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George Ellis Baker (March 16, 1816 – October 2, 1887) was an American merchant, town clerk and state legislator.

Early life

Baker was born on March 16, 1816, in Dedham, Massachusetts. He was the eldest son of six children born to John Baker (1780–1843) and Patty (née Ellis) Baker (1791–1876). His father served as the sheriff of Norfolk County from 1834 until his death in 1843. His brother was Fisher Ames Baker, a prominent and successful attorney who had served in the Civil War.

Baker was descended from Richard Baker, who landed in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 and settled in Dorchester. After five generations in Dorchester, the Bakers moved to Dedham, Massachusetts.

Career

Baker moved to Troy, New York, where he opened a shoe store. The business was not a success, so he relocated again to Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the early 1840s before opening another shoe store on Maiden Lane in Manhattan. While this store failed to catch on, Baker successfully became involved in politics.

He was clerk of the board of trustees of the village of Williamsburg and a census taker. In 1850, he was elected on the Whig ticket to the New York State Assembly which met in Albany from January 7 to July 11, 1851, during the first year of Washington Hunt's governorship. While in Albany, he attached himself to former governor and then U.S. Senator William Henry Seward, serving as his private secretary in the 1860's. After President Abraham Lincoln appointed Seward U.S. Secretary of State, Seward had Baker appointed disbursing clerk and administrator of the Secret Service Fund.

Personal life

Baker was married to Eveline Stevens (1817–1903). She was a daughter of James Stevens and granddaughter of Capt. William C. Stevens of the Continental Army. Together, they were the parents of:

• George Fisher Baker (1840–1931), who married Florence Tucker Baker, a daughter of Benjamin Franklin Baker, in 1869.
• Martha Elizabeth Baker (1842–1910), who married banker Grant Barney Schley.
• Eveline Frances Baker (1844–1867), who died unmarried at age 23.

Baker died in Washington, D.C., on October 2, 1887. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery there. His widow died in 1903 and was also buried in Washington, D.C.

Descendants

Through his son George, he was a grandfather of Evelyn Baker (who married Howard Bligh St. George); Florence Bellows Baker (who married William Goadby Loew); and George Fisher Baker Jr. (who married Edith Brevoort Kane; their daughter Elizabeth married John M. Schiff and their son, George F. Baker III married Frances Drexel Munn, a daughter of Mary Astor Paul and member of the Drexel banking family).

Through his daughter Martha, he was a grandfather of Chaloner Baker Schley; Grant Barney Schley Jr.; Evander "Van" Baker Schley (who married Sophie Beverly Duer, a granddaughter of U.S. Representative William Duer, in 1931); Evelyn Baker (wife of Max Howell Behr, brother to Karl Behr) and aviator Kenneth Baker Schley.

References

Notes

1. Baker's son, George Fisher Baker, donated funds to Dartmouth College in memory of his uncle, Fisher Ames Baker, Dartmouth class of 1859, for the construction of the Fisher Ames Baker Memorial Library, which opened in 1928.

