Contra
Costa County
Biographies
FRANKLIN
P. BAKER
FRANKLIN P. BAKER is a citizen whose
interests have always been identified with those of Brentwood, Contra Costa county, Cal., and who has given no little of a busy life to
its progress and upbuilding. He was born
in Contra Costa county, December 23, 1856, a son
of John Baker, a well-known and highly honored pioneer resident of this
section.
John Baker was born in Westmoreland county, Pa., July 4, 1819, a son of Richard Baker, who
settled in Stark county, Ohio, in 1822.
He was there reared to manhood and learned the trade of carpenter,
engaging in its prosecution as well as having farming interests in both that
state and Michigan, locating in Cass county of the latter state in 1845. In 1853 he joined the tide of emigration
setting toward the west and crossed the plains to California. On his arrival he located in Contra Costa county, where he purchased a Spanish land grant near Walnut
creek. This property, consisting of one
hundred and eighty acres, he devoted principally to the cultivation of grain,
raising some stock, and also putting out a family orchard of apples, pears and
grapes, fruits which he found best adapted to the soil and climate. He was a successful man and attained a
prominent place among the ranchmen of the county. Fraternally he affiliated with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and belonged to the Grange. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. He died December 9, 1901,
at the age of eighty-two years, leaving a widow, formerly Martha Ann Glass, who
was born in Harrison, Ohio, a daughter of William and Priscilla (Wiley) Glass,
and to whom he was married June 4, 1848. They were the parents of four
children, namely: Almira J., deceased; Franklin P.; John C.; and
Mary P. With the exception of
Franklin P. Baker, all are at home.
Franklin P. Baker was reared and
educated in the county, and after completing the course of the common schools
he entered the University of the Pacific at San Jose and later McClure’s
Military School, of Oakland. Well
equipped to conduct a commercial or agricultural enterprise he then returned to
the country and engaged in the work to which he had early been trained. His first purchase of land was made of
Mr. Bannister, and consisted of one hundred and sixty acres located in
Contra Costa county in the southeastern part of
section 3, 1 north, 2 east, and north quarter-section, southwest section
12. This property he devotes entirely to stock-raising. He
makes his home in Brentwood. A
Republican in politics, he has always been a stanch[sic]
supporter of his party’s principles. For
the past ten years he has acted as deputy assessor and now holds the office of
deputy registrar for supervisors district
No. 5. Fraternally he is associated
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and also belongs to the Rebekahs.
Transcribed by Donna Toole.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1008-1011. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Donna Toole.
Contra Costa County Biographies