Joshua Gabriel Baker (1799 - 1885)

Born 23 Mar 1799 in Mason, Kentucky, United States

Husband of Francis Assheton (Stelle) Baker — married 1825 (to 17 Aug 1831) in Opelousas, Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana

Died 16 Apr 1885 at age 86 in Lyme, New London County, Connecticut, USA

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Preceded by 21st Governor Benjamin Flanders

Joshua Baker 22nd Governor of Louisiana 1868

Succeeded by 23rd Governor Henry C. Warmoth

Biography

Joshua Baker is Notable.

Politician, Military figure.

Joshua Gabriel Baker was born on 23 Mar 1799 in Mason, Kentucky, United States to Joshua Baker and Susannah Lewis. He was a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, class of 1819. After rising to the grade of 2nd Lieutenant and a stint as a professor of Engineering he moved to Litchfield, Connecticut to study law in 1821 and passed the bar a year later back in his hometown of Mason, Kentucky. Baker then went on to Louisiana to practice law at the Opelousas, Louisiana office of John Bronson from 1822-1829 and then again from 1832-1838.

In 1825, Baker married Frances "Fanny" Assherton from whom they had three children before she died on August 17, 1831.

Anthony Wayne Baker 1826–1854

Margaret C Baker 1828–1893, m. Van Bergen

Caroline Louisa Baker 1830–1861

From 1826-1829 Baker was a Colonel in the Louisiana State Militia. He also worked on Engineering projects in Plaquemines Parish until 1829, when he was appointed Judge in St. Mary Parish; a position he held until 1839.

His second marriage to Catherine Patton from Fairfax, Virginia in 1832 produced 2 children:

Frances (Fanny) Catherine Assherton Baker 1834–1878

Mary Ann Baker 1835–1843

In 1833 he was Assistant State Engineer for the State of Louisiana until 1838 and then Director of Public Works for the State of Louisiana 1840-1845. He was made Captain of Cavalry, Louisiana State Militia 1846 until 1851 and in 1853 he was appointed to the Board of Visitors United States Military Academy, serving until 1861.

Slave Owner

Governor Baker was a large slave holder owning 192 slaves in the 1850 Slave Schedule. It looks like he may have manumitted 68, though there are numbers in the right hand columns for insane, blind, deaf, etc. that confuses the numbers for those manumitted. Sharing link is below. ^[1]

In 1860 he held 29 enslaved people in St. Mary, Louisiana.

Civil War

At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Colonel Baker retired to Franklin, Louisiana. A Conservative Democrat who opposed secession, he chose to cooperate with the Union Army of Occupation thus, on January 8, 1868, Baker took the Oath of Loyalty to the Union and was quickly appointed Military Governor by General Winfield Scott Hancock upon the resignation of Benjamin Flanders.

On March 10, 1868, Governor Baker was arrested and brought before a commissioner charged with perjury for claiming not to build a barricade across Bayou Teche. Meanwhile, General Hancock unilaterally removes 9 New Orleans City Councilmen which results in President Ulysses S. Grant's reversal of this order. For this, Hancock asks to be reassigned. With Hancock's departure, support for Governor Baker evaporated and in a special election Republican Henry C. Warmoth was elected Governor.^[2]

Connecticut

Baker had outlived two wives and all his children except for his daughter Margaret Baker Van Bergen whose home in Lyme, Connecticut, "Cricket Lawn," was where he died. He was interred on April 17, 1885.

Sources

1. ↑ "1850 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules"
   The National Archive in Washington DC; Washington, DC; NARA Microform Publication: M432; Title: Seventh Census Of The United States, 1850; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8055 #90771425 (accessed 12 July 2022)
   J Baker in St Mary, Louisiana, USA. (192 enslaved - possibly manumitted 68. The numbers in the right columns are confusing)
2. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42712842/joshua-baker : accessed 13 July 2022), memorial page for Joshua Baker (23 Mar 1799–16 Apr 1885), Find a Grave Memorial ID 42712842, citing Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, Kings County (Brooklyn), New York, USA ; Maintained by The Archivist (contributor 46828890)

• "Louisiana Marriages, 1816-1906", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4Z3-KQW : 14 January 2020), Joshua Baker, 1824.
• 1830 Census: "1830 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1830; Census Place: Franklin, St Mary, Louisiana; Series: M19; Roll: 44; Page: 144; Family History Library Film: 0009687
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8058 #2264462 (accessed 12 July 2022)
  J Baker. (69 enslaved)
• 1840 Census: "1840 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1840; Census Place: Saint Mary, Louisiana; Roll: 128; Page: 331; Family History Library Film: 0009689
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8057 #1311547 (accessed 12 July 2022)
  Joshua Baker.(50 enslaved)
• 1850 Census: "1850 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules"
  The National Archive in Washington DC; Washington, DC; NARA Microform Publication: M432; Title: Seventh Census Of The United States, 1850; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8055 #90771425 (accessed 12 July 2022)
  J Baker in St Mary, Louisiana, USA. (192 enslaved - possibly manumitted 68. The numbers in the right columns are confusing)
• 1860 Census: "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules"
  The National Archives in Washington DC; Washington DC, USA; Eighth Census of the United States 1860; Series Number: M653; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 7668 #93086181 (accessed 12 July 2022)
  Joshua Baker in Western District, St Mary, Louisiana, USA.
• Find A Grave Memorial# 42712842

• Joshua Baker on Wikipedia