Matthias W. Baldwin
Encyclopedia
Matthias William Baldwin (December 10, 1795 – September 7, 1866) was an American
manufacturer of steam locomotive
s. He opened his machine shop in 1825. The business grew to become Baldwin Locomotive Works
, one of the most prolific and successful locomotive manufacturing firms in America.
In 1811 he entered an apprenticeship in Frankford, Pennsylvania
, to learn jewelry making; he changed employers in 1817 to work with the company of Fletcher and Gardner in Philadelphia. Two years later, in 1819, he had used his jewelry-making knowledge to devise and patent a method for gold plating
which has since become the standard method.
Baldwin moved on from jewelry making to bookbinding
and printing
. Foreshadowing his later success in the railroad industry, his printing shop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, was powered by a steam engine of his own design. Baldwin's printing business helped to reduce America's reliance on texts printed in Europe
.
In 1825, Baldwin partnered with David Mason to open a machine shop in Philadelphia. His shop soon became known as one of the most able shops in the area.
Baldwin married a distant cousin in 1827, Sarah C. Baldwin. Together, they had three children.
in England
. It was a small demonstration engine that was displayed at Peale's Philadelphia City Museum. The engine was strong enough to pull a few cars that carried four passengers each. This locomotive was unusual for the time in that it burned coal
, which was available locally, instead of wood.
Baldwin's first railroad commission came in 1832 when his shop was asked to assemble a British
-built steam locomotive
, named Delaware, for the Newcastle and Frenchtown Railroad. The knowledge he gained through assembling this locomotive and from building his own stationary steam engines was transferred into construction of new locomotives.
Later in 1832, the same year that he assembled Delaware, Baldwin built his first new steam locomotive, Old Ironsides. It was first tested on November 23, 1832. This locomotive was a 2-2-0
(Whyte notation
) type, meaning it had one unpowered leading axle and one powered driving axle, but Baldwin soon started building 4-2-0
types that were better suited to early American railroads.
Through the Baldwin Locomotive Works
, which he founded soon after building Old Ironsides, Baldwin built more than 1,500 steam locomotives before his death in 1866. Zerah Colburn
did much to publicise the work of the Baldwin Locomotive Works through his newspaper, the Railroad Advocate
.
.
One of his last philanthropic efforts was the donation of 10% of his company's (Baldwin Locomotive Works
) income to the Civil War Christian Mission in the early 1860s.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
manufacturer of steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s. He opened his machine shop in 1825. The business grew to become Baldwin Locomotive Works
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
, one of the most prolific and successful locomotive manufacturing firms in America.
Growth and early work: 1795–1832
Baldwin was born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, the third of five children to a successful carriage builder. His father, William Baldwin, died in 1799.In 1811 he entered an apprenticeship in Frankford, Pennsylvania
Frankford, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Frankford is a large and important neighborhood in the lower Northeast section of Philadelphia situated about six miles northeast of Center City. Although its borders are vaguely defined, the neighborhood is bounded roughly by the original course of Frankford Creek, now roughly Adams to Aramingo...
, to learn jewelry making; he changed employers in 1817 to work with the company of Fletcher and Gardner in Philadelphia. Two years later, in 1819, he had used his jewelry-making knowledge to devise and patent a method for gold plating
Gold plating
Gold plating is a method of depositing a thin layer of gold onto the surface of another metal, most often copper or silver , by chemical or electrochemical plating...
which has since become the standard method.
Baldwin moved on from jewelry making to bookbinding
Bookbinding
Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from a number of folded or unfolded sheets of paper or other material. It usually involves attaching covers to the resulting text-block.-Origins of the book:...
and printing
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
. Foreshadowing his later success in the railroad industry, his printing shop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, was powered by a steam engine of his own design. Baldwin's printing business helped to reduce America's reliance on texts printed in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
In 1825, Baldwin partnered with David Mason to open a machine shop in Philadelphia. His shop soon became known as one of the most able shops in the area.
