CALEB BALDWIN
Caleb was born on September 2, 1791 at Nobletown, Orange County, New Jersey or New York, to Philemon Baldwin and Esther, whose surname we do not know, but who we believe came from New Hampshire, where Philemon was born.
Caleb served his country in the War of 1812, and was an Ensign under Captain Charles Parker. He migrated to Cleveland, Ohio, where me met and married Nancy Kingsbury, when he was 23, on December 7, 1814. Nancy was born in Cleveland. Her father was James Kingsbury and her mother was Eunice Waldo.
Their first child, Nancy Maria, was born in Warrenville, Ohio in 1815. Their second child, first born male, (our direct ancestor) was named Caleb Clark Baldwin. He was born on June 3, 1817 in either Warrenville or Wainesville, Cuyhoga County, Ohio. They had seven more children, all born in Ohio, prior to 1830, when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized in New York state by Joseph Smith, Jr., on April 6.
Caleb and Nancy were early converts to the Church. They were baptized by Parley P. Pratt on November 14, 1830, only seven months after the organization of the Church.
The Baldwins had two more children, Julia Murdock (this was also the name of a twin child that Joseph and Emma Smith adopted--Joseph and Emma had twins born on April 30, 1831, who died and they adopted the Murdock twins, who they named Julia and Joseph Smith Murdock, who were born on April 30, 1831--Caleb and Nancy’s daughter, Julia Murdock was also born on April 30, 1831) and Ellen Diana, in Ohio, then they had their twelfth and final child, Elizabeth Elmina at Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri, on September 28, 1837. Here they endured many of the trials of the early Saints.
After their baptism Caleb and Nancy gathered with the Saints to Jackson County, Missouri and took part in the so-called battle on the Big Blue. In 1833 they were driven out of Jackson County and settled in Caldwell County.
According to the History of the Church, V3:209, on Sunday, November 11, 1838, Caleb Baldwin, along with the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum Smith and fifty one other men, were brought before Judge Austin A. King at Richmond, Missouri, for trial, charged with trumped up crimes of "high treason against the state." The Prophet Joseph wrote of this experience that Aall manner of abuses (were) heaped upon us. During this time my afflictions were great, and our situation was truly painful."
In Parley P. Pratt's autobiography he writes that when Joseph could not stand the abuses any longer, he arose to his feet, and "spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering, as nearly as I can recollect, the following words: 'Silence, ye fiends of the infernal pit! In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you and command you to be still...' Parley goes on to state that "I have seen the ministers of justice, clothed in magisterial robes...in the courts of England; I have witnessed a Congress in solemn session to give laws to a nation...but dignity and majesty have I seen but once, as it stood in chains, at midnight, in an obscure village in Missouri." Caleb Baldwin was a personal witness to this event.
Three days later on Wednesday, after the >kangaroo court’ trial, all the prisoners were released except for Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Caleb Baldwin, Lyman Wight, and Alexander McRae. These five Church leaders were sent to the town of Liberty, Clay County, Missouri, to jail. There, these innocent men endured the hell-on-earth experience that caused Joseph to write to his beloved friend, Bishop Edward Partridge, an epistle, parts of which now consist of Sections 121, 122 and 123 of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Another historian, John J. Stewart, writes of this experience that "Joseph and his fellow prisoners spent the next five months confined in a dark, dank, filthy, vermin-infested dungeon, much of the time chained together hand and foot, fed on a diet of little more than garbage. Attempts were made to feed them the flesh of Mormons murdered at Far West. Only occasionally were they allowed visitors. The cold, dreary days of the winter of 1838-39 passed slowly for the prisoners, who were filled with helpless anxiety over their families and friends. The illegal death sentence, imposed by the militia commanders, still hung over their heads. Despite these terrible conditions, Joseph never lost hope...with the other prisoners--his brother Hyrum, Lyman Wight, Caleb Baldwin and Alexander McRae, he discussed plans for the Church's future.
Finally, during April of 1839, the five prisoners were told by the sheriff in charge of their guard that they were to be allowed to escape. Hiding by day and traveling by night, avoiding the main roads, and taking turns riding and walking, the five Church leaders made their way across Missouri as rapidly as possible, reaching Quincy, Illinois, ten days later on April 22, 1839.
Caleb and his family moved to Nauvoo and remained faithful to the Prophet Joseph and to the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. This was a time when many other Church leaders were leaving the Church and causing problems for it. Caleb and Nancy were members of the Nauvoo 3rd Ward. He received his patriarchal blessing from Joseph Smith, Sr., and was ordained a High Priest. It is also noted that he had the authority to marry people. Caleb and Nancy both received their Endowment at Nauvoo on December 18, 1845, they were sealed to each other in the Nauvoo Temple on January 20, 1846, as the Saints were making plans to flee from their beloved city on the Mississippi.
Caleb undoubtedly learned the law of plural marriage directly from the Prophet Joseph. Caleb married two other women, Mary Robinson and Phoebe Gaylord. Caleb and his extended family crossed the plains with the Pioneer Saints and settled in Salt Lake City.
Caleb died of a fever on Monday, July 11, 1849 at the age of 57. His funeral was held on Tuesday and was well attended by the Brethren.