Horace Benjamin Baker (1861 - 1946)

Born 10 Sep 1861 in Maine, Broome, New York, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Letitia Sarah (Kirby) Baker — married 24 Nov 1887 in Ada, Idaho, United States

Died 20 Apr 1946 at age 84 in Emmett, Gem, Idaho, USA

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Biography

BURIAL Emmett Cemetery Emmett, Gem County, Idaho, USA

He married Letitia Kirby at the home of her sister in Boise on Nov. 24, 1887. They homesteaded in the Payette valley near Emmett. Ben and Tish had six children: Della Annett, Henry Kirby, Ina Zerelda, Ray Hollister, Edward Gray, and Thelma L.

A most beautiful sight is presented in the orchards of Horace B. Baker when his apple, prune and peach trees are all in blossom and they vie in equal beauty when the fruit hangs heavy on the trees in the late summer and fall, for today Mr. Baker is giving his attention largely to orcharding, having an excellent ranch property on the south slope of the Payette valley five miles southwest of Emmett. Here he has one hundred and sixty acres of land, largely devoted to fruit raising.

Mr. Baker is one of the substantial citizens that New York has furnished to Idaho, his birth having occurred in Broome county of the Empire state, September 10, 1861. He is a son of Henry and Mary (Hollister) Baker, both of whom have passed away. The father was born in Massachusetts, January 12, 1812, and lived to be more than ninety years of age, while the mother, who was born in Connecticut, had passed the seventy-fifth milestone on life's journey ere called to her final rest. In their family were seven children, live sons and two daughters. Their eldest son, John J., was killed in the battle of Atlanta while serving in the Civil war.

Horace B. Baker was reared and educated in the Empire state. He had liberal educational opportunities and took up the profession of teaching, which he followed in New York for a time, and for twenty-four years through the winter seasons after coming to Idaho in 1882. He made for himself a place among the able educators of the state, imparting readily and clearly to others the knowledge which he had acquired. His own zeal and enthusiasm in the work were an inspiring influence over the pupils, and many districts in which he taught bear splendid testimony concerning his ability. It was to assist in the survey of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, however, that he came to the west and later aided in the survey work of the Oregon Short Line Railroad. Establishing his home in Idaho, he took up a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres within a half mile of his present residence and while giving the winter months to teaching he devoted the summer months to the work of the farm. He proved up on that property, secured title to the same and occupied the place for many years, since which time he has lived in the vicinity of the original homestead. He today has one hundred and sixty acres of excellent land on the south slope about five miles southwest of Emmett and is giving his attention largely to horticultural pursuits, raising apples, prunes and peaches for commercial purposes. One attractive feature of his place is one hundred and eighty young Delicious apple trees just coming into bearing.

Mr. Baker was married in Boise by the Rev. R. M. Gwinn on the 24th of November, 1887, to Miss Letitia Sarah Kirby, who was born at Cambria, Wayne county, Iowa, November 9, 1866, and came to Idaho in 1885, when nineteen years of age. They have six children, three boys and three girls: Delia A., now the wife of Frank Miller, who is in the United States forestry service in Idaho; Henry Kirby, who married Helefl Kennedy and has three children, Henry, Mary and Richard, the last named being known as Dick; Ina Z., now the wife of Alva C. Jones, of Homestead, Oregon, and the mother of three children, Wayne, Jesse and Robert; Ray H., who married May Hart and was at Camp Lewis when the war ended; Edward Gray who is seventeen years of age and resides at home, and Thelma, eleven years of age, who completes the family. There are also four other grandchildren, Mr. and Mrs. Miller having four children, Lionel, Madge, Mildred and Frances.

Mr. and Mrs. Baker are members of the Methodist church and the latter belongs to the Crescent Improvement Club of Gem county. In politics Mr. Baker is a republican. The influence of both is ever on the side of right, progress, advancement and improvement, and they have done effective work to promote the material, social, moral and intellectual interests of the community. Published in History of Idaho: The Gem of the Mountains Vol. 3 by James H. Hawley 1920 This info provided by FAG contributor #47429422 02 03 2014

Sources

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/35620565/horace-benjamin-baker

• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M86P-SG5 : 29 May 2021), Horace B Baker in entry for Henry Baker, 1870.

• "Idaho Marriages, 1878-1898; 1903-1942", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FW64-YQN : 22 July 2021), H. B. Baker, 1887.

• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLHV-5P5 : accessed 28 February 2023), H B Baker, Emmett, Canyon, Idaho, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 89, sheet , family , NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll ; FHL microfilm .

• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/KHX7-ZMZ

Acknowledgement

This biography was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import. Baker-15695 was created by Kaylene Silvester through the import of Charles Leon Kimberling 5 gen anc 7 gen desc.ged on Dec 9, 2014.

Burial

Burial:

Date: 23 APR 1946

Ancestral File Number

Ancestral File Number: LQ2T-DT