Henry Alexander Baldwin

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Henry Alexander Baldwin

|image = Henry Alexander Baldwin (vol. 2, 1921).jpg

|image_size = 160px

|caption = Known as "Harry Baldwin"

|office=Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives from Hawaii Territory's At-large district

|term_start = March 25, 1922

|term_end = March 3, 1923

|predecessor = Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole

|successor = William P. Jarrett

|party = Hawaii Republican Party

|birth_date = {{birth date|1871|1|12}}

|birth_place = Maui, Kingdom of Hawaii

|death_date = {{death date and age|1946|10|8|1871|1|12}}

|death_place = Pā{{okina}}ia, Maui, Territory of Hawaii

|spouse = Ethel Frances Smith

|children = Frances Hobron Baldwin

}}

Henry Alexander Baldwin or Harry Alexander Baldwin (January 12, 1871 – October 8, 1946) was an American businessman and politician who served as Congressional Delegate to the United States House of Representatives representing the Territory of Hawaii. He was one of the earliest leaders of the Hawaii Republican Party. He was president of the Maui Agricultural Company and director of Baldwin Bank, which later became part of First Hawaiian Bank.

Life

Baldwin was born on January 12, 1871, in the Baldwin house at the Paliuli sugar mill, between the towns of Pā{{okina}}ia and Makawao, on Maui, Kingdom of Hawaii. His father Henry Perrine Baldwin and uncle Samuel Thomas Alexander had established Alexander & Baldwin, one of the "Big Five" corporations that dominated Hawaii economics in the early twentieth century, in 1869.{{cite web|url=http://www.alexanderbaldwin.com/our-company/history.php |publisher=on Alexander & Baldwin corporate web site |title=company history |accessdate=2009-07-26 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090713213340/http://www.alexanderbaldwin.com/our-company/history.php |archivedate=2009-07-13 }} His father was son of early missionary Dwight Baldwin, and his mother Emily Whitney Alexander was daughter of early missionary William P. Alexander.{{cite web |title=History: 7 Generations - a paniolo legacy |publisher=Piʻiholo Ranch |work=web site |accessdate=2010-01-12 |url=http://piiholo.com/history.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223182823/http://piiholo.com/history.html |archive-date=2015-02-23 |url-status=usurped }} Baldwin was educated in Honolulu at Punahou School. His parents sent him to Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, from which he graduated in 1889. In 1894, Baldwin obtained a degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a member of Chi Phi fraternity.

He returned to work for his father and uncle on the Haiku sugarcane plantation. From 1897 to 1904 he became manager. Sugarcane production became very profitable with increasing trade with the United States and annexation of Hawaii in 1898. Haiku merged with the Pā{{okina}}ia plantation, and he became president of the combined operation called the Maui Agricultural Company.

He served as president of Maui Telephone Company, and Maui Publishing Company. He was a director of Baldwin Bank, which later became part of First Hawaiian Bank.{{cite book |title= Men of Hawaii: being a biographical reference library, complete and authentic, of the men of note and substantial achievement in the Hawaiian Islands |volume=1 |page= 31 |editor= John William Siddall |publisher= Honolulu Star-Bulletin |year= 1917 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8YUDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA31 }} In 1916, during World War I, he served as colonel of the 3rd Regiment of the Hawaii National Guard. On July 19, 1897, he married Ethel Frances Smith (1879–1967), daughter of lawyer William Owen Smith in Honolulu — his younger brother Samuel would later marry sister Katherine Smith. They had one daughter, Frances Hobron (1904–1996) who married J. Walter Cameron (1895–1976), manager of the pineapple plantation in Honolua.{{cite book |title= The Story of Hawaii and Its Builders |year=1925 |publisher= Honolulu Star Bulletin |editor= George F. Nellist |url= http://files.usgwarchives.net/hi/statewide/bios/baldwin129bs.txt |chapter= Harry A. Baldwin }}

