Not a bad little book, written by Salem man

(Note - interviewed this nice elderly gentleman, a retired engineer whose great-grandfather once had a brush with John Brown Baldwin. So he wrote a book about him.)

Salem man writes book about little-known Virginian:

Retired Civil Engineer John Hildebrand went from recreating the journal of a Civil War-era ancestor to writing a full-fledged book about John Brown Baldwin, a Staunton native and an instrumental figure of the period, if little remembered. Baldwin was a member several times of the Virginia General Assembly, visited Abraham Lincoln in a futile attempt to keep the state in the Union, and then was on hand afterwards to fight off the more onerous aspects of Reconstruction.

Yet his story was little known, until Hildebrand researched, wrote and published The Life and Times of John Brown Baldwin, 1820-1873 recently. Hildebrand used the Roanoke City library’s Virginia Room for research, as well as resources available through the Salem and August County historical societies. “Its amazing how much help they can give an aspiring author,” says Hildebrand, who arranged for microfilm and books to be delivered for his project.

“He was an influential politician during the Civil War era,” says Hildebrand, whose great grandfather encountered Baldwin in 1862, when stationed with the Army of Northern Virginia on Alleghany Mountain. Baldwin gave the regiment a “pep talk,” says Hildebrand, a member of the Salem Historical Society. His great grandfather kept a diary from 1862-1865. While editing it for publication he came across John Brown Baldwin and decided he was worth writing about in a full-fledged book.

Baldwin, also an attorney, was a member of the UVA Board of Visitors and made a secret visit to see Lincoln, trying to keep Virginia in the Union. Many at the time in Augusta County were pro-Union. “I didn’t work out,” noted Hildebrand, who said there were “pro-war” forces that wanted the President to punish the South, rather than try to work out differences diplomatically. Baldwin was a legislator for one term in his 20’s, then was reelected much later in life.

Baldwin aligned himself with President Andrew Jackson after Lincoln was assassinated; Jackson was almost impeached because many in Congress thought he was too lenient towards the Confederate States as they sought re-admittance to the Union. There is little doubt adds Hildebrand about what the Civil War was fought for. He quotes Baldwin, speaking at the Virginia Convention: “the issue here is slavery.”

The Life and Times of John Brown Baldwin, 1820-1873 is available through the Salem Museum/Historical Society and at Ram’s Head bookstore.