His early inclinations were towards mechanical subjects, and during his college life he made a clock which kept good time.

After graduation, he entered a law office in Groton, Massachusetts, where he constructed a fire engine called "Torrent", which the town greatly needed.

He traveled to England to inspect public works and intended to do the same in France, but he was barred by the difficulty in entering the country.

Baldwin led many other projects such as a marine railway at Pensacola; construction of buildings at Harvard College; a canal around the Ohio River falls; a stone bridge called the Warren Bridge at Charlestown; and the Union Canal in Pennsylvania.

She was sister of Samuel Williams, an eminent American banker in London; second on June 22, 1828, to Catherine, widow of Captain Thomas Beckford, of Charlestown.