Jerome B. Baldwin was a resident of Mansfield on August 11, 1862 when he enlisted as a Corporal in Co. D of the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. He was wounded June 15, 1864 at Petersburg, Virginia, promoted to Sergeant on November 26, 1864 and mustered out on June 16, 1865.
The descriptive muster roll for the 21st Regiment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry lists his age as 18 and his occupation as farmer. He is described as 5’8” tall with a fair complexion and brown hair and grey eyes. His marital status is single.
He was born September 14, 1843 in Mansfield to Raymond and Amanda (Lull) Baldwin. In the 1860 U.S. census in Mansfield, he is a 16 year old farmer in a household headed by Raymond Baldwin. Jerome moved to Willimantic by 1870 and married Ella Adams between 1870 and 1880. He was an insurance agent.
On December 28, 1871, he applied for an invalid pension, No. 171,232 that was granted under certificate No. 118,013. According to the list of pensioners on the roll in 1883, he was receiving $4 per month for a wounded left eye. Jerome Baldwin was listed as a member of the Francis S. Long Post, No. 30 G.A.R (Grand Army of the Republic) in Willimantic in June 1889. His widow applied for a pension on April 18, 1918.
Jerome B. Baldwin died in Willimantic on January 19, 1918 and is buried at the Old Cemetery in Willimantic, Connecticut.
The Baldwin Letters
MHS is in possession of numerous letters from the collection of Baldwin. The compilation of letters, written to Baldwin instead of being from Baldwin, allows for an inside look into the day-to-day life of a soldier rather than battlefield correspondences. These letters detail numerous topics including disease in the camp, life back home, and military placements.
One letter, seen below, from Samuel L. Morey, also speaks of the death of fellow soldier John A. Parker.
“I hope we shall live to meet again up in old Mansfield.”
Samuel L. Morey to Jerome Baldwin. December 24th, 1864
