Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1869-11-19
For the Vindicator.

Below viii be found the particulars of the
terrible collision on the Pacific Railroad,
near San Francisco, by which this gentle
man lost his life, on last Sunday morning.
Many of your readers will recognize him as
the eldest son Of the late highly distinguished
Judge Jos. G. Baldwin, formerly OF our town.
Judge Alexander ". Baldwin was born
in Gainesville, Alabama, in 1871, and was
consequently only % years old. Dis
tinguished from infancy for precocity, he en-
tered the University of Virginia at the age
of IA, where he acquired great reputation as
brilliant writer, orato: and conversational
list At 10 practlcing lawyer, he at once
took Grst-class position at the California
Bar. At 10, he was Prosecuting Attorney,
and at 20 the acknowledged head of the Ne
vada Bar. At 81 he married a very accom-
plished and lovely lady, (who survives him
with two or three children) and had acquired
a large fortune by his profession, having
made, in one instance, a fee of 500, 000.-
At %, he was made Judge Of the U. s. Dis
tr;et Court for the State Of Nevada, and held
the Office at the time Of his premature and
iamented death. He was no doubt the
Youngest Judge the United States ever bad.
BE stood head and shoulders above any 9TH
er man in Nevada, and there was no office
within her gift which he could not have com
nlanded Indeed there was no dignity OF
position in America to which bis talents and
requirements we're not equal, and to which
he might not have aspired without presump-
ton. The death of such man, in the flower
OF his youth, is a public calamity.
Judge Baldwin was E small, delicate man,
Of marked nervous temperament, very hand
some and graceful, full of life and hu-
NOR, and of the most polished and fascina-
ting manners. He was, too, man pure
and high toned character and remarkable
generosity, and was animated by an honora-
bic ambition for great and enduring renown
among his fellow-men.
The mortality among the men Of Judge
Baldwin's family, within the last few years.
has exceeded that Of attle-feld. His I'M
Gle, Col. Cyrus b. Baldwin, distinguished
lawyer and wealthy planter Of Houston, Mis-
sissippi, died in the Confederate Army in
June 1862, aged about 40 /; his second broth
er, Jos. G. Baldwin, Jr., youth Of rare
distinguished father, Judge Jos. G. Baldwin,
September Both, 1864, aged 40 his Grand
father, Capt. Jos. G, Baldwin, April 21st
1868, aged nearly 90 his third brother,
.Jno. W. Baldwin, Esq, August Both, 1868
aged %, and himself, November 18th, 1869,
aged %.
Judge Jos. G. Baldwin's surviving fami-
" consists now of his widow, who is 'sa wild
ow indeed" one son, just grown, and two
daughters, one married to Jno. b. FELTON,
Esq, distinguished lawyer of San Fran
cisco, and the other still at school. &
The surviving relations of this horribly
bereaved family have the sympathy of this
entire community.
SAY Francisco, Nov. IA. 1869.
A few minStes past nine o'clock this morn
ing the eastern bound train on the Western
Pacific Railroad, composed of eight cars, in
Guiding one sleeping car, collided with tht
Alameda Ferry train of four cars near Sa,
Ieandro. Both trains were going at therats
of twenty miles an hour. The engines are
a perfect wreck and the cars smashed anG
driven through one another The Western
Pacific train left Oh prompt time. but the
morning was so foggy that the engineer hae
difficulty to see any distance ahead. Upo1
arriving at the switch, where the Western
Pacific connects with the Alameda road, the
train slowed, and the switch tender being
questioned whether the Alameda train had
passed answered, "All right; 60 ahead y
Soon after the trains came together with /:
terrific crash. The first passenger car OF
the Western Pacific was driven through
smashing the car.
The other cars are badly damaged TIL
numbers Of the killed and wounded are vari
ously estimated at from ten to fifteen an
from thirty to fifty. 1t is impossible to OBJ
tain the correct number at present.
THE K11LED-Alexander W. Baldwin
United States District Judge Of Nevada
VIRGINIA Gity. and nine others