Joseph G. Baldwin
| Joseph Glover Baldwin | |
|---|---|
| Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court | |
|
In office October 2, 1858 – January 2, 1862 |
|
| Appointed by | Direct election |
| Preceded by | Hugh Murray |
| Succeeded by | Edward Norton |
| State Representative in the Alabama House of Representatives | |
|
In office 1843–1849 |
|
| Appointed by | Direct election |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 21, 1815 Winchester, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | September 29, 1864 (aged 49) San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Sidney Gaylard White (m. 1839) |
| Children | Alexander W. Baldwin, son |
Joseph Glover Baldwin (January 21, 1815 – September 29, 1864) was an American attorney and humor writer who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California from October 2, 1858 to January 2, 1864.
Born in Winchester, Virginia, Baldwin was educated in Stanton, Virginia. He displayed precocious talents; while still a teenager he worked as a Deputy Court Clerk and a newspaper editor. He read law in the office of his uncle, Judge Briscoe G. Baldwin, to become a lawyer and was admitted to the bar by age 19. In 1836, Joseph Baldwin moved to DeKalb County, Alabama, thereafter moving to Gainesville, Alabama in 1838. There, he practiced law with his brother, Cornelius C. Baldwin, and with J. Bliss. Another brother, Oliver P. Baldwin, was a lawyer, newspaper editor, and speaker in Cleveland and later Richmond, Virginia.
In 1843, Baldwin was elected as a Whig to the Alabama House of Representatives. In August 1849, he was defeated by Democrat Samuel Williams Inge in a bid for the United States Congress by only 400 votes. In 1850, Baldwin moved to Livingston, Alabama, where he continued to practice, while writing two books of humorous stories, The Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi: A Series of Sketches, published in 1853, and Party Leaders, published the following year. He also saw his work published in the New York City weekly newspaper, The Spirit of the Times.
In 1854, Baldwin moved to California, where he served as counsel on a number of important cases. In 1858, following the death of Chief Justice Hugh Murray, Baldwin was nominated by the Democratic Party, as well as endorsed by the Lecompton Democrat convention, and elected by the people to serve out the remainder of Murray's term on the California Supreme Court from October 2, 1858, until January 2, 1862. Chief Justice Stephen Johnson Field praised Baldwin's opinion in Hart v. Burnett (1860), concerning pueblo land grants, as a model of scholarly learning. In July 1861, he was put forward for nomination by the Breckenridge Democratic Party for another term on the court, but he declined the nomination.Edward Norton was elected to fill Baldwin's seat.
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