San Francisco County
Biographies
GEORGE GORDON BAKER
GEORGE GORDON
BAKER, of the firm of Clough & Baker, real-estate agents of Oakland, was
born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, March 24, 1860, son of George Henry and Julia (Altmeyer) Baker, natives of Germany, brought up in the
United States, married in Wisconsin, and are still living, now in Oakland. The father has generally been a farmer and
lumberman. The family left Wisconsin
October 19, 1880, and
arrived in California on election day, November 4, settling in Los
Angeles, and were there until 1885, on a farm. In 1886 they went to Oregon,
and were there until 1888, engaged in mining at Jacksonville,
and then they located in Oakland,
retired from active pursuits.
Mr. Baker, whose
name heads this sketch, assisted in his father’s business until he came to this
coast with the family, settling in Los Angeles. After a residence there of one and a half
years, he went to Washington Territory, and afterward to British Columbia, as a
drummer for a Chicago publishing house, 1882-’87. Next he became secretary of the Japanese Tree
Importing Company, of Yokohoma, at San
Francisco, and served a year, that is until January 1, 1888. Then he opened out in the real-estate
business in Oakland, as a member of
the firm of Wood, Bolls & Baker.
Afterward he formed a partnership with Alton H. Clough, which still
continues.
Mr. Baker is a
member of the Sons of Veterans, now holding the office of Lieutenant-Colonel of
the Division of California, and of the Patriotic Order Sons of America, in
which latter order he has filled the position of Master of Forms and
Ceremonies, being a member of the third degree.
In politics he is a Republican, with strong “American” proclivities. He has one brother, Henry E. Baker, of Medford,
Oregon, and two sisters, living with their
parents, namely; Carrie Baker, M. D., a graduate of Cooper
Medical College,
San Francisco, and now practicing
in East Oakland; and Mary, a graduate of Bonnelle Conservatory of Music, in San
Francisco, and now a music teacher. Mr. Baker’s grandfather, Charles Baker, died January 15, 1890, aged over ninety
years; and his grandmother is still living, aged also over ninety. His grandfather, Altmeyer,
died at the age of seventy-six years, of an accident from a runaway team.
Transcribed
by Cathi Skyles.
Source: "The Bay of San Francisco," Vol. 2,
page 309-310, Lewis Publishing Co, 1892.
© 2005 Cathi Skyles.
California Biography Project
San Francisco County
California Statewide
Golden Nugget Library