Guiding Questions

Evidence & Interpretations

     In 1878, former Minnesota Governor William Rainey Marshall declared in an affidavit  to the US Pension Bureau that he had known Bailey T. Baldwin "long before" Bailey's enlistment in the Union Army in 1862, and that he "looked upon and regarded him as a very strong and healthy man."  Marshall also declared that he "knew of [Bailey's] eye difficulty after he left the service, and rendered him assistance to procure medical aid during the time he was being treated."  (Painting of William R. Marshall from the Minnesota Historical Society, www.mhs.org)

Excerpts from William R. Marshall's 24 August 1878 affidavit to the US Pension Bureau on behalf of Bailey T. Baldwin; click on top image to view full document

 

          Former Governor Marshall's affidavit demonstrates that he and Bailey T. Baldwin shared a deep and lasting friendship.  "Long before" Bailey's enlistment in 1862 must mean a decade at least -- from the late 1840s or early 1850s.  And for a man of such political prominence and social stature to have known about Bailey's "eye difficulty after he left the service," and to "render [him] assistance to procure medical aid" -- especially given Bailey's poverty and desperate personal circumstances -- bespeaks nothing if not friendship.  Marshall submitted this affidavit in 1878.  By that time, he and Bailey must have been good friends for going on thirty years.

      Marshall's affidavit begs the question:  How did Bailey T. Baldwin, an Alabama-born trader, semi-literate and of modest means, become lifelong friends with a man who became a Civil War hero, a wealthy businessman, and the fifth governor of the State of Minnesota?  When did they meet?  How did they become friends?  On what was their friendship based?

     Fortunately for our purposes here, rich and powerful men tend to attract biographers who document their lives for posterity.  From William R. Marshall's biographers we learn much about his life, including intriguing details about his arrival and early years in Minnesota.

     Born near Columbia in the slave state of Missouri in 1825, Marshall was five years old when his family moved to Quincy, Illinois, a small settlement about 100 miles north of St Louis on the banks of the Mississippi River.  At age 16, he and his brother Joseph migrated further upriver near Galena, Illinois, where they worked in the lead mines and William learned surveying.  We continue the story of William Marshall's early years by quoting from a 1908 biography:   

     Marshall's political career thus began early, and not in Minnesota but in St Croix Falls, Wisconsin Territory, in 1847.  Let's summarize his early business and political activities in St Croix Falls and St Anthony Falls (what later became Minneapolis):

1847   Made a land and timber claim near St Croix Falls on the Wisconsin side

1847   Sold goods and dealt in lumber in St Croix Falls

1847   Deputy Receiver of the US Land Office in St Croix Falls

1847   Took an active part in "boundary meetings" in St Croix Falls

1847 (autumn)   Visited St. Anthony Falls, Minnesota, staked out a claim, cut logs for a cabin, then partially abandoned the claim and returned to St. Croix Falls

1848   Elected to the legislature of Wisconsin for the St. Croix Valley (later contested for residency violation and voided)

1849   Surveyed and platted St Anthony Falls for Bottineau and Steele; surveyed adjacent government lands

1849   Returned to St Anthony Falls and "perfected his claim"

1849   Elected to first Minnesota Territorial Legislature

1849   Opened a general hardware business in St Anthony Falls with his brother Joseph

     The reference to "Bottineau" in this 1908 biography is to Pierre Bottineau, famous in the history of Minnesota and the Upper Midwest and an Indian scout and guide.  We thus learn that these two towering figures in Minnesota's early history, Pierre Bottineau and William R. Marshall, became acquainted as early as 1849.  They continued their business and professional relationship through the 1860s and after, as illustrated in the following photograph:

Pierre Bottineau (left) and William R. Marshall (right) in 1863, during a preliminary survey for the Northern Pacific Railroad; click on image for full photograph and caption; from Genny Zak Kieley, Pride & Tradition: More Memories of Northeast Minneapolis (Minneapolis: Nodin Press, 2000). 

 

     Let's turn to Bailey T. Baldwin's early years in Minnesota Territory.  According to the modern leather-stocking tale, Bailey T. Baldwin arrived in Minnesota around 1845, set himself up as a trader, and began making the overland cart circuit between the Red River Valley and St. Paul. 

