Cordelia Tazewell Baldwin
A Generational Legacy of Faith BY: ROBIN COWHERD
M
ost people around First Presbyterian, Norfolk know Cordelia Baldwin. But if you have the opportunity to really engage in a conversation with her, prepare for an interesting lesson in church history, political history and genealogy, all of which encompass Cordelia’s life. Cordelia Tazewell was born in 1923 into a family with roots in and stories of Norfolk and Virginia history. The third of four girls, she was born at Protestant Hospital located roughly where Sentara Norfolk General stands today. As Cordelia explains it, “none of the hospitals or schools I visited or attended exist anymore.” But one facility Cordelia visited in 1923 does exist today…First Presbyterian Church at 820 Colonial Avenue. Cordelia was baptized in this church shortly after her birth. Infant baptism in the Tazewell family was accepted as a natural tradition. What was not known at the time was that Cordelia would spend the next 94 years with this church as her foundation. Her childhood was content and happy. Her mother was a strong Christian woman who worked as the hostess and then manager of the Tea Room at Ames and Brownley Department Store in downtown Norfolk for 35 years. She remembers her father as being wonderful with her and her three sisters Dot, Louise and Grace. He worked as an engineer but lost his business in the
Reverend Dr. George D. Armstrong, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Norfolk and Cordelia’s great-grandfather.
midst of the Great Depression. The loss of employment impacted the family’s place of residence. The family was forced to move from Raleigh Square to a yellow brick structure at 420 Fairfax Avenue. This historic residence was a wedding present to her grandmother in 1890. She still resided there at the time of their move and lived to be 104 years-old. Of particular note, Cordelia’s grandmother, Lucretia DeJarnette, was George Armstrong’s daughter. The Reverend Dr. George D. Armstrong was pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Norfolk from 1851 until 1891. Dr. ArmCordelia Tazewell, age nine in strong steered our Norfolk, Virginia near Willoughby. church through the eras of the Civil War and the yellow fever epidemic. With her years of devoted service to the Presbyterian Church, Cordelia became a part of seven generations of our church’s history.
The other bloodline of Cordelia’s ancestry should also be mentioned. Her father was the great-grandson of the 26nd governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the 1830’s (governors were limited to three-year terms during this era). Both men went by the name Littleton Waller Tazewell. So, young Cordelia was born into a family of incredible local, church and Virginia history. Throughout her childhood Cordelia knew little of the family history. But she did know she was having fun roller skating, climbing trees, playing in sand piles and, according to Cordelia, “accidently falling into the waters of the Hague near my house.” Most summers, the family spent a month on vacation in a rented cottage at Willoughby, where she learned to swim at four years old. She also remembers taking that trip on the transportation at the time – a streetcar. Cordelia’s entire academic career, as she points out, took place in schools which are no longer in existence. Her first two years of school were in Miss
Jones’ School, followed by Robert E. Lee School in West Ghent, and finally Graham’s School on Baldwin Avenue, where she attended grades five through twelve. Following primary school, Cordelia attended Richmond Professional Institute, where she graduated with a degree in Recreational Leadership in 1946 (photo above Cordelia at age 19). She returned to Norfolk after graduation and became the Teenage Director for the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA). As Director, she organized YWCA clubs throughout the high schools across Norfolk. A brief, but remarkable meeting occurred while she was working at the YWCA. Miss Cochrane, a member of the YWCA Board, casually asked her one morning if she would be willing to attend a dinner party for outof-town young people. Cordelia was interested and asked where she was to go. “Oh, don’t worry about that, Cordelia, I will have Sox Baldwin pick you up to bring you to the dinner.”
Cordelia knew Sox from growing up in Norfolk, but since he was over eight years her senior, she did not know him well. That first get-together led to many others. Sox and Cordelia were smitten with each other, and in April 1948 they were married. The wedding took place in the living room of that yellow- bricked, historic house at 420 Fairfax with the ceremony led by Dr. Jason L. MacMillan, the pastor of First Presbyterian Church. For a wedding present Cordelia was given her first ever television set. Sox also had a very strong faith life, having been raised in Christ and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. For a while, the couple attended both the Episcopal and First Church, alternating each Sunday. The following year, Sox decided to join First Presbyterian. Cordelia said, “each week Sox regularly heard from other business people he ran into that they enjoyed seeing Cordelia at First Church; so he felt he should be attending church activities with me more regularly.” Cordelia and Sox were dedicated Christians, and people knew it. As they began to raise their three children, Barton, Margaret and Katherine, God called them in 1953 to help plant the Calvin Presbyterian Church, now located at East Little Creek Road. Back then the congregation was meeting at the Little Creek School. For the next twenty years, Cordelia and Sox were the pillars of Calvin Presbyterian. When their work at Calvin was finished, the Baldwins returned to First Church in the 1970s. From that time forward, Cordelia continued to volunteer by teaching Sunday School. She also served as the “reading lady” at the FPC preschool for about fifteen years, after serving as the Lower School Librarian at Norfolk Academy for 20 plus years.
“My favorit e time was reading to t he litt le children,” she said wit h a mighty grin. Her children benefited from Cordelia placing a huge value on education. Certainly, Christian education in the church was vital, as was higher education. Her son, Barton, is currently headmaster of a K-8 private school in New York City. Katherine Taylor continues the family legacy at FPC as she and husband Taze have raised Cordelia’s two grandsons (Gifford and Stuart) in our congregation. “I am very proud of those two young men, aged 27 and 30,” says the happy Grandma.
"The church has given me stability. The end will come when the Lord decides, and I must accept the fact that you don’t have control." Reflecting back over her life, Cordelia said her three best qualities are “loving people, accepting who she is, and trying to be generous.” She says, “I think a good Christian is constantly growing and keeps their mind in the right place.”
The church community has clearly been the center of Cordelia Baldwin’s life. She reflects in a strong voice, “The church has given me stability. The end will come when the Lord decides, and I must accept the fact that you don’t have control.”
According to Cordelia, life’s success is not measured by accumulation. She says, “Things don’t mean much to me anymore. Memories of people mean more than things.”
She is not as active now as in the past. “I don’t drive or volunteer, but I do participate in women’s Bible study.” It is most fitting that Cordelia’s final remarks are directed toward others. “The young women in our Bible study inspire me. Their children, their problems and how they accept it and go forward are incredibly inspiring to me,” she says.
The number one challenge in her life has been to reconcile the loss of her soulmate. Sox and Cordelia were married sixty-six years. “I go forward with the Lord, but think of Sox every day,” she says. “The Lord has been good to me. I sometimes ask, ‘why am I still here?’ but I know that the Lord will get you through anything, if you ask.” She says, “I would like to tell young people to think about others and not yourselves. Thinking about me, me, me is not a happy life – put yourselves second, not first.”
Cordelia has lived a life dedicated to serving God, her family and others. The countless number of people she has helped along the way with grace and faith have received a great gift. If you are lucky enough to hear the stories of Cordelia Baldwin, you will indeed be treated to a history lesson driven by her faith-filled spirit.