Susan Madison Peyton (1822-1899)

Susan Madison Peyton, born July 4, 1822 in Staunton, Virginia, was the first child of John Howe Peyton and Ann Montgomery Lewis. She died in Staunton on October 1, 1899 and is buried in Thornrose Cemetery. She married John Brown Baldwin (1820-1873) at Montgomery Hall on September 20, 1842. After their marriage they lived at Spring Farm and later moved into the same stone house occupied by her parents in the early years of their marriage. Baldwin purchased lots from John Howe Peyton’s estate in 1847 and built “Lavoir.” John Brown Baldwin was a lawyer and later served in the Virginia House of Delegates. He met with President Lincoln on April 4, 1861 in an effort to avoid Virginia’s secession from the Union. Baldwin was a member of the Confederate Congress, Inspector General of Virginia Troops, and Colonel, 52nd Virginia Infantry. John Brown Baldwin and Susan Madison Peyton had no children of their own, but they raised her youngest siblings after the death of their mother in 1850. Many of these children later named their own children after Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin. Mrs. Baldwin later helped in raising two of her nephews.