Abraham Baldwin
1785-1800

Biography:
Born November in North Guilford, Connecticut. Died March 4, 1807 in Washington D.C. A.B. Yale, (1772).
The son of a blacksmith, Baldwin, stayed on at Yale to study theology. He was a chaplain in the Revolutionary Army. In the fall of 1783, he moved to Savannah in the fall of 1783. Upon the relocation of the capitol, Baldwin moved to Augusta. On February 25, 1784, Baldwin was appointed to the Board of Trustees to manage 40,000 acres set aside for a College or Seminary of Learning. In 1785, he was named to Confederation Congress and served as representative to the Constitutional Convention. He bought time via adjournment to work out the stalemate on proportional representation. Baldwin acted as Georgia's representative in the new Congress until 1798 when he was elected to the Senate where he remained until his death.

Accomplishments: Baldwin authored the UGA Charter on January 27, 1785. Originally the University was to be sited near Louisville, but because of the war with the Creek Indians these plans had to be altered. In 1801, a committee chose a site for the University on the Oconee River in what was then Jackson County.

Buildings: None (helped choose site for University).

	Last Update: March 13, 2001 Comments to: hargrett@arches.uga.edu Copyright © University of Georgia. All rights reserved URL=http://www.libs.uga.edu/hargrett/pexhibit/presiden/abaldwin.html