Sutter-Yuba County Biographies


This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm
 
JAMES C. BALDWIN
 
            A decidedly representative man of affairs in the Marysville business 
world is James C. Baldwin, a wide-awake member of the well-known and popular 
firm of Harris & Baldwin, at Third and C Streets.  A native Hawkeye, he was born 
in Lucas County, Iowa, in the town of Chariton, on March 16, 1866, the son of 
Chester and Lizzie (Matson) Baldwin, both natives of Ohio.  The family came to 
California in 1874 and located at Colusa; and later they removed to a point 
about three miles from Camptonville, where the father was a farmer.  He died in 
Los Angeles, and his widow makes her home with our subject.
            James C. Baldwin went to Camptonville and Marysville schools; and as 
far back as 1883, he entered the employ of H. M. Harris, the pioneer 
harness-maker and saddler in Marysville, and there learned the harness-maker�s 
trade.  In 1898, he was made a member of the firm.  The firm is one of the 
oldest concerns in California, having been started in 1850, since which time it 
has always occupied the same location, at the northwest corner of Third and C 
Streets.  Messrs. Edwards and Vogelsang were the founders, and they were 
succeeded, some years after they had started, by H. M. Harris.  Mr. Baldwin now 
has the original deed to the lot upon which their building stands; it is dated 
May 11, 1850, signed, and written in ink by Judge Stephen J. Field, one of the 
most distinguished members of the American bar, and eminent in the early history 
of California, who was then the first alcalde, or justice of the peace, of 
Marysville.  Mr. Baldwin prizes this document very highly, it being a valuable 
and most interesting souvenir of pioneer days.  
            After Mr. Baldwin became interested in the business, they named the 
firm the H. M. Harris Saddlery Co.  In those days, before the automobile and big 
motor-driven trucks had come into being, the big six-, eight, and ten-horse 
freight teams came regularly into the city from the mountains and farms with 
their big loads of grain and produce.  Then there were also the driving horses.  
So there was need for heavy and light harness, as well as saddles for the 
stockmen; and they also had a well-appointed shop for the manufacture and repair 
of harness and saddles.  When H. M. Harris died, in 1898, his son, A. L. Harris, 
became the owner of his interest, and the business was continued under the same 
name.  The partners purchased the lot in 1901, and in 1906 they built the new 
building, a two-story concrete building, 40 by 60 feet.  Thereafter the 
partnership continued with success.  However, in 1917 A. L. Harris passed on and 
his interest was inherited by his son J. C. Harris, now the junior member of the 
firm.  In the twentieth century evolution of business, during which automobiles 
and motor trucks have displaced the horse-drawn carriages and wagons, their 
business naturally changed with the progress of the time, and in their 
enterprising and modern way the proprietors kept abreast of the times.  They 
always carry a well-selected and up-to-date stock of sporting goods, tents and 
awnings, hardware, and automobile supplies and accessories.  Thus, the old name 
having become obsolete, they changed the firm name to Harris & Baldwin; and in 
their show-windows are displayed the latest goods in their respective lines, 
making them leaders in the mercantile life of Marysville, where they are one of 
the oldest and most reliable business houses, whose watchword has always been 
honesty and integrity in their dealings, and who see to it that their customers 
are accorded every courtesy and consideration.
            Mr. Baldwin was city councilman of Marysville for a term, or from 
1900 to 1902, and is the only member of the council as then constituted who is 
still living.  Previously, the city was heavily in debt; but so well were the 
affairs of the municipality handled during his term, that at its close there was 
$20,000 in the treasury.  During his term, too, the Packard Library site was 
accepted by the council.  Mr. Baldwin was chairman of the Light Committee, as 
well as the Committee on Buildings and Grounds, and was a member of the 
Committee on Fire, Water and Cemeteries.  He was an ardent supporter of measures 
for securing up-to-date fire-protection facilities, and the first chemical 
engine and hose wagon used in Marysville was bought at that time; and that was 
the first move made in the formation of the modern fire department of the city.  
In January, 1924, he was again elected councilman, receiving the highest vote of 
any candidate, and is serving on the Committee of Fire and Water, and Police.
 
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p 532-533