My Genealogy Hound

H. O. Baker, a school teacher, and farmer of Barton County, Mo., was born in Schuylkill County, Penn., June 25, 1850, his parents, William H. and Catherine (Thompson) Baker, being also natives of that State, and of Irish and English descent, respectively. The family came to America prior to the Revolutionary War, and in this struggle the grandfather took an active part, being a member of the American army. William H. Baker was a school teacher during his youth and middle age, following this occupation until he was nearly fifty years of age, and was superintendent of the schools of Tamaqua, Penn., for eight years, being one of the most thorough instructors of his day. In 1868 he came to Missouri and bought 240 acres of land in Barton County, on which he farmed and raised stock for seven or eight years, and then about 1877 went into the mercantile business, in which he was engaged at the time of his death at Verdella in 1885. His wife died in 1851, leaving two children: A. W., born August 9, 1847, and H. O.; and in 1856 he was again married, this wife’s maiden name being Mary Olmstead, of Pennsylvania. She is still living, and resides on the old homestead in Barton County. William H. Baker was a Republican, but afterward became a faithful worker of the Union Labor party. H. O. Baker, whose name heads this sketch, began working for himself at the early age of fifteen years, and, after following the plow for one year, commenced teaching school, which occupation he has followed up to the present time. At the age of seventeen he took charge of a select school, and, since coming to Missouri, has won an enviable reputation as an able instructor in Wright, Barton, and other counties. In 1869 he went to Southern Kansas, among the Osage Indians, as preliminary surveyor for the Government, and was thus employed fourteen months. He was married in 1874 to Miss Laura Nichols, a daughter of Capt. J. W. Nichols, of Confederate States Service, who lost a leg at the battle of Wilson’s Creek. Mrs. Baker died in 1875, and in 1881 Mr. Baker took for his second wife Miss Addie Russell, a native of Maine, by whom he has three children living: Leon, born August 23, 1882; Kingsley, born December 31, 1885; and Lawrence, born March 19, 1888. Mr. Baker and wife were members of the Baptist Church, but became firm believers and strong advocates of Substantialism as advocated by Dr. Hall. In his political views he is a Republican. He belongs to the I. O. O. F. He and wife were married in Texas County, Mo. She is a daughter of Eben Russell, and niece of B. F. Russell, editor of the Steelville Mirror, who is known throughout Southern Missouri as a poet of considerable merit.