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Below is a family biography included in The History of Moniteau County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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John M. Baker was born in Washington, D. C., in 1833, and in 1841 came with his parents, Ingnotz and Barbara (Scwab) Baker, to Missouri. They were born, reared and married in Germany, and were the parents of three children prior to coming to the United States in 1830, and after reaching this country resided for some time in Washington, D. C, then resided on a farm in Madison Co., Ohio, until 1841. The father was then engaged in farming in Missouri until 1852, at which date his death occurred, at the age of fifty-four years. His wife died in 1887, at the age of eighty-three years. They were devoted members of the Catholic Church. John M. Baker is one of eight surviving members of their family of fifteen children (twelve of whom lived to be grown), and attained his majority in Moniteau County. April 9, 1854, he started overland for California, being one of a party of ten, and reached that State on the 15th of August, following. He spent about two and a half years there engaged in teaming and mining, and then returned home via the Isthmus of Panama and New Orleans and engaged in farming, following this occupation until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he enlisted in Company F, Fifty-second Enrolled Missouri Militia, September 9, 1862, but after a time was discharged from duty on account of ill health, and returned home and resumed the peaceful occupation of husbandry. Since 1880 he has resided on his present farm. February 19, 1860, he was married to Miss Mary Zey, who was born in Germany in 1838. When three years of age she was brought from Germany by her parents, and here the father, John Zey, died April 6, 1877, at the age of seventy-seven years, and the mother (Catherine Winegardner) in 1852, both having been members of the Catholic Church. To Mr. and Mrs. Baker eleven children have been born, but only eight are living at the present time: John, Peter, George, Joseph, Maggie, Charles, Emma and Bertha. Those deceased were Louise, Frank, and an infant unnamed. Peter and Frank were twins, and the latter died at the age of eleven years. Louise died when twenty-two years of age. John is married and resides in Cooper County. At the last presidential election Mr. Baker voted for Harrison. He and wife belong to the Catholic Church.

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This family biography is one of 187 biographies included in The History of Moniteau County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Moniteau County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Moniteau County, Missouri family biographies here: Moniteau County, Missouri Biographies

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