When Clayton Elias Baldwin was born on 28 February 1859, in Meyersdale, Somerset, Pennsylvania, United States, his father, Jacob Frederick Baldwin, was 33 and his mother, Elizabeth Ann Lint, was 26. He married Clara Etta Brubaker on 12 June 1879, in Polk, Iowa, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 2 daughters. He lived in Summit Township, Somerset, Pennsylvania, United States in 1860 and Clear Creek Township, Jasper, Iowa, United States in 1870. He died on 9 December 1896, in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, at the age of 37, and was buried in Plainview Cemetery, Mount Morris Township, Ogle, Illinois, United States.