My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM BAKER, who served for over four years as a soldier during the late war, is a farmer of considerable prominence in Pettis County. His farm, which is pleasantly located on section 11, township 44, range 23, comprises two hundred and forty acres of some of the finest land in this section, all of which has been accumulated by his own well directed efforts and enterprise.

A native of Ohio, our subject was born in Stark County, in May, 1840. His parents, Barnhard and Margaret (Hoover) Baker, were natives of Germany, the former’s birth occurring in Bavaria, where he was educated and married. He came to America some time after his union with Miss Hoover, and settled in Summit County, Ohio, where he remained about two years, when he moved to Stark County. There he followed his trade, that of a stonemason, until his decease, which occurred March 12, 1855. His good wife survived him twenty years, passing away in 1875. She was the daughter of Jacob Hoover, who crossed the Atlantic the same year in which Barnhard Baker emigrated to America. Philip, the father of the latter, never left the Fatherland.

Until sixteen years of age our subject attended the district school three or four months in each year, and for the last six years of that time also worked on the farm. He then left the parental roof, and, desirous of learning the carpenter’s trade, apprenticed himself to a good workman. Later he moved to Pettis County, Mo., where he hired out to farmers, and also worked at his trade until the outbreak of the Civil War.

Mr. Baker was among the first to buckle on the armor and answer his country’s call. He entered the Home Guards in May of the above year,and two months later was mustered into Thatcher’s company of Missouri Guards, remaining in active service for six months. In the spring of the ensuing year he was detailed in the Fifth Provisional Regiment, remaining on duty till the close of the war. During that time he participated in many well known engagements which were fought in Missouri, and on one occasion was captured, but soon afterward made his escape. He was discharged at Sedalia, but being a militiaman was not mustered out until 1875, when the command was disbanded by a general order from the Legislature.

The subject of this sketch left his native state in 1857, and, going to Iowa, there made his home for one year. Thinking that he could do better in Missouri, he accordingly came hither at the end of a twelvemonth, and located in Pettis County, where he has since been employed in farming and stock-raising, with the exception of the time spent in the service of his country, and four years when plying his trade in Sedalia.

He is one of the most popular members of his community, and is self-made in the fullest meaning of the term. His estate is located near the main line of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, and within a half-mile of the prosperous little city of Green Ridge.

William Baker was married, in 1865, to Miss Mary, daughter of Nicholas and Mary (Scherer) Burkhart, natives of Switzerland, who emigrated to America in 1850, and who came to Missouri in 1866. Mrs. Baker was also born in Switzerland, the date being December 31, 1843. Her union with our subject has been blessed by the birth of seven children, two of whom are deceased. Those living are: Charles L., now in Oklahoma; Minnie O., the wife of H. J. Carr, of Kansas City; Frederick W., also a resident of that city; and John P. and Nicholas, at home with their parents. Mr. Baker and his family are members in excellent standing of the Congregational Church.

In his political faith our subject votes the Republican ticket, and socially is a member of the order of United Workmen, and of E. D. Baker Post No. 68, G. A. R. Any measure tending to promote the good of the community is sure to receive his support, and he contributes both of his influence and means to progressive enterprises. He is one of the oldest residents of the county, and when he came here helped to build the first house in Sedalia, which was owned by William Westlake.