Caleb Baldwin papers

The Caleb Baldwin Papers, 1774-1871, consist of letters, financial records, legal documents, and miscellaneous papers of Caleb Baldwin (1772-1844), several members of his family, and other residents of Newtown, Connecticut. Most of the papers relate to Baldwin's work as schoolmaster, postmaster, innkeeper, and town clerk in Newtown. His account book as schoolmaster, 1793-1795, names his students and records their attendance, their tuition payments, and his expenses for wood for the schoolroom and room and board. Three folios of accounts, 1800-1820, show the number of letters received at Newtown by place of origin and method of payment for postage. The correspondence related to the postmastership, 1800-1811, shows Baldwin's activities as an agent for several publishers. A volume of accounts spanning from 1800 to 1846 shows his charges and receipts for clerical services, liquor, farm produce, and lots in the Burying Ground Cemetery.

There are also several documents that may be useful to social historians: an agreement, 1792 Apr 16, concerning compensation for the services of a hired slave who had run away; an agreement, 1794 Apr 16, to free a slave after six years' additional service; an agreement, 1793 Mar 28, signed by Charity Rose of Stratford, accepting £30 from Caleb Baldwin to settle her claim for breach of promise and fathering her illegitimate child; indentures, 1793-1834, between the selectmen of Newtown and various individuals for support of the town poor.

The Caleb Baldwin Papers were purchased from Marjorie Earle (1945) and the Americana Shop (1949, as part of the Huntington Family Collection).