Biography of Grattan Henry Baker
From CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY, OHIO
The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1903
One of the earliest families making permanent settlement in Seneca county was that now worthily represented by the gentleman whose name forms the heading of this article. For many years they have been identified with the agricultural interests of this locality, and have aided materially in the development of the resources of Seneca county, taking an active part in everything calculated to promote the welfare and happiness of the majority.
Judge Samuel Baker, the grandfather of him whose name heads this review, was of the fifth generation from Thomas Baker, who was born in England in 1618, and after coming to America he located at East Hampton, Long Island. In 1639 he settled at Milford, Conecticut, and in 1650 returned to East Hampton. Judge Samuel Baker became a prominent sheepraiser of Steuben county, New York, where he also held the important office of judge of the court of common pleas. In his family were twelve children, eight of whom, four sons and four daughters, came to Seneca county. Thomas J. and Franklin came to this county in 1822, settling in Eden Township, where each secured three hundred and twenty acres of government land on section 13, but the latter was only permitted to enjoy his new home for a few years, being called to his final rest in 1831. In 1822, a sister, Mary, who became the wife of Joseph Baker, also came to this county and settled in Scipio township. John Baker came to Seneca county in 1828, locating in Eden township, and in the same year his sister Sophia, with her husband, George Stearns, found a home in this locality. Two others, Ann, the wife of Zelolus Knapp, and Lucretia, the wife of Sylvanus Arnold, also came to Ohio, but both afterward removed to Garden Grove, Iowa.
Richard Baker, the father of our subject, was born in Urbana, Hew York, in January, 1809, and there he received his education in the public schools and was early inured to the labors of the farm. In 1835 he joined his brothers and sisters in Seneca county, locating on the farm on which our subject now resides, and here he became the owner of four hundred acres of land on sections 26, 35 and 36. His home place was on section 26, and at that time only a few acres had been cleared and a small log cabin had been erected. As the years passed by prosperity rewarded the well-directed efforts of Mr. Baker, and he was enabled to add to his original purchase until he became the owner of one thousand acres of rich and fertile land, and there he was extensively engaged in the raising of sheep, having been the first to import a fine grade into Seneca county, bringing a fine drove of Spanish Merinos from the state of New York in 1836. In 1872, however, he left this valuable place to the care of our subject and removed to another farm in the township, there making his home until called to his final rest, when he had reached the eightieth milestone on the journey of life, passing away in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he had been long an active worker. In 1836 Mr. Baker married Miss Fannie Wheeler, who was born in 1819, a daughter of the Hon. Grattan H. Wheeler, who was formerly a state senator from Seuben county, New York, and for several years he was also a member of congress. The ancestry of the Wheeler family can be traced back to John Wheeler, who served as a sergeant at Concord, Massachusetts, as early as 1639. Mrs. Baker's grandfather, Silas Wheeler, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and in 1775, after following Arnold through Maine, he was wounded and captured in Canada, and was taken to Ireland, where, owing to the intervention of Henry Grattan, he was released. Mr. Wheeler promised to name his first male child Grattan Henry, and he was the father of Mrs. Baker. Mrs. Baker was called to the home beyond in 1887.
Grattan H. Baker, the immediate subject of this review, was born on the farm on which he now resides, on the 15th of September, 1848. His elementary education was received in the common schools of his neighborhood, and later he entered Hillsdale College, at Hillsdale, Michigan, where he enjoyed superior advantages. About the time of his marriage he became the owner of the old home farm of four hundred acres, where he has ever since continued to make his home, and as time has passed he has increased his landed possessions until he is now the owner of six hundred and seventy-five acres, six hundred acres of which are in Eden township. Three hundred and sixty acres of his place are under an excellent state of cultivation, and in addition to the raising of the cereals best adapted to this soil and climate he is also extensively engaged in raising short-horn cattle and black-top Merino sheep. His is one of the finest improved farms in Seneca county.
On the 4th of January, 1872, Mr. Baker was united in marriage to Miss Franke Fleet, a daughter of William and Eliza (Ogden) Fleet. The father came to Ohio in 1830, and became the owner of sixteen hundred acres of land in Eden township. His death occurred on the 20th of June, 1880. He was twice married, his first union being with Mrs. Sophia Stearns. Mrs. Baker was born in Eden township, Seneca county, and was educated in the public schools and Heidelberg College. When twenty-one years of age she gave her hand in marriage to Grattan H. Baker, and they have four children, --William F., who is a graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan University, and is now a member of the firm of Paddock & Baker, whose office is in the Calumet building, at 189 La Salle street, Chicago: July 20, 1901, he married Miss Catherine Paddock, a daughter of George L. Paddock, a prominent attorney of that city; Richard G., who is at present engaged in the cattle business in Colorado; Eliza O., who is a graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan University and is now at home; and Florence, who is a member of the senior class of the same institution. Mr. Baker gives his political support to the Republican party, and in religious belief he is a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