     The actual story is more complex.  Thanks to the dogged research and Eagle Eye of Jeane Morneau DeCoursey, we find evidence that Bailey T. Baldwin resided in St Croix Falls in 1847.  According to a "minibiography" that accompanies a compilation of documents recently published by the Washington County Historical Society,

Bailey T. Baldwin  B. c. 1819.  He was at St. Croix Falls by 1847, and is probably the _____ Boldin on the tax list that year (he was delinquent on 1847 taxes).  In 1848 he got 1 vote for judge, but was beaten by H. H. Perkins.  He enlisted in 1862 in Co. D, 5th Minn. Reg., and was discharged for disability the following January.

Excerpt from Minnesota Beginnings: Records of St. Croix County, Wisconsin Territory, 1840-1849 (Stillwater, MN: Washington County Historical Society, 1999, p. 291); click on top image to view entire page

 

     In 1847, the same year that Bailey T. Baldwin and William R. Marshall were living and working in St Croix Falls, Marguerite Bleau dit Rossignal Bottineau, in her early 20s, walked 600 miles from St Paul to Pembina and back to fetch her family and bring them to St Paul, according to the "Modern Leather-Stocking Tale."

    Nine years earlier, in 1838, Marguerite had given birth to her first child, Charles Mijigisi Bottineau, son of her husband Basile Bottineau, the brother of Pierre Bottineau.  In the late 1840s Basile drowned while on an expedition out West in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company.  His death left Marguerite a widow and single mother of a small child.  As a result of her epic 600 mile foot journey from St Paul to Pembina and back in the fall of 1847, most of the Bleau family came to reside in St Paul, as shown in the 1850 census (a census in which neither Bailey T. Baldwin nor William R. Marshall appear).

     It seems very likely that Bailey & Marguerite met in the late 1840s, and that their meeting was facilitated by shared networks of friends and acquaintances, especially the very well-connected Bottineau family.  We know, from Bailey's pension papers, that Bailey & Marguerite married in February 1851 in St Paul.  We also know that they conceived their first child, Lucy, around July 1851, and that Lucy was born in April 1852.   (Right:  Marguerite Bleau dit Rossignal Bottineau Baldwin, ca. 1862, courtesy of Jeane Morneau DeCoursey)

     Chances also seem excellent that Bailey T. Baldwin first met William R. Marshall in St Croix Falls, Wisconsin Territory, in 1847, and that, for a range of reasons, they hit it off and became fast and lasting friends. 

     What reasons?  For one, both Bill Marshall and Bailey Baldwin were explicitly anti-racist Southern white men of working-class backgrounds, and both arrived in Minnesota Territory around the same time.  Marshall was plainspoken in his opposition to slavery.  As Governor of Minnesota he "repeatedly urged passage of a black suffrage amendment."  He also convinced the state legislature to excise the word "white" from the Minnesota Constitution.  Bailey T. Baldwin, a transplanted Alabaman, was drawn to the Métis culture of the Red River Valley, and spent half a century married to a "half-breed" Indian woman. 

     It thus seems entirely possible, even likely, that one of the strongest bonds between Bailey Baldwin and Bill Marshall was a shared rejection of the tenets of white supremacy -- a pervasive and pernicious ideology of the period from which all white men received innumerable social benefits.  Both, in other words, seem to have committed race-privilege suicide.  This anti-racist sentiment, plainly apparent in the actions of both, would mark them as rare birds in this time and place, and provide an important basis for a deep and enduring friendship.  (Photo:  Colonel William R. Marshall in 1863, from Kieley, Pride & Tradition)

     They were both also businessmen, with sharp eyes for bargains and deals, for buying cheap and selling dear.  We would not be surprised to learn that both also earned reputations as scrupulously honest and ethical businessmen.  William Marshall spent many years developing a reputation as a plainspoken fair-dealer.  Bailey T. Baldwin gives every impression of being an ethically upstanding man.  Recall his story at the end of "The Modern Leather-Stocking Tale," where he tells of the rectitude and honesty of the Sioux Indians who'd told him and Marguerite about the cranberry bog.  If both Marshall and Baldwin believed in the fundamental importance of honesty and fair play in the world of business, this, too, would distinguish them as rare birds -- especially given their professions -- and by itself would form the basis for a lasting friendship.