Baldwin married a distant cousin in 1827, Sarah C. Baldwin. Together, they had three children.
Locomotive building: 1831–1866
Baldwin built his first locomotive in 1831 based on designs first shown at the Rainhill TrialsRainhill Trials
The Rainhill Trials were an important competition in the early days of steam locomotive railways, run in October 1829 in Rainhill, Lancashire for the nearly completed Liverpool and Manchester Railway....
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It was a small demonstration engine that was displayed at Peale's Philadelphia City Museum. The engine was strong enough to pull a few cars that carried four passengers each. This locomotive was unusual for the time in that it burned coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
, which was available locally, instead of wood.
Baldwin's first railroad commission came in 1832 when his shop was asked to assemble a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-built steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
, named Delaware, for the Newcastle and Frenchtown Railroad. The knowledge he gained through assembling this locomotive and from building his own stationary steam engines was transferred into construction of new locomotives.
Later in 1832, the same year that he assembled Delaware, Baldwin built his first new steam locomotive, Old Ironsides. It was first tested on November 23, 1832. This locomotive was a 2-2-0
2-2-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-2-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, two powered driving wheels on one axle, and no trailing wheels...
(Whyte notation
Whyte notation
The Whyte notation for classifying steam locomotives by wheel arrangement was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte and came into use in the early twentieth century encouraged by an editorial in American Engineer and Railroad Journal...
) type, meaning it had one unpowered leading axle and one powered driving axle, but Baldwin soon started building 4-2-0
4-2-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-2-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, two powered and coupled driving wheels on one axle, and no trailing wheels...
types that were better suited to early American railroads.
Through the Baldwin Locomotive Works
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
, which he founded soon after building Old Ironsides, Baldwin built more than 1,500 steam locomotives before his death in 1866. Zerah Colburn
Zerah Colburn (locomotive designer)
Zerah Colburn was an American engineer specialising in steam locomotive design, technical journalist and publisher.- Career :Without any formal schooling, Colburn was a teenage prodigy...
did much to publicise the work of the Baldwin Locomotive Works through his newspaper, the Railroad Advocate
Railroad Advocate
The Railroad Advocate was a weekly newspaper started by Zerah Colburn, the locomotive designer, editor, and publisher. The first issue appeared on November 11, 1854, when it was titled the Rail Road Advocate. It later became Colburn's Railroad Advocate, and then Holley's Railroad Advocate when it...
.
Philanthropy
Starting in 1824, Baldwin showed a willingness to give to charitable causes. In that year he was a founder of the Franklin Institute for the Betterment of Labour. In 1835 he donated money to form a school for African-American children in Philadelphia, and he was one of the early proponents of allowing black men to vote. His charitable and abolitionist stance, however, led to a boycott of Baldwin locomotives by railroads in the southern United States in the years before the Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
One of his last philanthropic efforts was the donation of 10% of his company's (Baldwin Locomotive Works
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
) income to the Civil War Christian Mission in the early 1860s.
Patents
Art of Managing and Supplying Fire for Generating Steam in Locomotive-Engines. Issued to Matthias W. Baldwin on October 15, 1836. The intention of this new mode of managing the fire is to enable me, at each water station, or any convenient place to have a clear coal fire waiting the arrival of the engine so that the grate or fire-place which has been in use, may be detached or slid out, and that containing the clear fire, made to occupy its place.Further reading
}}- Matthias W. Baldwin. Retrieved January 7, 2005.
- Mitchell, Frank (March 1999), M. W. Baldwin. Retrieved February 15, 2005.
- Schleis, Paula, Akron Beacon Journal (May 2, 2005), Baldwin locomotive builder left English in dust (republished by the BLE). Retrieved May 5, 2005.
- Mortimer, John. (2005) Zerah Colburn: The Spirit of Darkness. Arima Publishing, Bury St. Edmunds, IP32 6BB, UK. ISBN 1-84549-024-X