Elbert Irving Baldwin

Elbert Irving Baldwin

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Baldwin was a merchant, Cleveland, Ohio, born in New Haven, Connecticut, May 13, 1829, died Jan. 27, 1894, at his residence on Prospect Street in Cleveland. He was a son of Silas Irving Baldwin, one of the lineage of Richard Baldwin of Bucks County, England. Hopkins Grammar School of his native town prepared Mr. Baldwin for college, but ill health precluded a college course and he took a position in the dry goods store of Sanford & Allen, accepting a similar place two years later in New York with Tracy, Irwin & Company. Mr. Baldwin studied business as he did books, conscientiously and thoroughly, preparing himself well for the responsibilities of life. In 1853, after careful examination of the cities of the West, he selected Cleveland by preference and there established the mercantile house of E.I. Baldwin & Company.

Mr. Baldwin is remembered as a pioneer in the "one price and cash" system of doing business in Cleveland. Older merchants regarded his innovation at first with disfavor and incredulity, but he succeeded in this matter as in other things by perseverance. Opposers soon became his followers. The success of his system was ensured from the outset by the upright dealing, unusual good judgment, foresight and energy of its founder. These same characteristics quickly made Mr. Baldwin an authority on questions of finance, and he attained as much prominence in the banking as in the mercantile world. Fifteen years after the establishment of the business in Cleveland, his firm erected the first fine store in the city at an expense of over $100,000 This example has been well followed by others, but Mr. Baldwin may be regarded as the pioneer builder of fine business structures in Cleveland.

He was married in 1855 to Mary Jeannette Sterling of Lima, New York, and early the following year united with the Second Presbyterian Church, of which he was ever a consistent member and an elder during the last twenty-seven years of his life. Mr. Baldwin was at all times a Christian gentleman, refined by nature, cultivated by study and travel both at home and abroad, full of enthusiasm, and inclined to aid all artistic and educational development. That he never lost an opportunity of doing good is attested by his numberless charities. He is survived by his wife, his three sons, Elbert Francis, Irving and Arthur Kirke, and his daughter Gertrude.
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ELBERT IRVING BALDWIN

So far as circumstances go to make men what they are, a happy combination of them is to have been born in New England of a race possessing Puritan blood and instincts; to have one's youth guided by the wisdom of pious and judicious parents; to receive an education in the midst of those favorable influences that exist in Eastern college towns; to be trained in business affairs by sturdy and capable merchants, and then to remove in early manhood to the West, where native generous impulses may be enlarged and where the most comprehensive views will find ample scope. Western cities are largely indebted for their enterprise and thrift to the presence and influence of such men, and Cleveland is especially favored in being the home of many who not only add to its importance as a commercial center, but contribute much to make it "the most beautiful city west of the Alleghenies."

In the fall of 1853 the block on the corner of Superior and Seneca streets was completed, the largest and most important business building then in the city. Here Messrs. E.I. Baldwin & Company began the dry goods business, the manager and active partner, Elbert Irving Baldwin, coming hither from New York to reside. He had spent his early life in New Haven, Connecticut, where he was born in 1829, and where he received the best educational advantages until about nineteen years of age, when a more active life seemed necessary, and he commenced his mercantile career with Sanford and Allen, a leading dry goods house of that city. Determined to know by experience every phase of the business, he "began at the beginning" and passed through all grades to the position of confidential clerk. Removing to New York city in order to obtain a knowledge of more extended commercial pursuits, he was there employed by the old firm of Tracy, Irwin & Company.

When Mr. Baldwin came to Cleveland he found the field well occupied, there being a very large number of dry goods houses in the city, most of them doing business on the old fashioned credit system, and failures of course being common. The outlook was not favorable, the store he had engaged was said to be on the "wrong side" of the street, older merchants prophesied a speedy failure, and competition was strong and unprincipled, going so far in its efforts to injure the young merchant as to circulate false reports concerning his credit. Yet his business constantly increased, and in a few months was firmly established. Its history from that period to the present time, has been one of continued progress, every year witnessing a marked increase over the former. From the beginning this firm possessed the entire confidence of the largest and best merchants in the East, and has never been obliged to ask the slightest extension or favor in the way of credit.

The first direct importation of foreign dry goods to a Western city was made in 1857, by Messrs. Baldwin & Company and to them is largely due the introduction of modern and improved methods of conducting business which are now very generally adopted by all good merchants. The rapid expansion of their retail business, some years since, decided them to abandon the general jobbing trade and devote more attention to the distribution of goods among consumers, a stroke of policy which proved eminently successful. Perhaps no business requires greater talent to prosecute with profit than the management of a large emporium of dry goods. Natural ability, self-reliance, good judgment and quick perception are necessary, and must be supplemented by the close application and unswerving integrity.

It is shown by the experience of this firm that an establishment for the sale of merchandise can be so conducted as to prove a pecuniary benefit to the city, and a means of elevating the tastes of the community, besides giving permanent and useful employment to large numbers of persons, who are surrounded by good influences, and instructed to regard honesty not only as the "best policy" but as absolutely essential to the holding of any position in the house.

During the first three years of existence of the firm, Mr. Silas Irving Baldwin was associated with it as capitalist, and in the selection of active partners Mr. Baldwin has been extremely fortunate. Mr. Harry Reynolds Hatch is widely known in this connection, a man of sterling worth and untiring energy, now representing the house in Europe.

Mr. Baldwin has never enjoyed vigorous health, but he has been able to carry the burden of this large business and has a thorough knowledge of its details. Of a naturally retiring disposition, and with a distaste for publicity, he has, while attending to the active duties of his business, taken time to continue his acquaintance with books, to cultivate his aesthetic tastes, and to travel extensively in this country and in Europe. An attendant of the Second Presbyterian church, of which he is an elder, he is not lacking in liberality to promote its usefulness, and every philanthropic and Christian enterprise has his hearty and generous sympathy.

Mr. Baldwin was married, in 1855, to Miss Mary Jeannette Sterling, daughter of Oliver Livingston Sterling of Lima, Livingston county, New York four of their children are living: the eldest, Elbert Francis Baldwin, being connected with his father's firm.

Source: History of Cuyahoga County, Ohio - Published by D. W. Ensign & Company, - 1879 - Page 328