     All these things and more hint at some other connection between Marguerite's family and William Marshall.  For instance, Marshall knew Marguerite's brother-in-law Pierre Bottineau from his earliest years in Minnesota.  Marshall also led the "punitive Sioux expedition" in 1863 against the insurgents who launched the Great Sioux Uprising -- an expedition in which Pierre Bottineau also played a leading role against his mortal enemies, the Lakota Sioux.  What was Marguerite's family's role in these events?  Did all the Bottineau's follow Pierre's lead, or was the family, or the community, divided over the Uprising, and the very harsh punishments meted out afterward to the Sioux?  Something tells us that there are hidden stories and connections here awaiting discovery . . .  (Photo:  Pierre Bottineau in the 1880s, from Kieley, Pride & Tradition, p. 102)

     Bailey's pension file also contains a number of other clues on these early years, most notably from the affidavits of his longtime friends from St Paul:  veterinarian William Mintzer, and the merchant Francis A. Carivean.  Also, two of his witnesses (for his affidavit of May 30, 1879) were J. B. Bottineau and Joshua Ring.  Who were these guys?

William Mintzer   In 1860 Census:  City of St Paul, age 34, veterinary surgeon, $12,000 real estate, $2,000 personal estate, b. PA, married to Ann Mintzer, 27, milliner, $1,000 personal estate, b. PA, and living with Wm Hicks, 22, hosteler, b. PA, and J W Pulver, 29, b. NJ.  (St Paul, Ramsey Co, MN, 2nd Ward, 14 June 1860).

Francis A. Carivean   1870 census (F. A. Carivan), City of St Paul, age 36, grocer, $10,000 real estate, b. Canada, grocer, with wife Emily, four children, and a domestic servant (St Paul, Ramsey Co, MN, 2nd Ward, 20 July 1870).  Evidently he was a fairly wealthy and prominent local merchant (more forthcoming . . .)

J. B. Bottineau   Witness to Bailey's affidavit of 30 May 1879, along with Joshua Ring.  According to the Modern Leather-Stocking Tale,  "J. B. Bottineau, who used to live in North Minneapolis, was the son of a full-blooded Chippewa squaw, with his father a half-breed, and he was cousin of Mrs. Baldwin's first child."  That is, he was cousin to Charles Mijigisi Bottineau, Margaret's child with Basile Bottineau.  For more on J. B. Bottineau, see jean baptiste bottineau, marie louise bottineau baldwin, and bailey t. & margaret baldwin. 

Signatures of Joshua Ring and J. B. Bottineau, witnesses on Bailey T. Baldwin's Application for Arrears of Pension, 30 May 1879

 

Joshua Ring   Witness to Bailey's affidavit of 30 May 1879, along with J. B. Bottineau.  Appears in Ancestry.com database in 1880 for Richfield MN, age 32, married to Sarah Ring, listed in enumeration district no. 223 -- the same district as our great-great-grandmother Nellie Blow, domestic servant, near Fort Snelling V.A. Hospital -- but cannot be found on the original manuscript pages.  This is because page 1 of the enumeration is missing from the online collection -- a mistake of some kind.  Bummer!  Still, from this it would appear that in 1880, Joshua Ring, an old friend of Bailey T. Baldwin's, lived in the same Richfield neighborhood as Nellie Blow in the same census -- an interesting "coincidence" that might shed light on how Bailey & Nellie first met . . . 

