Henry Baker

An enumeration of the men who have won honor and recognition in the past and added luster to the communities in which they have acted their parts in life would be incomplete without clue notice of the widely known and popular citizen whose biography is herewith presented; a citizen, who, by the master strokes of a vigorous personality and sheer force of character, has risen to an enviable place among his fellows, and gained more than local repute as an enterprising and progressive man of affairs.

Henry Baker is a native of Niagara county, Kew York, and descended paternally from Welsh antecedents, while on the mother’s side he inherits the characteristics of a long line of sterling New England ancestry. His father, Nathan Baker, was an only child, who first saw the light of day at East ‘Hampton, Long Island, New York, and when a yotmg man learned cabinet making and carpentry, in both of which trades he acquired great proficiency. He also served in the year of 1812 and participated in a number of engagements during his period of enlistment. Nathan Baker-married in his native state, Pruclence Walker, and in 1839 moved to Greene county, Indiana, where he entered land, cleared a good farm and spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1851. He was one of the earliest pioneers of the county, took an active part in the development of the community in which he resided and is remembered as a man of strong character and unblemished reputation. He was three times married and reared a family of nine children, seven of whom were born to his union with Prudence Walker. Nathan Baker and wife died only three weeks apart and were buried at Bloomfield when the subject was nineteen years old. In the spring of 1908 their remains were removed to the cemetery at Worthington.

Henry Baker was born August 24, 1832, and at the age of seven years accompanied his parents on their removal to Indiana, since which time his life has been very closely identified with the growth and development of Greene county, of which he is now in point of continuous residence one of the oldest living settlers. During his childhood and youth he became familiar with a11 the varied and rugged duties of pioneer life; assisted by his father and brothers to clear and improve the home farm and in the indifferent schools of those times obtained the rudiments of a practical education. The first school he attended was taught in a house without winclaws and as open between the logs, of which it was composed, as a rail pen. At that time there was not a building in the county erected especially for educational purposes and for several years various means were resorted to to supply this need. The first heating apparatus was a large iron kettle placed in the center ,of the room and a fire built in it and from this was obtained the only heat they had. In due time, or about six years later, a house was built two and one-half miles from the subject’s home, the aggregate cost of which did not exceed five dollars for the entire structure, the door hinges and latch being composed of wood. The huge fireplace, which occupied the greater part of one end of the building, was supplied with wood cut from day to day by the boys in attendance, but the chimney proved so faulty that to avoid being strangled by the large amount of smoke that escaped into the room the door had to be kept open for hours at a time to the great discomfort of teacher and pupils. In those early days there was no systematic course of study, and for a number of years reading was principally taught from Ithe New Testament, though occasionally other books fiound their way to the school, one of which the subject remembers to have been a patent medicine almanac.

Mr. Baker assisted with the labor of the home farm until about twenty years of age and then turned his attention to the carpenter’s trade, which he followed for a period of eight years, during which time he saved sufficient from his earnings to purchase a tract of wild land, to the clearing and improving of which he at once addressed himself. By energetic and persevering toil he soon succeeded in reducing a goodly portion of his place to cultivation, besides addin g many other substantial improvements until in the course of a few years he not only had a fine farm with all modern accessories, but had also increased his holdings by the purchase of other valuable real estate in the vicinity. During his prime Mr. Baker cleared and otherwise improved two good farms, and this, too, from heavily timbered land, which represented an amount of labor and sacrifice difficult for one unacquainted with primitive conditions to understand or appreciate. It was by working early and late, frequently far into the night, by the light of his blazing log heaps, and by expending a vast amount of well directed energy that his efforts were finally rewarded and he became one of the leading farmers of the community, also one of its most enterprising and progressive citizens. He continued the pursuit of agriculture until 1892 when he turned his farm over to other hands and moved to Worthington, where he has since lived a retired life.

Mr. Baker has always been public spirited, and as an influential factor in the affairs of his county is a recognized leader among his fellow men. His life has been singularly free from fault, and by a career of honorable endeavor he has earned the confidence lof those with whom he mingles, while few of his contemporaries occupy a more conspicaous place in the esteem of the public. He has always been a firm believer in the gospel of correct living. and although exceeding the Scriptural allotment of three score and ten by six years, he is still a remarkably we11 preserved man physically, being free from the infirmities incident to those of his age and a stranger to nearly all the ills and pains to which human flesh is heir. In early life he formecl those correct habits which have their legitimate fruitage in healthful bodies, clear brains and well balanced judgment, and he attributes much of his rugged energy and splendid vitality to the fact of his having always abstained from the use of tobacco in all its forms, and all kinds of intoxicants, drugs, tea and coffee, ancl to the temperate use of the legitimate blessings with which nature so bountifully surrout!ded him. Mr. Baker is a Prohibitionist in politics ancl an earnest advocate of principles which he espouses. Although no seeker of public honors or emoluments of office he served several years as justice of the peace and made a creditable record in that capacity, as is attested by the large amount of business transacted in his court and the clearness and fairness of his rulings and decisions. Mr. Baker owns thirty acres close to Worthington, which supplies his home and his residence and business property in Worthington and can truthfully say that he owes no man in the world a penny. Since twenty years of age he has been a contributor to newspapers and journals and has some very spicy articles, some of which will be found within this volume, and he has kept a diary for thirty-six years.

On December 3, 1858, he married Sarah Inman, of Greene county, daughter of Robert and Rhoda (Wines) Inman, five children being the fruits of the union, namely: Lizzie, born April 11, 1860, died February 16th of the year following; John, born November 20, 1S62, died in infancy ; Nettie, born Jolly 15, 1S65, is the wife of Erastus Price, of Lint&on, and the mother of three living children ; George L., born July 24, 1S6S, is engaged in the mercantile business at Worthington ; Frankie, the youngest of the family and the wife of Fletcher Owen, of Worthington, was born November 9, 1870. Like her husband, Mrs. Baker is highly esteemed by a large circle of friends and acquaintances and possesses the qualities of head and heart that win and retain conficlence and popularity. She is a zeallous Christian, an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal church of Worthington and has been unremitting in her efforts to impress the principles of morality and true piety upon the minds and hearts not only of the members of her household, but of all with whom she comes in contact.

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Biographical Memoirs of Greene County, Ind. With Reminiscences of Pioneer Days, Illustrated (1908, B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, Indiana) Vol. 2 Pg. 624-8

Last updated 7.11.2009