Baldwin was born on June 4, 1866, in Duke Center, Otto Township, McKean County, Pennsylvania.
He then taught school for three years before completing his education at the University of Michigan Law School in 1893 and entering private law practice in Austin, Pennsylvania, the following year.
As senator, he served on the committees for Appropriations, Banks and Building and Loan Associations, Corporations, Executive Nominations, Exposition Affairs, Forestry, Game and Fisheries, Insurance, Judiciary Special, Mines and Mining, Municipal Affairs, Public Roads and Highways.
He also chaired the Judiciary General, Finance, and Corporations committees and served as Senate president pro tempore in 1920.
[1] Baldwin lost his parents and his sister, Grace, in the Austin Dam failure of 1911.