JAMES FRANKLIN BAKER
James Franklin Baker was born Oct 17, 1862 in Boone, Co. Indiana, oldest son of Noah Baker ( 12 May 1841, Indiana – 24 May 1928, Centerton, Benton Co., AR) and Mary E. Turpin (25 Nov 1892, Indiana – 01 Sep 1920, Centerton, Benton Co., AR). Father a farmer. Family was in Mahaska Co, Iowa in 1870, and in Wilson Co., Kansas in 1880.
James married Mary Clementine Gamble 24 Sep 1884 in Marion, Indiana. He was about 22, and she was about 17 years old. Mary was born 16 Jan 1867, Bentonville, Benton Co., AR, and died 12 Feb 1890 in Pea Ridge, Benton Co., AR at the age of 22. They had been married six years. She was the daughter of Alexander G. Gamble of TN, and Nancy Matilda Woods, also of TN. Mary Gamble is found only in the 1880 US Census for Osage, AR. Other information was located in the Raunig-Finnerty Family Tree, ancestry.com, whose author is related to the only child of James Baker and Mary Gamble Baker, Sylvia Gertrude Baker, who was born 11 Aug 1888 in Bentonville, AR.
James Baker was a graduate of the Physiological Medical College of Indiana, in Indianapolis, in 1896. His first practice was in Denison, TX, beginning in 1896. He moved his 8 year-old daughter Sylvia along with him from Indianapolis. He remarried on 21 Mar 1896 to Jane Gordon "Jennie" Austin. She was the daughter of John William Austin (dob 07 Mar 1847, MO) and Elenora S. "Nellie" Broun (dob 25 Mar 1849, VA). Her father was a nurseryman, according to the 1880 Census for Cooke Co., TX, which is probably where Jennie was born (26 Jul 1874). Jennie would have been 23, and James 34 when they married. The Indiana Marriage Collection for 1800-1941 indicates that "James F. Baker, age 34, son of Noah Baker and Mary E. Turpin married in Marion Co., Indiana". The bride’s name is not given, but James’ age suggests that this was his marriage to Jennie Austin. (Why were they married in Indiana???)
James and Jennie added 4 children to the household that already included James’ daughter, Sylvia: Bernice Baker, 08 Jan 1897; Francis Willard Baker, March 1898; Edmund Franklin Baker, 21 May 1901; and May Baker, 05 Nov 1906. It is known that all were born in Texas, and likely in Denison.
On May 10, 1908 James’ oldest daughter, Sylvia, married Earl E. Ayres in Sherman, Grayson County, TX. In 1910, Sylvia, Earl and daughter baby Clemma are living in Denison. According to Sylvia’s obituary, they moved to the Woodville area of Marshall County, OK until 1917, when they moved to Madill, OK. In addition to Clemma Marie born 1909, Sylvia and Earl had Veda Ayres, 20 Aug 1910; Ernest Earl Ayres, 25 May 1912; Sylvia Lucille Ayres, 21 July 1915; James Monroe Ayres, 13 Oct 1917; William Ray "Bill" Ayres, 11 Aug 1927; Donald Gene Ayres, 05 Nov 1929, and Evelyn, dob unknown. These last two sons were born so much later than the previous children, one has to question if they were their biological children; however, in Sylvia’s obituary, Bill and Don are named as "sons".
James and Jennie are known to have lived in Denison through 1910. Jennie died 24 Apr 1918, at the age of 43, reportedly in Woodville, OK. Her place of burial is not known by this writer. The youngest of her children was about 11 at the time of her death. It is likely that the older two children were already living on their own.
James Baker marries for a 3
rd time, to Bertie R. Kelley of MS, sometime between Apr 1918 and Feb 1920. Bertie was 30 years younger than James, and was four years younger than his oldest daughter, Sylvia. As far as is known, this was Bertie’s first marriage. The 1920 Census shows James and Bertie living in Odell, Marshall Co., OK, along with 2 of James’ children by his 2nd wife, Jennie: son Edmond, 18, and daughter May, 13. Bertie Kelley was born 01 Jan 1892 in MS, the daughter of Samuel O. Kelley (14 Oct 1855 MS – 13 Dec 1928 MS) and Mary L. "Mollie" Bowman (12 Jan 1862, Lincoln Co., MS – 01 Nov 1918, Lincoln Co, MS). Bertie was the 7th of 12 children born to Sam and Mollie Kelley, all in the Brookhaven, MS area.James and Bertie have a daughter, Evelyn on July 24, 1922, in Ennis, Oklahoma. James dies in Denison on Sep 16, 1923, when Evelyn would have been a little more than a year old, and Bertie was 31. James’ obituary says his daughter Evelyn was from Denison. His wife is not named in the obituary, although all of his children are. James was buried at Fairview Cemetery in Denison.
Apparently Bertie decides not to stay near James’ family in Denison after his death – or for financial reasons, cannot stay. In the 1930 Census, Bertie and Evelyn are in Littlefield, Lamb County, TX, near Amarillo. The census says Bertie is working as a matron at Littlefield College.
