- FRANCIS A. BAKER, of Evansville, Rock County, a member of
the hardware firm of that city,
- is widely known and highly esteemed, not only for the fine
business ability which he has displayed through a long and active
life, but also for his upright and honorable character, which
has been a potent factor in the upbuilding of the firm.
- Mr. BAKER is a son of John T. and Jemimah (ROBINSON) BAKER,
natives of Ohio. They
- were the parents of ten children, six of whom are now living;
David E., of Clermont, Iowa; Edward J., of Nodaway County, Mo.;
Francis A., of Evansville; Stephen J., whose sketch appears elsewhere
in this volume; Allen S., of Evansville; and Caroline Jane, wife
of John DAVENPORT, of San Rafael, Cal. The father, who was a
farmer , came to Rock County in 1837, and in 1840 settled in
the town of Union, one and a half miles east of Evansville.
He took up 160 acres of government land and improved it into
a fine farm. Here he reared his family. In 1864 he moved into
Evansville, and died in that city in 1876, at the age of sixty-nine
years. His first wife, the mother of Francis A., died in 1850.
Both were strong Methodists. For his second wife he married
Mrs. Jane SALES, and they had one child, Elizabeth J., now living
at San Rafael. John T. BAKER was a man of more than usual ability,
and held various town offices. His father, Daniel BAKER, was
a native of West Virginia, and led to a rural life, making his
home in the State of Ohio.
- Francis A. BAKER was born in 1837 in Green County, Wis.,
and was reared on his father's farm
- in Union, where he spent the first sixteen years of his life.
He attended the district school and in 1852 went to Janesville,
Wis., and learned the tinner's trade, which is still his occupation.
He spent the winter of 1856 engaged at his trade in Nebraska
City, Neb., and the following summer he was in Kansas. In the
fall of the same year he worked in St. Joseph, Mo., and crossed
the Plains as a teamster in an expedition under command of Gen.
Hancock, then a quartermaster in the United States army, and
sent to Salt Lake City with troops and supplies on account of
the Mormon troubles that year. Mr. BAKER was two years in California
as a miner and prospector, and five years in the same lines in
Nevada, working at his trade during the winter, and spending
the open season on the mountains. In 1866 he went to Montana,
where he was a miner, and also employed in a sawmill, and in
1867 returned to Wisconsin. The same year he was at Ossian,
Iowa, for a few months, and then worked for John GRIFFITH, of
Janesville, where he spent seven years. In 1877 he established
himself in Evansville, where he has continued to the present
time. He is senior member of the firm of F. A. BAKER & Co.,
who carry the largest stock of hardware and similar goods to
be found in the city, and has built up a wide circle of friends
and patrons throughout the adjoining country. Fred A. BAKER
has been associated with him in business for the last ten years.
The firm have erected a brick business block 66 x 100 feet.
Francis A. BAKER is a stockholder in the Evansville Telephone
exchange.
- Mr. BAKER and Mrs. Julia M. BAKER, widow of his brother Aaron
T., were married April 21,
- 1869, and three children have been born to this union, Maud
J., Bert F. and Lulu J. Maud J. died when two and a half years
old. Bert F. married Miss Rissa TULLAR, Oct. 24, 1899. Lulu
J. lives at home. Fred A. is a son of Mrs. BAKER by her first
marriage; on Nov. 19, 1885, he married Maggie WILLIAMS, and they
have three children, June L., Elizabeth M. and Loyal S. Mr.
BAKER belongs to Union Lodge, No. 32, A.F. & A.M.; Evansville
Chapter, No. 35, R.A.M., and Janesville Commandery, No. 2, K.T.;
he is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Modern
Woodmen of America. He is a Republican, and has served on the
village board of trustees. He has a handsome and well appointed
home on Main street.
-
- Taken from "Commemorative Biographical Record of
the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin"
(c) 1901, pp. 274-275.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
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