Page:Archæologia Americana—volume 2, 1836.djvu/596

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560 OBITUARY NOTICE OF was less ardent, and which was, consequently, better suited to his tranquil, unambitious temperament. He sought this refuge in Barre ; but afterwards became associated with Mr. Sibley, the present Marshal of this District, and removed to Sutton. His courtesy, affability, and kindness secured to him the friend- ship of a great number of persons, in each of these places, and disarmed his enemies, if any he had. Although success thus attended him, and he had a tempera- ment patient of labor and diligent in inquiry, yet the law had not charms sufficient to establish itself as a favorite pursuit ; for his mind turned with avidity from it to literature, and especially to antiquarian research. His attachment to this study was early developed, in an un- common regard for whatever bore the stamp of antiquity. The chairs, desks, tables, and other furniture of his office, were the productions of another age. His time-piece attracted attention because of its uncouth appearance and rough workmanship, and was valued because it was the fruit of the skill of the first clock-maker in Worcester. Wherever he travelled, he visited the burial-places, copied names and epitaphs, inquired for and examined town and parish records, and ancient family papers. By this process, he became master of the genealogy of more families than any person with whom the writer of this article has ever been acquainted ; and it afforded him much gratifica- tion to surprise, not only his friends, but strangers, with accu- rate details of their kindred and connexions, which were wholly unknown to themselves. He kept, also, a journal, in which is much amusing and interesting matter, being, in part, the result of his observations in several tours to the Lakes, the White Mountains, and the sea-coast. Some agreeable details of these travels were occasionally published in the newspapers, in the form of letters, signed " The Pilgrim," which were from his pen. To one having such a thirst for this kind of knowledge, and being thus eager in its pursuit, some connexion with the press would naturally seem to be desirable. Mr. Baldwin, therefore, while in Worcester, in connexion with his friend, William Lin- coln, Esq., in whom he met a congenial taste and a correspond- ent love of literary pursuits, established, in 1825, a periodical, called the " Worcester Magazine and Historical Journal/' pub- lished once a month. This work was continued, by the joint efforts of these two scholars, through two volumes of about four