Herman L. Baldwin was born around 1851 in Connecticut to James Baldwin and Elizabeth Smith. His father was a farmer who owned $2,300 of real estate and $100 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Milford, Connecticut, and by 1870, he was working as a pattern maker. By 1880, he was living in his grandmother Abigail Smith’s household in Milford. He probably got married in the late 1800s, but his wife died sometime before 1900. By 1900, he was living with his aunt Martha Smith in Milford. He died sometime after 1920.