History of Oakland County Michigan a narrative account of its historic progress, its people, its principal interests / compiled from the official records of the county, the newspapers and data of personal interviews, under the editorial supervision of Thaddeus D. Seeley.

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HISTORY OF OAKLAND COUNTY

during that time he has been employed either on behalf of the people in
prosecuting, or in behalf of the defense in a multitude of famous criminal cases, while many of his most famous civil victories are leading
cases and recorded landmarks for the guidance of the profession in
this state.
"As in the legal field, so in the political arena Judge Baldwin has
since his first appearance in politics been a recognized leader of the adherents of his party. He has always been a persistent and powerful
advocate of the principles of that party which demands the recognition
and development of the individual, which is founded in opposition to
the idea of centralization; it was impossible for him to be other than a
Democrat. Democratic instinct was all powerful in him; he personifies
the doctrine of 'individuality,' being a living exponent of what is meant
and may be accomplished by the fullest development of the individual
life. Although a Democrat, he supported the thirteenth amendment to
the constitution of the United States. For the past sixty years and
over no political contest, national or pertaining to this state, has failed to
see him actively engaged in earnest advocacy of the principles of his
political faith. Years of fierce contest over political questions on the hustings and within the walls of the state legislature and of congress, gave him
a familiarity with such issues and such a knowledge of the political growth
and history of the leading public men and political parties, that he has
long been recognized as an authority on all questions relating to the
political history of this country, and now, almost a decade and a half
after he has reached the limit of the threescore and ten years assigned
to the lot of men, it is a marvelous tribute to the mental vigor and retentive memory of this leader of men and molder of forces that he is still
able to discuss in remarkable detail all the circumstances attendant on his
stormy political career. Men and measures, parties and politics of the
past are reviewed by him today as though the circumstances which called
them forth were but of yesterday. It is only recently that he has laid off
the political harness, his last public appearance on a political platform
being during the national campaign of I9oo when, on the evening of
October 28, g9oo,'he addressed a crowded meeting of the electors of this
county at the village of Birmingham on the issues of that campaign.
His last public appearance, however, was on February 22, 1901, when he
addressed the Oakland County Pioneer Society at the courthouse in the
city of Pontiac.
"It is less than a year (written in I9OI) since Judge Baldwin gave
up the active practice of his profession. He still, however, visits his
office frequently but does not pretend to attend to more than the details
of his own private business. In this age of strife and wealth-seeking
it is refreshing to record the career of one whose ambition was not
solely engrossed with amassing a fortune. Judge Baldwin is, however,
able to spend his declining years in comfort at his home on Clark street,
Pontiac, where the visitor will find ample evidence of those comforts
and refining influences which permit him to apply his leisure in reading
and research.
"In his home surrounded by a magnificent library, which it has been
his life work to accumulate he may nearly always be found buried in