Joseph Glover Baldwin

Joseph Glover Baldwin was born in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. After obtaining his license to practice law when he turned twenty-one, Baldwin decided to move to the Southwest. He practiced law briefly in DeKalb, Mississippi, before moving to Gainesville, Alabama. Although he was successful as a lawyer, he decided to enter politics, serving a two-year term in the Alabama House of Representatives. He ran for the United States Congress in 1848 but failed. Baldwin moved his family to Livingston, Alabama, in 1850, and he continued practicing law while also writing humorous sketches of characters he encountered during his legal career. His literary pursuits gained recognition when he published these sketches in a book titled The Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi. In 1855, he published a second book, a collection of political portraits. Shortly before his second publication, Baldwin left Alabama for San Francisco, California, where he was appointed to the California Supreme Court. He died of tetanus in 1864.

The Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi: A Series of Sketches. New York; D. Appleton and Co., 1853. Rpt. Baton Rouge; Louisiana State University Press, 1987.

Party Leaders: Sketches of Thomas Jefferson, Alex'r Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John Randolph, of Roanoke, Including Notices of Many Other Distinguished American Statesmen. New York; D. Appleton, 1855. Rpt. Freeport, N.Y.; Books for Libraries Press, 1972.

Joseph Glover Baldwin wrote in the Old Southwest Humor genre. His work often focuses on the role that lawyers played in bringing the frontier to order.

Alabama Authors of the 19th and 20th Centuries, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, http://AlabamaAuthors.org

AL Author Collection

Baldwin, Joseph Glover, “Joseph Glover Baldwin,” Alabama Authors of the 19th & 20th Centuries, accessed September 20, 2024, https://alabamaauthors.org/items/show/534.