Cameron's company Maui Pineapple Company merged with Baldwin's pineapple business to become the Maui Land & Pineapple Company.{{cite web |title= About Us - J. Walter Cameron |url= http://www.jwcameroncenter.org/jwcameron.cfm |publisher= J. Walter Cameron Center |work= web site |accessdate= 2010-01-06 |url-status= dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090415021435/http://www.jwcameroncenter.org/jwcameron.cfm |archivedate= 2009-04-15 }} The Camerons' son Colin Cameron founded the Kapalua Bay Hotel & Villas resort.{{cite news |author= Gary Kubota |title= Obituaries: Frances Cameron, 92, member of Maui Pine family |url= http://archives.starbulletin.com/1996/03/28/community/obits.html |date= March 28, 1996 |publisher=Honolulu Star-Bulletin }}

The pineapple business continued until 2009.{{cite web |title= Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. Announces New Corporate Direction |url= http://www.mauiland.com/pdf/NEWS_RELEASE_MLP_New_Corporate_Direction_11_03_09_FINALFORDISTRIBUTION.pdf |work= Press Release |publisher= Maui Land & Pineapple Company |date= November 3, 2009 |accessdate= 2010-01-10 }}

Politics

Baldwin became county chairman for the Hawaii Republican Party in 1912.

He entered local politics in 1913 when he was elected to the Hawaii Territorial Senate.{{cite web|url=http://archives1.dags.hawaii.gov/gsdl/collect/governme/index/assoc/HASH3200.dir/Baldwin,%20Henry%20A.jpg |title=Baldwin, Henry A. office record |work=state archives digital collections |publisher=state of Hawaii |accessdate=2009-11-29 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007004100/http://archives1.dags.hawaii.gov/gsdl/collect/governme/index/assoc/HASH3200.dir/Baldwin%2C%20Henry%20A.jpg |archivedate=2011-10-07 }} He was territorial senator until 1921 when he was called to higher office to fulfill the unexpired term of Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana{{okina}}ole in Washington, D.C., who had died. Baldwin was elected to fill the vacancy for Congressional Delegate from March 25, 1922, to March 3, 1923. Despite pleas to continue service, he retired from politics and returned to his private business ventures. Baldwin emerged from retirement to serve in the Hawaii Territorial House of Representatives in 1933. Following a single term, Baldwin returned to the upper chamber where he became territory senate president in 1937.{{CongBio|B000088|inline=1}} He died at Pā{{okina}}ia, Maui on October 8, 1946, and was buried in Makawao Cemetery.[https://books.google.com/books?id=YMuq7goSzQAC&dq=%28Harry%7Chenry%29+alexander+Baldwin+makawao+1946&pg=PA545 Biographical Directory of the American Congress]

Legacy

A beach park near Pā{{okina}}ia, originally a company recreation facility, is named for him at {{coord |20|54|46|N| 156|23|27|W| type:landmark_region:US-HI| display=inline| name=Baldwin Beach Park}}.{{cite web|url=http://wehewehe.org/gsdl2.5/cgi-bin/hdict?e=q-0hdict--00-0-0--010---4----den--0-000lcl--1haw-Zz-1---Zz-1--baldwin&d=&l=en |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120728152339/http://wehewehe.org/gsdl2.5/cgi-bin/hdict?e=q-0hdict--00-0-0--010---4----den--0-000lcl--1haw-Zz-1---Zz-1--baldwin&d=&l=en |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-28 |title=lookup of Baldwin |work=on Hawaiian place names |author=Lloyd J. Soehren |year=2004 |publisher=Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library |accessdate=2010-01-08 }}

The 1917 mansion designed by his cousin architect Charles William Dickey called Kaluanui is now the home of Hui No{{okina}}eau Visual Arts Center. It is located at 2841 Baldwin Avenue, Makawao, {{coord |20|52|14|N| 156|19|17|W| type:landmark_region:US-HI| display=inline| name=Baldwin Estate}}.{{cite web|title=Kaluanui: Harry and Ethel Baldwin Estate |url=http://www.huinoeau.com/history.php |work=web site |publisher=Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Center |year=2006 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100115012538/http://www.huinoeau.com/history.php |archivedate=2010-01-15 }}