Since Census records after 1930 are not accessible at present, we can only piece together bits of information about Bertie Baker and Evelyn after they leave Denison. When Sylvia Baker Ayers dies in 1978 in Madill, OK, her half-sister Evelyn in named in her obituary as a surviving relative, and Evelyn’s married name is used, along with her address as "Killeen", so one would hope that Sylvia and Evelyn had maintained a relationship. Bertie is not mentioned in Sylvia’s obituary. Almost exactly a year after Sylvia’s death, Bertie will die in her family’s home of Brookhaven, MS, and had never remarried after James’ death. She is buried at Mt. Olive Church of Christ Cemetery in Brookhaven, along with her parents, grandparents, and many extended family members.
Evelyn Baker, the only child of James Franklin Baker and Bertie Kelley Baker, died Aug 18, 2000 in Killeen, Bell Co., TX, and is buried at Mt. Olive Church of Christ Cemetery in Brookhaven, MS. Her obituary says that she graduated from high school in Brookhaven, MS, confirming that Bertie left Texas and returned to her home in MS to raise her daughter. Evelyn also attended the University of Maryland for 2 years after high school graduation. She married Otis Boyce Brodie Sept 17, 1943, probably in MS. Otis Brodie was a native of the Brookhaven area of MS, as was Evelyn’s mother, Bertie. Evelyn and Otis had two sons, Douglas B. Brodie, dob Dec 24, 1945; and Tim B. Brodie, dob abt 1948. Evelyn’s obit says she had been a member of the Killeen community for 41 years, so she and Otis had moved there around 1959. She retired as
post librarian at Fort Hood in 1965. There is a headstone in the Mt. Olive Cemetery for Otis Brodie, giving his dob as Aug 5, 1920, but no date of death; presumably he is still living.
There is a parallel story here that must be touched on.
This writer’s connection to James Baker is through his 3
rdwife, Bertie….Bertie’s maternal grandfather, John Wiley Bowman, is this writer’s maternal great-great grandfather. And given that Bertie’s extended family members rarely moved out of Brookhaven, much less Mississippi, I had to wonder how she ended up in Denison, TX.Then I found that Bertie’s next oldest sister, Ella Kelley, was ALSO in Denison, TX in 1920! (Bertie and James are actually living in Odell, Marshall Co, OK in the 1920 census – but close to Denison.)
Ella Kelley (15 Feb 1886, Lincoln Co, MS – 1959) first married Henry Pink Boyte 18 Nov 1905 in Lincoln Co., MS. Ella was 18, and Pink was 19. (The Boyte’s were as large a family, and as well-entrenched in Lincoln Co as were the Bowmans and Kelleys. ) And Ella and Pink had their first child, Hazel, three years later, on Jan 21, 1908. Amazingly, Pink dies only 11 months later, on Christmas Day, 1908, still in Lincoln Co., MS. Ella and Hazel apparently move back in with Ella’s family when she is widowed, as the 1910 Census shows them in her father’s household --- and sister Bertie, then 18, is still at home as well.
And here is the mystery --- between 1910 and 1920, Ella Kelley Boyte and her daughter Hazel, and her sister Bertie Kelley, moved to the Denison, TX area. It is likely that there was a relative,, or family friend, living in the area, but this writer has not identified this person. We know that Ella was a young widow when she moved, so it is understandable that she may have just wanted a fresh start in life. It is believed that Bertie’s first marriage was to James Baker, so she may have moved to Texas with her sister for any number of reasons.
At any rate, it can be said that Bertie married James Baker between May 1918, after the death of his 2
nd wife, and Feb 6, 1920, when the US Census was taken.The Census records also show that Ella Kelley Boyte married William Thomas "Tom" Watson between 1910 and 1920. Tom Watson was born in Alabama, but his family had been in Wood County, TX since at least 1870. According to the 1900 US Census, Tom had married a woman named Lizzie about 1892, and they had a daughter named Ruby in April of 1894. They were living in Denison in 1900. But by 1910, Tom is a widower, living in his brother Claude’s household in Denison. Claude is also a widower. I haven’t been able to trace Tom’s daughter Ruby after 1900. By January 6, 1920, when the census was taken, Tom has married Ella Boyte, 18 years his junior, and they are still in Denison, along with Ella’s daughter, Hazel. Sadly, Ella is widowed a second time whenTom is killed on July 27, 1920 in Denison in an accident related to his work as a car repairman for the rail road. He is buried in Golden, Wood Co., TX. Ella’s daughter Hazle is 12 years old. Three years later, in 1923, Ella’s sister Bertie will also be
widowed when James Franklin Baker dies, and she is left with an 11-month-old daughter. I couldn’t find Ella Watson or her daughter Hazel in the 1930 Census, but Ella dies at the age of 72, having never remarried, and is buried at the Union Baptist Church Cemetery in Brookhaven, MS. He daughter Hazel dies in 1985 in Los Angeles Co., CA.
So – sisters Ella and Bertie Kelley leave Brookhaven, MS between 1910 and 1920; move to Denison, TX; both marry men in Denison who are considerably older than themselves; they are widowed within 3 years of each other, after having been married less than 10 years; both lost their 1
st husbands and were left with infant daughters; both returned to their family home in Brookhaven, MS from Denison; neither remarries after having been widowed in Denison; both have one daughter: Ella has Hazel by her first marriage, and Bertie has Evelyn by her marriage to James Baker; both are buried in Brookhaven, MS.Written by Judith Murphy Melton, May 2011
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