A prosperous businessman and banker, Henry P. Baldwin served two terms as governor and was the fourth Michigan governor to become a U.S. senator. 

Born in Rhode Island in 1814, Baldwin was orphaned at the age of 12. Moving to Detroit in 1838, he founded a successful business and later served as president of the Second National Bank of Detroit. A Republican, Baldwin oversaw the construction of a new State Capitol building, and, according to one historian, “with rare exceptions, the important recommendations of Governor Baldwin received the sanction of the Legislature.”  

After two terms as governor, Baldwin stepped down. Upon the death of Senator Zachariah Chandler in 1879, Baldwin was appointed to fill the vacancy. He failed in a bid to win the U.S. Senate seat in1881.