One of the oldest firms in the insurance business in Rome, Oneida county, New York, is that of Baldwin & Stone, of which Sylvester C. Baldwin is a member. It is an old established firm and does an extensive business in Rome, and throughout the Mohawk valley, in insurance of practically every kind, and represents a number of the strongest and best known risk companies in the country. Mr. Baldwin was born in Rome in 1839, the son of Ashur and Wealthy (Ferry) Baldwin. His father, who was a native of Connecticut, with an ancestry whose genealogy dates back to the earliest settlers in America from England, as soldiers who served in the War of the Revolution, moved to Oneida county, New York, in 1820. The mother was a native of New York state, her ancestors coming from Germany and settling in Oneida county about 1800. His father was engaged as a carpenter and builder until his death in 1869, his mother living until 1878. Sylvester C. Baldwin was the fifth of six children born to his parents, five sons and one daughter.
Sylvester C. Baldwin obtained his education in the public schools of Rome and then went to work with his father in the carpenter and building trade until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he enlisted in Battery H, Third New York Light Artillery, and served until the close of the war, when he was discharged as a sergeant. Mr. Baldwin was in all the battles in which his battery took part in the Civil war and was wounded while in front of Petersburg, Virginia, on July 18th, 1864. He is a member of Skillin Post, No. 47, G. A. R., and is past commander of the post. After his return to Rome at the close of the war, Mr. Baldwin was elected county supervisor of Oneida county and served two terms. He is a democrat in politics and in religion a member of the Baptist church. He belongs to the Rome Chamber of Commerce, the Rome Automobile Club and the Rome Insurance & Real Estate Boards. For forty years after the war Mr. Baldwin was engaged in the contracting business, but abandoned this after the formation of the insurance firm of Baldwin & Stone, on April 1, 1905.
Mr. Baldwin was married, in Rome, in 1867, to Miss Anna J. Williamson of Utica, New York, who died in 1876, leaving one child, M. Camilla, now Mrs. J. D. Ackley of Homer, New York. Mr. Baldwin was married in 1876 to Lizzie M. Halstead. In 1886 he was married to Vinnie Yager. In 1909 Mr. Baldwin was married to Mrs. Sarah J. Stevenson. Mrs. Baldwin is a member of the Women's Club and past vice regent of the Oriskany Chapter of the D. A. R.