     Appendices on William Marshall follow, including Bill DeCoursey's summary and analysis of Marshall's Personal Papers -- papers that unfortunately contain no references to Marshall's old friend Bailey T. Baldwin . . . at least none that Bill could find, which is good enough for us, given that he's earned his moniker as Bill EagleEye many times over . . . Bill's synopsis, and his imaginative reconstruction of Bailey's role in the aftermath of the murder of his brother-in-law Louis Bleau in December 1874, is followed by some concluding remarks.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Biographical Sketch of William R. Marshall, Governor of Minnesota (1866-1870), from the Minnesota Historical Society

Appendix 2

Chapter on William Rainey Marshall, from J. H. Baker, Lives of the Governors of Minnesota (St Paul:  Minnesota Historical Society, 1908).   Available in full text from the Library of Congress at http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/lhbum:@field(DOCID+@lit(lhbum56740div19))#56740155  (click on images to view full text).

p. 147	p. 148	p. 149	p. 150	p. 151
p. 152	p. 153	p. 154	p. 155	p. 156
p. 157	p. 158	p. 159	p. 160	p. 161
p. 162	p. 163	p. 164	p. 165

Appendix 3

Bill DeCoursey's Summary of the Personal Papers of William R. Marshall, Minnesota Historical Society  (Sept 2006)

Well Mike, I did not find any reference to Bailey T. Baldwin, but I did find some fascinating things.  Some may interest you, some may not.  It was an awesome feeling to read and reflect on correspondence that had such an impact on history.  I tend to get emotionally involved with anything I am reading, and this was no exception.  To try to understand what these people felt was at times overwhelming.  Especially with a mind like mine that processes thought like an old grist mill in the middle of an August drought. It may take a few messages but here goes.  I made copies of nothing.  If you need any, let me know, I'll get them at a later time. First file, in a collection of undated miscellany, there were a few notes of various surveying jobs he had, also a letter from someone I believe to be nephew, telling WRM to invest the money he was sending in real estate however he saw fit, but the sooner he got the money rolling, so much the better, a short fragment of a narrative of Civil War times, and a lot of stuff that did not make much sense out of context.  But most fascinating to me was an undated note containing the preamble to the US Constitution in his best surveyor / draftsman script (some of his correspondence is like that, wide tails on letters and a lot of flourishes).  On top of this and on the reverse side, there are some notes by WRM (in his normal writing) giving some interpretations on state sovereignty.  He concludes the individual states are limited in power and rights.  The power and rights spelled out in the US Constitution are granted to the government by the the people, not by the states. I wonder if this was William Marshall's rationalization as he went to war against the people and land in which he was born?  Growing up in Quincy, very near to Mark Twain's Hannibal, Missouri, do you think this was a difficult decision for him.  Seems like it must have been to me. On a related note, There is from Abraham Lincoln, the original roll of Indians to be hanged in Mankato.  If I remember correctly it is signed by Lincoln and Stanton, but maybe just Stanton. There is a file of his time in the service which includes his original enlistment orders and a letter from Henry Sibley dated 25 August 1862 introducing him to the commanders of the 7th Volunteers,  Sibley obviously thought very highly of Marshall.  The letter indicates he considered Marshall to be his personal representative among the troops. There is a short personal reflection added it the letter by WRM dated 1 June, 1891.  There is a fascinating account of Sgt. D.A. Canedy, who volunteered to be and was left behind to care for the wounded who could not be moved after the battle of Tupelo (I believe, not real clear).  Included in the wounded in his care were some confederates. Marshall left two others with him, although when Canedy told them their mission one of them ran away, rather then face certain death. He found himself surrounded by rebels and was captured.  Forest (I believe General Nathan Forest) asked him if he knew of any rebel soldiers from the Tennessee regiment that happened to be a favorite of Forest.  Canedy, who was giving water to the wounded when he was captured, told Forest the man he was aiding at the time was part of that regiment.  Perhaps because of the kindness Canedy showed, Forest left orders that Canedy and the other union soldiers be paroled, and they found themselves on a train being returned to their company.  Canedy found it hard to believe he was spared.  A fascinating read. Other papers he seems to have kept from his wartime experiences included a number of furlough requests from soldiers requesting time to visit "home" in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and other rebel states.  Despite Marshall's willingness to take up arms against the south, I think he saw the war as a temporary estrangement and looked forward to the day when states and families would be reunited.  In keeping these records, I think he showed that he sought to instill this long-term loyalty among his men. There are folders with real estate records.  It seems he was quite active in real estate development, particularly in the 80's.  I read through the abstracts, deeds and other items.  I had hoped to find some link to Bailey in these, but found none.  Areas that showed considerable activity were St Paul (Marshall & Mackubin addition), somewhat in St Anthony (NE Mpls.) and someplace in Dunn County, Wisconsin (maybe Menominee?) The real estate biz was not all peaches and cream.  There are a number of letters from Parkhurst (I forgot to put down his initials) asking for payments, offering deals for better repayment terms, and expressing disappointment when payments were missed.  Despite this, they seemed to have a lasting business relationship.  Parkhurst was traveling most of the time, letters are from Southern California, Utica, New York, etc.  The last letter was from his widow asking Marshall for patience as she tried to get his affairs in order.  It seems that in the end Parkhurst owed Marshall.  Involved in this is a lot in NE Mpls. that is proving a problem for her to dispose of.  She states that it has been a difficult time for all. There is also a letter from a niece, asking Marshall to endeavor to return to her the $2000 that her father had given to Marshall to invest without her knowledge.  I think it is a death of a husband or possibly her father that has left her, in her words, with nothing at all.  Maybe this is related to the earlier letter from his nephew. There are a number of railroad passes, mostly 1878.  I did not know Minnesota had so many different railroads! In the last few years of his life, Marshall seemed fond of keeping household receipts, particularly his subscription receipts for the various newspapers.  Perhaps reliving his time as an owner of the press? Last thing of interest, at least to dwell on, was a letter from Henry Rice, who I think was an opponent of Marshall in the 1866 race for governor.  Rice writes of sharing the trip upriver to Minnesota with Marshall when they first came to the area.  Again, added by Marshall is his personal recollection of this time.  Marshall does this on a great many letters.  Left Galena 25 May '47.  Boarded the Argo in Lacrosse on June 11, arrived in Stillwater Friday evening.  The next day we walked to Marine.  He lists some people he was with: people from the U.S. Geographical Survey, The St Croix County surveyor and others.  Do you think Marshall may have been part of the team that came to survey the land?   Henry Rice is said to have been influential in negotiating the treaty with the Ojibwe in 1847.  Is this when the land was opened for settlement?  Seems reasonable, since the team of surveyors show up then.  Either way Marshall must have liked what he saw, because he (and Bailey T.) are soon landowners in this area.  I know that Bailey is listed as arriving in 1845.  Is this a firm date, or recollections of an eighty year old man in a newspaper article?  A theory we have kicked around is Marshall and Bailey Baldwin became acquainted on the trip north in 1847.  Or perhaps Bailey was a squatter in the area before the treaty was signed. Either way I still feel St Croix Falls is most likely the link to their friendship.  Being able to conjecture without consequences is such fun. There is a bit more but enough is enough. For now Bill

