., June 8, 1839, being the son of Elisha
S. Baldwin and Aletta C. Stockholm, a grandson of Daniel Baldwin,
of Lake Mahopac, Putnam County, N. Y., and of Aaron Stockholm,
of Fishkill, from whom he was named, and a great-grandson of
Elisha Baldwin, a pioneer of the Hudson River Valley. His father
was born at Lake Mahopac, and during his active life followed
successfully the dual occupation of farmer and live stock dealer.
Mr. Baldwin attended the East Fishkill public schools until he
was twelve years old, when he entered Pingree Academy at Fishkill,
where he reamined five years. Afterward he spent five years at
what is now Drew Seminary in Carinel, Putnam County, graduating
in 1860. His sutides in these institutions were in every way
worthy of the broad and receptive intellectual qualities which
he manifested as a boy, and which have served him sell in business
and public relations.
Having received a thorough classical
training, he returned home, and in Septembe, 1863, went to Chicago
to accept a position with the American Express Company, which
he held until July, 1870. At that date he moved to Weehawken,
N. J., and engaged in the live stock storage business as general
live stock agent for the Erie Railroad, and continued in that
capacity until 1898, when he organized and incorporated the Weehawken
Stock Yard Company, of which he is President and Treasurer and
a director.
Mr. Baldwin has been an active Republican
ever since he cast his first vote and almost every since the
organization of the party, and for about a quarter of a century,
with the exception of one or two years, has been a leading member
of the Hudson County Republican Committee; and he is now Chairman
of its Organization Committee, which has been asked to devise
ways and means by which the party can be re-organized in the
coutny. He was member of the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders
in 1881, 1882, and 1883, from the Tenth Assembly District, and
for seven years served as a member and Chairman of the Board
of Tax Commissioners of Hoboken, where he settled in April, 1886,
and whe he still resides. He is now one of the commissioners
appointed by Governor Voorhees to inquire into the expediency
of consolidating the several municipalities of Hudson County
into one great city. This commission was formally organized June
14, 1809. Mr. Baldwin is also one of the commissioners in Hoboken
to adjust the taxes in arrears under the Martin act. He has been
a delegate to almsot every State, district, county, and local
Republican convention for upward of twenty-five years, was an
alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention of 1880,
and in 1896 was his party's candidate for Sheriff of Hudson County,
and, though defeated by about 1,100 votes, carried Hoboken by
over 500 and not only reduced the usual Democratic majority to
an insignificant figure but changed entirely the complexion of
the Democratic vote and raised the standard of the Republicans.
His activity and prominence in the
ranks of the Republic party and his long and honorable connection
with the live stock markets of New Jersey and New York have won
for Mr. Baldwin an extensive acquaintance, among whom he is universally
respected and esteemed. He is one of the most popular men of
Hudson County. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks of Hoboken, and has always supported with liberal
hand every movement designed to promote the general welfare.
Mr. Baldwin was married, June 30,
1869, to Elizabeth Janet Watson, daughter of George L. Watson,
of Auburn, N. Y.
Source: Genealogical
History of Hudson and Bergen Counties, New Jersey, Editor,
Cornelius Burnham Harvey, The New Jersey Genealogical Publishing
Company, 1900, page 180-182. |
