| Background William and Sarah Bull
Baker
were of English descent. William was born
in New Jersey and moved with his parents to Ohio. He was a soldier in
the War of 1812, stationed at Fort Wayne, Indiana, which probably
interested
him in land in Indiana. In 1818 he married Sarah Bull of Bulls Run, VA.
They
lived at Miltonville, OH, where William worked as a carpenter, and six
children were born.
The Bakers arrived in Sheffield township from Ohio in 1827. With them came a large family group, with relatives from both sides: Andrew Jackson Bull, John and Jane Bull Patton, Robert and Nancy Bull, and Thomas Bull, and Thomas and Elizabeth Baker. Other Baker brothers (Abner and John) also came to Tippecanoe County. On the way, at Richmond, Indiana, William and Sarah lost a small daughter, who was buried in a hollow log, an Indian custom, because the ground was frozen. The Baker cabin, built on arrival in 1827, was the first cabin east of the Wild Cat.
Shortly thereafter, they and the Crouse, Baer, and Bayless families set aside land for a cemetery, with the provision that the cemetery would be named for the family who buried the first loved one there. The small body of William and Sarah's daughter was brought here and the cemetery named Baker cemetery.
William was a member of the United Brethren church. Circuit riding ministers held services at the Baker cabin. In 1841 the township paid him $75 to erect a bridge across the Wild Cat at Dayton, probably the first bridge there. Before that there was only a ford.
Sarah and William had six
children. Sarah died in 1828. William
remarried, in 1832, to Hannah Moore. William and Hannah had six
children. William Baker died in 1844. Submitted by: Susan Y. Clawson. Bibliography prepared by Susan Y. Clawson from censuses, local records, newspaper clippings, and Tippecanoe County published biographies. Any corrections welcomed.
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