 

Appendix 4

Bill DeCoursey's Imaginative Reconstruction of Bailey T. Baldwin's Role in the Aftermath of the Murder of Louis Bleau in December, 1874  (Sept 2007)

Conclusions

     So we conclude this brief excursion into the origins and nature of the friendship of William R. Marshall and Bailey T. Baldwin by highlighting what it suggests about the kind of man Bailey T. Baldwin was.

     And that is, the evidence presented here and elsewhere in these pages strongly suggests that Bailey T. Baldwin was a man of honor, integrity, and honesty who kept his word and kept his friends.  That he believed in holding fast onto fundamental virtues -- like treating people squarely and fairly and decently.  It's also very likely that, in an era that saw the florescence of racist ideologies across the Atlantic World and throughout the United States, Bailey T. Baldwin was openly and avowedly anti-racist, and would rather put up his dukes than put up with a racial slur. 

     His stance as an unabashedly anti-racist Southerner probably lost him a few friends and more than a few acquaintances.  He'd likely respond that, if maybe he lost a friend or two on account of his refusal to abide the hogwash about people with darker skin being somehow less worthwhile than white folk, then they most assuredly weren't worth having as friends to begin with.

     And that, in a nutshell, is some of what the evidence suggests about the kind of guy Bailey T. Baldwin really was.

Top of Page