JESSE BAKER
Page 226

Mr. Baker, whose rapidly failing faculties bespeak this earthly pilgrimage nearly closed, was one of the first white men in Mason county. He was born in Tennessee, in 1798, and is now in his seventy-ninth year. He came to Illinois Territory in 1816, and settled in what is now Morgan county, and became a citizen of Mason county in 1833, and since then this has been his home. Mr. Baker has had a varied experience. Possessed of an unusually vigorous and robust frame, he endured the privations and hardships of a pioneer life, the chase of the deer, and the defense against "the noble red man" that few could endure with him. But now that eye is dimmed with age, and that vigorous arm that once poised the unerring rifle with the grip and steadiness of a vise, hangs feebly by his side; that six foot, stalwart frame totters feebly along, his mental vision dimmed, and all his faculties bespeak the needed rest the grave will soon afford. He has fought the Indian from tree to tree; was contemporary in Havana with Ross and Scovil, and Yardley and Krebaum, etc. He engaged in farming, on Crane creek, near where he and his descendants now reside, and here has grown his ninety bushels of corn per acre, and sold supplies to Mr. Falkner, the first farmer in Sherman township. These new comers took pride in the duty of assisting new comers, and gladly welcoming them as accessories to their strength. Mr. Baker's pilgrimage will soon be done. His descendants are among the substantial residents of the county, and we gladly here record his worth, and honorable sense of right, for his successors when he has passed away.

Biography Index

Home