Joseph H. Baker (1870-1965)

BAKER

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 4/15/2023 at 21:57:23

Joseph H. Baker
(November 10, 1870 - 1965)

Joseph H. Baker, a representative of the farming interests of Calhoun County, resides on section 4, Sherman Township. He
is numbered among Iowa's native sons, his birth having occurred in Keokuk County on the 10th of November, 1870. His father, Peter Baker, was a German farmer of that county and was born in Germany, October 7, 1839. He married Miss Mary Piper, who also was a native of Germany, born October 24, 1840, their wedding, however, being celebrated in Keokuk County, Iowa. When a youth of fifteen the father bade adieu to his native land and the home of his childhood and crossed the Atlantic to America. His wife was a little maiden of only six summers when she was brought to the new world and became a resident of the Hawkeye state. Baker has now passed away, his death having occurred on the 1st of August 1897, in the fifty-eighth year of his age, but Mrs. Baker is still living, her home being in Keokuk County. They were the parents of the following named children: Lena, the wife of Antony Aller, a resident of Washington County, Iowa; John, who is living in this county; Mary and Mike, both deceased; Joseph H., of this review; Elizabeth, the wife of Stephen Yager, of Calhoun County; Wendall, who is living in Keokuk County: Teressa, the wife of Charles Berwen, of Calhoun County: and Emma, the wife of John Olinger, of Keokuk County. In the district schools near his home Joseph Baker pursued his education and through the summer months he worked in the fields. He continued upon the home farm until twenty-three years of age, when he rented land and began farming on his own account. In 1895 he came to Calhoun County, taking up his abode upon a farm which he had purchased the year previous, and which comprises the southeast quarter of section four and forty acres of the northeast quarter of section four, Sherman Township, making in all two hundred acres of
land. He has the entire place under cultivation and has transformed it into a very valuable tract. He has erected substantial buildings and has added all modern equipments and accessories so that the place may now be classed among the model farms of the twentieth century in Calhoun County.
On the 28th of November, 1893. Mr. Baker was united in marriage to Miss Mary Hammen of Keokuk County, Iowa. Her parents, were Peter, and Margaret (Petger) Hammen, both of whom were natives of Germany, the former born December 17, 1833, and the latter January 9, 1844. They were married on the 24th of January, 1865, and the same year sought a home in the new world, taking up their abode in Iowa. Unto them were born six children, as follows: August, who is living in Calhoun County; Annie, deceased; Nick, also of this county; Susan, wife of Joseph Stem of Calhoun County; Mary, the wife of our subject; and Peter, who is living in this locality. Mrs. Baker was born August 19, 1875, in Keokuk, and by her marriage has become the
mother of four children; Oliver, born September 4, 1896; Ernest, born July 18, 1897; Arnold, born April 11, 1899; and Verona, born June 28, 1901. The parents and their children are members of St. Mary's Catholic church of Pomeroy and in his political affiliations Mr. Baker is a Democrat, but has never sought or desired office, preferring to devote his time and energies to his business affairs, in which he is meeting with well deserved success, as a result of his industry and well spent life. [Source - Biographical Record of Calhoun County, Iowa, S. J. Clarke, 1902, p.526]