Tuolumne
County
Biographies
FREDERICK H. BAKER
Prominent business interests in and
at Carter’s, Tuolumne County, California, are in the hands of a class of men
many of whom are young and some are natives of the state. Frederick H. Baker, of the firm of Baker
Brothers, proprietors of the Baker Hotel at Carter’s, and part owners of the
town-site of that fast-growing place, was born at Carter’s December 4, 1875, a
son of Rock Baker, who was born and reared in Canada and came in 1865 to
California, where he was happily married to Miss Lizzie Ingalls, a native of
Ireland.
In 1873 Mr. and Mrs. Baker located
at Carter’s, on a farm which Mr. Baker purchased and which is now a part of the
town-site and on which he farmed until his retirement from active
business. He now lives with his son,
Mrs. Baker having died in 1885, at the age of thirty-five years, leaving
memories to husband and children of a faithful wife and indulgent mother. Mr. and Mrs. Baker had seven children, four
of whom died in infancy. The three
surviving children are Laura Belle, born April 1, 1882; Joseph Franklin, born
September 23, 1873, and Frederick H., all of whom are well known and highly
respected at Carter’s. In July, 1888,
Mr. Baker again married, his choice being Miss Mary E. Murphy, and to them was
born one child, named Roy. In the spring
of 1894 Mr. Baker was legally separated from his wife, and the courts gave Mrs.
Baker the custody of the child, which she later had christened under the name
of Roy Connolly, taking the name of her present husband.
Frederick H. Baker has passed all
his life thus far at Carter’s, where he was educated in the public
schools. April 20, 1897, he and his
brother, Joseph F. Baker, bought the hotel since known as the Baker House,
which is the oldest hotel at Carter’s.
It is a large, conveniently arranged building, with a frontage of one
hundred and twenty-six feet, extending back sixty feet from the street and
containing forty-eight well furnished rooms, and its location is central and
convenient. Under the management of the
Baker Brothers this hotel has been very successful and has gained an enviable
reputation among the traveling public. The
real-estate interests of the brothers are considerable and they have bought one
hundred and seventy-four business and residence lots in the old and new town
(for Carter’s is growing from its original site toward the railroad), and are
doing much toward the general development of the town, and also own several
good undeveloped mining claims. Joseph
F. Baker married Miss Kate Kennedy and the two brothers and their father all
live at the hotel and with Mrs. Joseph Baker give personal attention to the
management of the house. The family is a
most respectable one, well and widely known throughout the state, and the
Bakers, father and sons, are influential Republicans
but are not office-seekers for themselves.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 584-585. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.