Baldwin MR01

Waupaca Record

May 7, 1903

MR. AND MRS. M.R. BALDWIN CELEBRATE GOLDEN WEDDING

An event of more than ordinary interest occurred in this city on Tuesday when Mr. and Mrs. Milton Rice Baldwin celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding at their home on the corner of Waupaca and State Streets. At three o’clock in the afternoon in the presence of relatives of the family the happy couple renewed their marriage vows under the direction of Rev. F. Arthur Hayward. Forty-five immediate relatives sat down to the elaborate suppler which was served at five o’clock. Among the relatives from away were Mrs. Helen Morse of Sparta, Mrs. Jennie Osborn of Oshkosh, Mrs. George M. Chamberlain of Phillips, Mr. and Mrs. W.I. Prince and family of Bessemer.

In the evening about one hundred guests attended the reception and extended congratulations. Those attending the reception from out of town were Rev. and Mrs. Hencke and Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Baldwin of Weyauwega and Mr. Walter Potts of Rural.

The house was very tastefully decorated in cowslips, daffodils and other yellow flowers. The color scheme being carried out in all decorations. During the evening music was rendered by the Euterpe club.

Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin were the recipients of many beautiful gifts among them $150 in gold.

Milton R. Baldwin was born at Oakfield, Genesee County, New York, March 25, 1830. He came west in 1850, landing at Racine, where he taught a country school for a few months. In the spring of 1851, with four companions, he went to Waupaca Falls and made a claim on the then unsurveyed Indian lands, where he remained until 1855, and then going to Iola and forming a partnership with the late S.S. Chandler and engaging in the manufacture of lumber. Chandler soon sold to Jacob and Conrad Wipf the firm being called Baldwin, Wipf & Co. In 1860 the firm built a flour mill.

He was chairman of the town many years and in 1865 he sold his interests at Iola and again became a resident of Waupaca, when he became a member of the flour milling concern of Dayton, Dewey & Co. This firm did a large business, hauling its product to Gill’s Landing on the Wolf River, and Berlin, until the advent of the Wisconsin Central railroad in 872. About this time the mill was destroyed by fire, but was at once rebuilt, the firm becoming Mumbrue, Baldwin & Co., and later becoming Baldwin & Oborn, continuing until 1884 when fire again destroyed the property. At this time the interior of the mill had just been remodeled with a complete roller process, being one of the first mills thus equipped in Wisconsin. Mr. Baldwin, with his son-in-law, purchased the Lord Bros. Mill and continued in the flouring business until 1887, when he retired from active business having filled many public offices and always evincing a deep interest in the welfare of the community in which his work was done.

In 1853 he married Harriet Augusta Chandler, who, with her parents and only sister, had preceded him two years in settling upon the Indian Lands of Waupaca County. They came from Hanover, N.H.

Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin are the parents of six children, four being residents of this city, Mrs. R. Bailey, Walter and Wallace (twins) and Miss Victoria, Frank of Milwaukee and Mrs. W.I, Prince of Bessemer. All with their families were in attendance at the celebration.

Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin were among our pioneers and have endured well the hardships and trials of that early day. Mrs. Baldwin is sixty-six years old and Mr. Baldwin is seventy-three. Both are in excellent health and their many friends join us in wishing that they may enjoy many more years of life and pleasure.