Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/191

BAKER.BAKER. 1898. He was presiding elder of Streator district, 1885-89; financial secretary of the Illinois Wesleyan university, 1890-93; president of Chaddock college, Quincy, Ill., 1893-98, and president of Missouri Wesleyan college, Cameron, Mo., from 1898. He received the degree of D. D. from Chaddock college in 1898, and was a trustee of Illinois Wesleyan university, 1888-'98. BAKER, Charles Joseph, banker, was born at Baltimore, Md., May 28, 1821; son of William and Jane (Jones) Baker. He was graduated at Dickinson college grammar school in 1841; established a paint, oil and glass business with his brother Henry J. Baker in 1842, which became Baker Brothers & Co., New York and Baltimore. He was a director of the Franklin bank, 1859, and president, 1860; president of the Canton chemical company, 1870-77, and was instrumental in procuring the construction of the Union railroad tunnel, which gave the Northern Central and Western Maryland railroads a tide-water terminus at Canton. He was a member and president of the city council of Baltimore, and acting mayor of Baltimore during the imprisonment of Mayor George W. Brown in 1861. He was a liberal contributor to charitable and religious institutions. He died Sept. 24, 1894. BAKER, Charles Simeon, representative, was born at Churchville, Monroe county, N.Y., Feb. 18, 1839. He received an academic education, was a teacher in 1856-'57, studied law and was admitted to the bar in December, 1860. He served during the first year of the civil war as lieutenant, 27th N. Y. volunteers, but being disabled at the first battle of Bull Run, was honorably discharged. He was a member of the New York assembly in 1879, 1880 and 1882; a state senator, 1884-'85, and a representative in the 49th, 50th and 51st congresses. He died in Washington, D. C., April 21, 1902. BAKER, Edward Dickenson, senator, was born in London, Eng., Feb. 24, 1811. He was brought by his father to Philadelphia in 1815. Being left fatherless at an early age, he supported himself and his brother by following the occupation of a weaver. In 1830 he removed with his brother to Springfield, Ill., where he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and established himself in practice. His oratorical ability brought him into prominence, and in 1837 he was elected a member of the state legislature. In 1840 he took his seat in the state senate. In 1842 he was one of three Whig candidates for the office of representative in Congress from Illinois before the nominating convention, John J. Harding and Abraham Lincoln being the rival candidates, and Harding was nominated and elected to the 28th Congress. In 1844 the three same candidates, presented themselves, and Baker was nominated and elected a representative to the 29th congress. In 1846 the three candidates again presented their names, and Abraham Lincoln was elected to the 30th Congress. He volunteered for service in the Mexican war in 1848, raised a regiment in Illinois, and fought gallantly in the battles between Vera Cruz and the city of Mexico. General Shields being incapacitated in the engagement at Cerro Gordo, Colonel Baker was given the command of his brigade and led it during the remainder of the campaign. Returning to Illinois at the close of the war he was elected a representative to the 31st Congress in 1848. In 1850 he declined a nomination to the 32d Congress and became interested in the Panama railroad. He removed in 1851 to California, where he led the bar as the most eloquent orator in the state. In 1860 he took up his residence in Oregon, and was elected in the same year U. S. senator. He took his seat, March 4, 1861. At the extra session of Congress, called July 1861, Senator Baker supported the administration in an able and eloquent speech. He addressed a mass meeting in Union Square, New York, after the firing upon Fort Sumter, urging eloquently the preservation of the Union. He volunteered for active service, and raised in Philadelphia and New York the "California" regiment and commanded a brigade at the battle of Ball's Bluff, where he fell from his horse, mortally wounded, Oct. 21, 1861. BAKER, George Augustus, painter, was born in New York city in 1821. The son of an artist, bred in an atmosphere of art, his talent soon became manifest, and when quite a young man he gained favor as a successful painter of miniatures on ivory. From 1844 to 1846 he studied in Europe with good results, and devoted his time after his return almost wholly to the painting of life-size portraits. His best results were in painting portraits of women and children, in which line he was unexcelled by contemporary artists, and his pictures commanded large prices. Among his works, outside of portraits, may be mentioned, "The May Queen," "Wild Flowers" and "Love at First Sight." He was a member of the National academy of design, elected in 1851. He died April 2, 1880. BAKER, Harriet Newell Woods, author, was born at Andover, Mass., Aug. 19, 1815; daughter of the Rev. Leonard and Abigail (Wheeler) Woods. Her father was president of Andover theological seminary. She was educated at the Abbott female academy, Andover. In 1835 she was married to the Rev. Abijah R. Baker. She began to write juvenile stories about 1850, under the pen names of Mrs. Madeline Leslie and "Aunt Hattie." Her books, which comprise nearly two hundred volumes, include the following: "The Courtesies of Wedded Life" (1855); "Tim the Scissors Grinder" (1861); "The Leslie