15 Facts About Abraham Baldwin

Abraham Baldwin was an American minister, patriot, politician, and Founding Father who signed the United States Constitution.

Abraham Baldwin moved to the US state of Georgia in the mid-1780s and founded the University of Georgia.

Abraham Baldwin was born in 1754 in Guilford in the Connecticut Colony into a large family, the son of Lucy and Michael Baldwin, a blacksmith, and descended from Elder John Strong.

Abraham Baldwin's half-brother, Henry Baldwin, was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Abraham Baldwin did not see combat while with the Continental troops.

Two years later at the conclusion of the war, Abraham Baldwin declined an offer from Yale's new president, Ezra Stiles, to become Professor of Divinity.

Abraham Baldwin was recruited by fellow Yale alumnus Governor Lyman Hall, another transplanted New Englander, to develop a state education plan.

Abraham Baldwin was named the first president of the University of Georgia and became active in politics to build support for the university, which had not yet enrolled its first student.

Abraham Baldwin remained president of the University of Georgia during its initial development phase until 1800.

Abraham Baldwin was elected to the Georgia Assembly, where he became very active, working to develop support for the college.

Abraham Baldwin was able to mediate between the rougher frontiersmen, perhaps because of his childhood as the son of a blacksmith, and the aristocratic planter elite who dominated the coastal Lowcountry.

Abraham Baldwin became one of the most prominent legislators, pushing significant measures such as the education bill through the sometimes split Georgia Assembly.

Abraham Baldwin was elected as representative to the US Congress in 1788.

Abraham Baldwin was re-elected and served in office until his death.

On March 4,1807, at age 52, Abraham Baldwin died while serving as a US senator from Georgia.