Baker, David

BAKER, WRIGHT, GEPHART, SECRIST, HASHOUR, TAYLOR, TENANT, NEWBY, EVERET, HARROP, SUMNER

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 12/4/2008 at 07:30:38

BAKER, David
Farmer and Fruit Grower; Sec. 3; P. O. Greencastle; born in Franklin Co., Penn. in 1826; came to Jasper county in 1855. Has 275 acres of land, valued at $55 per acre. He married Miss Annie M. SECRIST in 1846. She was born in Bedford Co., Penn. in 1827. They have five children - Theodore A., Mary C., Emma R., Lincoln E. and Horace S. Is a Republican; Mr. and Mrs. BAKER are members of the Evangelical Association; he being a Pastor of the same church. When he came here, there were but three houses in sight; only one house on the road to Des Moines. He has an orchard of 1,000 bearing apple trees, and other fruits, 300 of which were planted fifteen years ago; has 160 acres of swamp land, which are very desirable pasture; and as valuable as good farm land. ~ "Poweshiek Township Biographies," The History of Jasper County, Iowa, (Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1878)
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David Baker, one of the prosperous farmers of Mingo, Poweshiek Township, Jasper County, was born in Franklin County, PA, October 9, 1826. His parents were John and Magdalena Baker, both of whom were natives of the same state. The great-grandfather of David Baker settled in Pennsylvania before the Revolutionary War, and doubtless took an active part in the defense of his adopted country; he reared a large family, the records of which have been lost. Conrad Baker, ex-Governor of Indiana, was a first cousin of the subject of this sketch.

John Baker, the father of our subject, was a miller by trade, and settled in Wayne County, IN, where he followed his calling until his death, which occurred March 21, 1840. He reared a family of ten children. Jacob, the eldest, died, and his family has become scattered. John, the second son, left a family, the members of which are now living in Wayne and Henry Counties, IN; Elizabeth, deceased, was the wife of M. Wright; the younger members of their family now reside in Indiana and Ohio. Polly, deceased, was the wife of George Gephart, whose family resides in Indiana; Nicholas lives in Des Moines, Iowa. George, deceased, was a Bishop of the Dunkard Church; his family lives in Altoona, Iowa; Conrad resides in Des Moines, Iowa; Samuel is deceased; David, the subject of this sketch, was the ninth child; and Joseph lives near Altoona. The mother of this family died in 1877, at the age of eighty-seven years.

David Baker was educated in the common schools of Ohio and Indiana, and began life on his own account at the age of fourteen years, shortly after the death of his father. His first effort was in learning the trade of a plow-maker at the shops of Adam Condo, in East Germantown, IN. He soon acquired a thorough knowledge of the business and established shops of his own in the same town, where he continued in the trade for four years, when he sold his business and removed to Oskaloosa, Iowa, in the fall of 1854. In the spring of the next year he came to Nicely Grove, in this township, two and a-half miles west of Mingo. Milton Edwards, John Sames, Solomon Dickey, E. W. Galoway and Richard Barker were the only neighbors within a radius of three and a-half miles. Game of all kinds, except buffaloes, was abundant, and there were in the country some friendly Indians. Here he entered at the Government price of $l.25 per acre quite a large tract of land, which he has since sold at about $5 per acre. In 1856 be moved to the site of the present village of Greencastle, and he and his brothers located the town. Joseph Baker, his brother, opened a store with a fine line of dry goods and groceries, in which a flourishing business was done. David established a blacksmith shop, and the brothers together built the first sawmill that was erected in this part of the county. The town grew and prospered for a number of years, or until the Chicago & Great Western Railroad drew off the trade to the larger centers.

David Baker, after a residence of one year in the village of Greencastle, removed to the farm, which he now occupies, consisting of two hundred and seventy-five acres, which he has reduced by sales to its present dimensions of two hundred acres. This farm he now has all under fence, and devotes the greater portion of it to pasturage it being of more advantage to him for stock raising purposes than if cultivated. He has about four hundred head of Poland China thoroughbred hogs, all of his own raising, and is a large shipper of pigs for stock breeding purposes. He was licensed as a preacher in the Evangelical Church in 1865, and for a number of years was a preacher of that faith, but in 1892 joined the Methodist Episcopal Church.

In 1846 Mr. Baker married Miss Annie M. Secrist, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Hashour) Secrist, all of German descent and natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. Secrist was a miller by profession and died in Wayne County, IN. His wife is living, at the age of eighty-four years, and makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Baker. Their seven children are: Anne, now Mrs. Baker; William; John, of Kokomo, IN; Elizabeth, wife of Doctor Taylor, of Wayne County, IN; Samuel, deceased; Matilda, widow of A. M. Tenant of Kokomo, IN; and Sarah, deceased, wife of Mr. Newby, of Indiana.

Mr. Baker has never been a politician and takes no active part in any of the campaigns. He is, however, a strong Republican and a firm believer in the principles of that party. Mrs. Baker is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The five living children of the seven that have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Baker are, Theodore A., a resident of this county; Mary, wife of R. C. Everet, a merchant of Mingo; Emma, wife of Charles Harrop, of this township; Lincoln, also a resident of this township; and Horace Sumner, of Mingo. Portrait and Biographical Record, Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, IA, Page 172