Sources

1. Baker Family Collection, 1766-1961, bulk 1860s (PDF). Dedham Historical Society & Museum. 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
2. "COL. FISHER A. BAKER DIES.; Lawyer Who Had Practiced Here Since 1865 Dies in Yonkers Home". The New York Times. 31 May 1919. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
3. "Fisher Ames Baker (1837-1919), Class of 1859". hoodmuseum.dartmouth.edu. Hood Museum. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
4. Times, Special to The New York (4 November 1926). "SAYS G.F. BAKER GAVE LIBRARY TO DARTMOUTH; Boston Herald Recalls Other Benefactions, Including the Memorial to His Uncle". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
5. "George F. Baker Gives Another $1,000,000 For Memorial Library at Dartmouth College". The New York Times. 5 February 1930. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
6. ^ "DARTMOUTH GETS $30 MILLION GIFT". The New York Times. 6 November 1992. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
7. "Fisher Ames Baker '59". Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. November 1928. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
8. ^ Grant, James (May 1994). Money of the Mind: How the 1980s Got That Way. Macmillan. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-374-52401-2. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
9. ^ "BAKER". The New York Times. 11 February 1903. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
10. Revolution, Daughters of the American (1910). Lineage Book - National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Daughters of the American Revolution. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
11. Paine, Albert Bigelow (1938). George Fisher Baker, a Biography: With Illustrations. Knickerbocker Press (G.P. Putnam's sons). Retrieved 13 October 2021.
12. "GEORGE F. BAKER, 91, DIES SUDDENLY OF PNEUMONIA; DEAN OF NATION'S BANKERS; STRICKEN ON THURSDAY Financier Succumbs in His Madison Av. Home With Family at Side. SMILES TO THEM AT END Complained After Board Session and His Illness Became Grave in a Few Hours. LONG ACTIVE DESPITE AGE Director of Steel Corporation and Head of First National, He Gave Millions to Public". The New York Times. 3 May 1931. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
13. "MRS. G.F. BAKER DIES; STRICKEN AT PARTY; Wife of Banker Entertaining Friends at Tuxedo Home When She Became Ill". The New York Times. 26 July 1913. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
14. "Died". The New York Times. 14 February 1910. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
15. "Grant B. Schley, Financier, Dead; Head of Firm of Moore & Schley and Member of Stock Exchange for 36 Years". The New York Times. 23 November 1917. Retrieved 17 May 2023 – via newspapers.com.
16. "BAKER, Eva Frances". Evening Star. 18 October 1867. p. 3. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
17. "Baker, George Ellis". sewardproject.org. Seward Family Digital Archive. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
18. ^ "Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, D.C. (Reno Hill) - Lot 705" (PDF). oakhillcemterydc.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-03-08. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
19. "GEORGE F. BAKER, 59, DIES OF PERITONITIS ON YACHT IN HAWAII; Banker, Who Was Operated On at Sea, Succumbs After 300-Mile Race to Honolulu PLANES TAKE WIFE TO SIDE Chairman of First National of New York is Said to Leave Holdings of $50,000,000 Father Died in 1931 Operated On at Sea GEORGE F.BAKER, 59, DIES ABOARD YACHT LEHMAN MOURNS BAKER Governor Calls Him 'Great Constructive Force' in Country". The New York Times. 31 May 1937. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
20. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (18 January 1949). "George F. Baker's Grandson Slain On Family's Florida Plantation; George F. Baker's Grandson Slain On Family's Florida Plantation". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
21. "C.B. SCHLEY DIES OF HURTS; Baltimore Man Sucoumbs After Crash in Which Wife Lost Life". The New York Times. 14 January 1936. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
22. "GRANT B. SGHLEY, 56, STOCK BROKER, DIES; Partner in New York Firm Was Nephew of George F. Baker -- Stricken in France. HAD BEEN ACTIVE IN SPORT Former Member of Exchange Had Lived Abroad for 10 Years -- Estate a Show Place". The New York Times. 12 January 1936. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
23. Times, Special to The New York (26 April 1959). "STOCKBROKER A SUICIDE; Grant B. Schley Found Dead on Locust Valley Estate". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
24. "Other Weddings --- Schley--Duer". The New York Times. 31 March 1931. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
25. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (16 August 1950). "MRS. EVANDER B. SCHLEY; Banker's Wife Aided Several Philanthropic Causes". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
26. "BEHR -- SCHLEY". The New York Times. 21 March 1906. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
27. "Kenneth Baker Schley, Jr". New Jersey Hills Media Group. Retrieved 21 January 2018.

External links

• George Ellis Baker at Find a Grave
• Correspondence from George Ellis Baker, undated Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School, Harvard University

• 1816 births
• 1887 deaths
• New York (state) Whigs
• Members of the New York State Assembly
• 19th-century American businesspeople
• Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)
• Baker family
• 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature