George Ellis Baker

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 ({{nee}} Ellis) Baker (1791–1876). His father served as the sheriff of Norfolk County from 1834 until his death in 1843.{{cite book |title=Baker Family Collection, 1766-1961, bulk 1860s |date=2019 |publisher=Dedham Historical Society & Museum |url=https://dedhamhistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Baker-Family-Finding-Aid.pdf |access-date=13 October 2021}} His brother was Fisher Ames Baker,{{cite news |title=COL. FISHER A. BAKER DIES.; Lawyer Who Had Practiced Here Since 1865 Dies in Yonkers Home. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1919/05/31/archives/col-fisher-a-baker-dies-lawyer-who-had-practiced-here-since-1865.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=31 May 1919}} a prominent and successful attorney who had served in the Civil War.{{cite web |title=Fisher Ames Baker (1837-1919), Class of 1859 |url=https://hoodmuseum.dartmouth.edu/objects/p.928.2 |website=hoodmuseum.dartmouth.edu |publisher=Hood Museum |access-date=13 October 2021 |language=en}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|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.{{cite news |last1=Times |first1=Special to The New York |title=SAYS G.F. BAKER GAVE LIBRARY TO DARTMOUTH; Boston Herald Recalls Other Benefactions, Including the Memorial to His Uncle. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/11/04/archives/says-gf-baker-gave-library-to-dartmouth-boston-herald-recalls-other.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=4 November 1926}}{{cite news |title=George F. Baker Gives Another $1,000,000 For Memorial Library at Dartmouth College |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/02/05/archives/george-f-baker-gives-another-1000000-for-memorial-library-at.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=5 February 1930}}{{cite news |title=DARTMOUTH GETS $30 MILLION GIFT |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/06/us/dartmouth-gets-30-million-gift.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=6 November 1992}}}}{{cite journal |title=Fisher Ames Baker '59 |journal=Dartmouth Alumni Magazine |date=November 1928 |url=https://archive.dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/article/1928/11/1/fisher-ames-baker-59 |access-date=13 October 2021}}

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.{{cite book |last1=Grant |first1=James |title=Money of the Mind: How the 1980s Got That Way |date=May 1994 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-374-52401-2 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-6XUBdxy05UC |access-date=13 October 2021 |language=en}}

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.

Baker was married to Eveline Stevens (1817–1903).{{cite news |title=BAKER |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1903/02/11/archives/obituary-1-no-title.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=11 February 1903}} She was a daughter of James Stevens and granddaughter of Capt. William C. Stevens of the Continental Army.{{cite book |last1=Revolution |first1=Daughters of the American |title=Lineage Book - National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution |date=1910 |publisher=Daughters of the American Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WXEZAQAAIAAJ |access-date=13 October 2021 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Paine |first1=Albert Bigelow |title=George Fisher Baker, a Biography: With Illustrations |date=1938 |publisher=Knickerbocker Press (G.P. Putnam's sons) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eHEDAAAAYAAJ |access-date=13 October 2021 |language=en}} Together, they were the parents of:

• George Fisher Baker (1840–1931),{{cite news |title=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. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/05/03/archives/george-f-baker-91-dies-suddenly-of-pneumonia-dean-of-nations.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=3 May 1931}} who married Florence Tucker Baker, a daughter of Benjamin Franklin Baker, in 1869.{{cite news |title=MRS. G.F. BAKER DIES; STRICKEN AT PARTY; Wife of Banker Entertaining Friends at Tuxedo Home When She Became Ill. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/07/26/archives/mrs-gf-baker-dies-stricken-at-party-wife-of-banker-entertaining.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=26 July 1913}}
• Martha Elizabeth Baker (1842–1910),{{cite news |title=Died |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1910/02/14/archives/obituary-1-no-title.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=14 February 1910}} who married banker Grant Barney Schley.{{cite news |title=Grant B. Schley, Financier, Dead; Head of Firm of Moore & Schley and Member of Stock Exchange for 36 Years |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/20504863/?clipping_id=90099075 |work=The New York Times |via=newspapers.com |access-date=17 May 2023 |date=23 November 1917}}{{void|comment|Fabrickator|original url: https://www.nytimes.com/1917/11/23/archives/grand-b-schley-financier-dead-head-of-firm-of-moore-schley-and.html}}
• Eveline Frances Baker (1844–1867), who died unmarried at age 23.{{cite news |title=BAKER, Eva Frances |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87017771/baker-eva-frances/ |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=Evening Star |date=18 October 1867 |pages=3}}

Baker died in Washington, D.C., on October 2, 1887. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery there.{{cite web |title=Baker, George Ellis |url=https://sewardproject.org/node/98 |website=sewardproject.org |publisher=Seward Family Digital Archive |access-date=13 October 2021}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.oakhillcemeterydc.org/app/themes/oakhill/assets/records/705.pdf |title=Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, D.C. (Reno Hill) - Lot 705 |website=oakhillcemterydc.org |access-date=2022-08-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308063500/https://www.oakhillcemeterydc.org/app/themes/oakhill/assets/records/705.pdf |archive-date=2022-03-08 |url-status=live}} His widow died in 1903 and was also buried in Washington, D.C.

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.{{cite news |title=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 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/05/31/archives/george-f-baker-59-dies-of-peritonitis-on-yacht-in-hawaii-banker-who.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=31 May 1937}} (who married Edith Brevoort Kane; their daughter Elizabeth married John M. Schiff and their son, George F. Baker III married Frances Drexel Munn,{{cite news |last1=TIMES |first1=Special to THE NEW YORK |title=George F. Baker's Grandson Slain On Family's Florida Plantation; George F. Baker's Grandson Slain On Family's Florida Plantation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/01/18/archives/george-f-bakers-grandson-slain-on-familys-florida-plantation-george.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=18 January 1949}} 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;{{cite news |title=C.B. SCHLEY DIES OF HURTS; Baltimore Man Sucoumbs After Crash in Which Wife Lost Life. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/01/14/archives/cb-schley-dies-of-hurts-baltimore-man-sucoumbs-after-crash-in-which.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=14 January 1936}} Grant Barney Schley Jr.;{{cite news |title=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. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/01/12/archives/grant-b-sghley56-stogk-broker-dies-partner-in-new-york-firm-was.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=12 January 1936}}{{cite news |last1=Times |first1=Special to The New York |title=STOCKBROKER A SUICIDE; Grant B. Schley Found Dead on Locust Valley Estate |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/04/26/archives/stockbroker-a-suicide-grant-b-schley-found-dead-on-locust-valley.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=26 April 1959}} Evander "Van" Baker Schley (who married Sophie Beverly Duer, a granddaughter of U.S. Representative William Duer, in 1931);{{cite news |title=Other Weddings --- Schley--Duer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/03/31/archives/marriage-announcement-2-no-title.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=31 March 1931}}{{cite news |last1=TIMES |first1=Special to THE NEW YORK |title=MRS. EVANDER B. SCHLEY; Banker's Wife Aided Several Philanthropic Causes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/08/16/archives/mrs-evander-b-schley-bankers-wife-aided-several-philanthropic.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=16 August 1950}} Evelyn Baker (wife of Max Howell Behr, brother to Karl Behr){{cite news |title=BEHR -- SCHLEY. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1906/03/21/archives/behr-schley.html |access-date=13 October 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=21 March 1906}} and aviator Kenneth Baker Schley.{{cite web|url=http://www.newjerseyhills.com/kenneth-baker-schley-decorated-war-veteran/article_9571df2b-0b3c-5e3c-90fe-a832b861b7ca.html|title=Kenneth Baker Schley, Jr.|publisher=New Jersey Hills Media Group|accessdate=21 January 2018}}

;Notes

{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

;Sources

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{find a Grave|86707753}}
• [https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/11/archival_objects/2395285 Correspondence from George Ellis Baker, undated] Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School, Harvard University

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{{succession box | title = New York State Assembly
Kings County, 1st District | before = Joseph A. Yard | years = 1851–1851 | after = John Berry}}

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Category:1816 births

Category:1887 deaths

Category:New York (state) Whigs

Category:Members of the New York State Assembly

Category:19th-century American businesspeople

Category:Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)

George

Category:19th-century members of the New York State Legislature