John Denison Baldwin, an American journalist and archaeologist, born at North Stoning-ton, Conn., Sept. 28,1809. At the age of 14 he was thrown entirely upon his own exertions. He fitted himself in the common school and at an academy to enter college. Not being able to pursue a collegiate course, he began the study of law, but soon abandoned it for theology, and while pursuing his theological studies at the divinity school in New Haven went through the course pursued by the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes in Yale college, from which he received the honorary degree of A. M. In 1833 he was licensed to preach, and was settled at North Branford, Conn., where he remained seven or eight years. He acquired the French and German languages, and by 1844 had begun to give special attention to archaeology and its bearing upon the current schemes of ancient history. He also wrote much for magazines and newspapers, and became editor of the "Charter Oak," an anti-slavery newspaper published in Hartford, and afterward of the "Commonwealth," published in Boston. In 1859 he became editor and proprietor of the "Worcester Spy," one of the oldest journals in New England. In 1863 he was elected to congress, and was twice reelected. In 1847 he published "Raymond Hill," a small volume of poems.

While a member of congress he continued his archaeological studies, and in 1869 published a work on "Prehistoric Nations," and in 1872 one on "Ancient America."