Colonel Loammi Baldwin, (sculpture).

Colonel Loammi Baldwin, (sculpture).

Adams, Herbert, 1858-1945, sculptor.

Colonel Loammi Baldwin, (sculpture).

Loammi Baldwin, (sculpture).

Continental Colonel, (sculpture).

1917. Dedicated April 19, 1920.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: granite.

Sculpture: approx. H. 6 ft.; Base: approx. 6 x 4 x 4 ft.

(On bottom rear of sculpture, near base:) HERBERT ADAMS SC/1917 (Marked, bottom left edge, rear of base:) CAST BY/ROMAN BRONZE WORKS N.Y. (On bronze plaque on front of base, in raised letters:) LOAMMI BALDWIN/PATRIOT/PUBLIC OFFICIAL/BORN JANUARY 21, 1745, N.S./IN NORTH WOBURN/MASSACHUSETTS/DIED OCTOBER 20, 1807 (On bronze plaque on east side of base:) ONE OF THE PROPRIETORS/AND/A PRINCIPAL CONSTRUCTOR/OF THE MIDDLESEX CANAL/A MEMBER OF/THE COMMITTEE TO SIGN/THE PAPER MONEY OF/MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY/FIRST SHERIFF OF/MIDDLESEX COUNTY/UNDER THE STATE CONSTITUTION/A LEADER OF AFFAIRS/IN WOBURN (On bronze plaque on west side of base:) A PARTICIPANT WITH THE/RANK OF MAJOR/IN THE BATTLES OF/LEXINGTON AND CONCORD/A COLONEL OF/THE 26TH REGIMENT OF/THE CONTINENTAL ARMY/WITH GENERAL WASHINGTON/DURING THE OCCUPATION/OF NEW YORK/AND IN THE BATTLE/OF TRENTON (On bronze plaque on base of base:) BALDWIN APPLE/DISSEMINATOR OF THE APPLE/IN HONOR OF HIM CALLED/THE BALDWIN/WHICH PROCEEDED FROM A TREE/ORIGINALLY GROWING WILD/ABOUT TWO MILES NORTH/OF THIS MONUMENT signed Founder's mark appears.

A standing figure of a colonel in the Continental Army (not a portrait of Loammi Baldwin) dressed in his Revolutionary War uniform and tricorn hat. In his proper right hand he once held a sword that is now missing. His proper left hand is raised and formed in a fist. The sculpture rests atop a tall square base adorned with bronze inscription plaques on each side. The plaque on the front of the base contains a relief bust of Loammi Baldwin in profile. The plaque on the back of the base contains a relief of the Baldwin apple.

Figure male -- Full length

Dress -- Uniform -- Military Uniform

Portrait male -- Baldwin, Loammi -- Bust

Occupation -- Military -- Colonel

Occupation -- Industry -- Engineering

Occupation -- Political -- Statesman

Object -- Fruit -- Apple

Outdoor Sculpture -- Massachusetts -- Woburn

Administered by Town of Woburn, Woburn, Massachusetts

Located Baldwin Green Common, Main & Elm Streets, Woburn, Massachusetts

Loammi Baldwin was an engineer from Woburn who rose to the rank of Colonel during the Revolutionary War. His battle experiences during the Revolutionary War included the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Trenton. In 1776, he crossed the Delaware with General George Washington. After retiring from the military, he served in various public offices and under the government of the new United States he became the first Sheriff of Middlesex County. In 1793, he was appointed engineer for the construction of the Middlesex Canal and saw the project through to its completion ten years later. It was the first major canal built in America and cost more than one million dollars. Colonel Baldwin is also famous for propagating the Baldwin apple.

The sculpture was funded through the will of Catherine R. Griffith who died in Quebec in 1910. The cost of the sculpture was $10,000. The figure of the colonel was originally intended to be a depiction of Loammi Baldwin, but the only likeness that could be obtained was a small bust in Baldwin in profile. Knowing nothing about the physical proportions of the man, it was felt that a mere guess would not be sufficient, and the trustees decided on a statue of a generic Continental colonel. IAS files contain articles and clippings from the vertical files of the Massachusetts Historical Commission; and an article from the Woburn Daily Times, April 20, 1920.

Ambler, Louise Todd & Marilyn Gage Hyson, unpublished checklist, 2001-2003.

Carlock, Marty, "A Guide to Public Art in Greater Boston," Boston: Harvard Common Press, 1988.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Massachusetts survey, 1997.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, MA0057, 1989.

Monumental News, Nov. 1918, pg. 488.

Monumental News, Nov. 1918, pg. 488.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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