Biographical Sketch of T. S. Baldwin, Johnson County, Missouri, Grover Township >From "History of Johnson County, Missouri," by Ewing Cockrell, Historical Publishing Company, Topeka, Cleveland, 1918. ********************************************************************** T. S. Baldwin, a noble and respected pioneer of Johnson county, Miss- ouri, is one of the prosperous, widely known, and progressive farmers and stockmen of Grover township. He was born in 1850, son of Sylvester and Eliza (Marshall) Baldwin, in Pettis county, Missouri. Mrs. Baldwin was a daughter of Thomas Marshall, an honored pioneer of Missouri. The Baldwin family located in Pettis county about 1848 and in 1853 settled in Johnson county. When a child three years of age, T. S. Baldwin came to Johnson county with his parents. He was reared to maturity in this county and well recalls the open condition of the prairie and how he assisted, when a youth, in breaking sod, while driving a yoke of oxen. T. S. Baldwin attended school where the Peace and Harmony school house is now located. The second teacher to teach the school was Jesse Har- grave. There was no more school then until 1868. The little log school house was burned to the ground during the Civil War. After the war, George Couch taught the school for several years. The children followed the trail to the school, as there were no roads in the county in those days. If the settlers were obliged to go any great distance, they traveled by direction. There were no bridges and travel in the early days was exceedingly dangerous. All who were able attended church, however, and many of the settlers came many miles on horseback or in wagons, drawn by oxen, while a large number walked the entire distance of several miles across the open prairie. Rev. C. A. Headrick and Rev. Stanford Ing were two of the earliest preachers. In spite of the difficulty in traveling, people in those days enjoyed going to church. Mr. Baldwin has countless times gone to church with his par- ents in the ox-wagon. Oxen were used in place of horses in the work of breaking sod and plowing corn by T. S. Baldwin on his father's farm. Mr. Baldwin relates in his interesting manner how hay used to be cut and shocked. There was but one steel pitchfork in all the country, a two-tined one, all the others being forked sticks of wood. All the men in the settlement would assist in putting up hay in the field of any one of their number and they would work from field to field until all the work was done. In early manhood, Mr. Baldwin learned the black- smith's trade and he has fashioned countless plows of the old fashioned type. He tells how very mysterious the first wheat drill was to him. The advent of this invention marked an epoch in the history of wheat growing. Mr. Baldwin is a naturally gifted mechanician and it is time exceedingly well spent to hear him relate the development of farm mach- inery, described in an entertaining way the old farm implements and explaining the changes which have been made in the course of the past half century. For many years T. S. Baldwin lived in a log cabin. He remembers the halcyon days of the hunter and has himself killed hund- reds of prairie chickens. Wild geese in flocks of thousands haunted Blackwater. Meat was always plentiful and no one needed to be without dried venison. Other supplies were not so easily obtained. Once a year they were hauled from Lexington, Missouri. Prairie fires were constantly feared and dreaded, as they were very destructive. Barns were then made of stakes and dried grass and were easily burned. In 1875, T. S. Baldwin was united in marriage with Sarah Campbell, daugh- ter of Jasper Campbell, who came to Missouri from Tennessee, among the first settlers of Johnson county. To T. S. and Sarah (Campbell) Bald- win have been born three children, all of whom are now living: Mrs. Nannie Cox, Knob Noster, Missouri, R.F.D. 10; Otto, Knob Noster, Mo.; and Mrs. Mary Heilman, Lincoln, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin began life together with but little worldly goods, but with plenty of courage, determination, and perseverance. They were obliged to use dry goods box for a dining table for several years, for their little farm of 40 acres, which Mr. Baldwin purchased in 1866, did not yield them great wealth. They suffered all the privations, hardships, and afflictions of pioneer life, but Mr. Baldwin hopefully kept up the fight in spite of countless discouragements and in the course of time began to pros- per. It would be a valuable lesson, sadly needed by the youth of today to hear Mr. Baldwin relate how he saved his money to build his present beautiful home, a dream of years. It was built in 1883. He is now the owner of 260 acres of land, 130 acres of which are in grass and pasture. Mr. Baldwin devotes much attention to stock raising, handling spotted Poland China hogs and red roan cattle. He has recently been giving special time and attention to the raising of mules and has been very successful. In addition to his stock interests, Mr. Baldwin plants from 40 to 60 acres of his place in wheat, annually reaping a good crop. In 1908, he received his first staggering blow, when Mrs. Baldwin died. She had been his faithful partner and ever willing helper for thirty- three years. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. 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