The son of Daniel & Mary (Greenawalt) Baker, he married Malinda Kinzel ca. 1857 and fathered Ida Henrietta (b. 10/28/57), Eugene (b. 01/03/60), Otis or Otto M. (b. 10/13/61), William (b. 03/28/63), Henry C. (b. 08/15/64), Harry R. (b. 10/??/65), Jennie V. (b. @1867), Stella (b. @1869), Estelle (b. 01/27/71), and Leon G. (b. 09/??/72). In 1860, he was a blacksmith living with his family in Hummelstown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, and stood 5' 7" tall with black hair and dark eyes.
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted in Harrisburg with the regular army February 25, 1864, and assigned to Co. F, 4th U.S. infantry. He discharged by surgeon's certificate July 12, 1865, at Fort Columbus, New York, reason as yet unknown, a private. His obituary in the Harrisburg Telegraph claims his discharge point was Petersburg, Virginia, but his service records say otherwise.
The 1880 census lists him as an engineer, which likely means train engineer as he later moved to Philadelphia to work for the Reading Railroad as a car inspector. While on the job at Belmont Station, he crawled under a car to adjust a bolt but reportedly had failed to put up a warning flag that would have given evidence of his unseen presence. Not seeing the safety flag, an engineer of another train backed into Baker's car to couple with it and cut off both of his legs. He died later that day at German Hospital. The Philadelphia Inquirer demonstrated no sympathy by bluntly stating that Baker had died "through his own carelessness." A company of members from an unnamed Philadelphia G.A.R. post accompanied his body to Hummelstown where it was met by a contingent from Henderson Post No. 443.
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Civil War
Branch:Grand Army of the Republic
Military Dates:02/25/1864 - 07/12/1865
remarks:Severely wounded at Petersburg, Va Co F 4th US Inf.
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted in Harrisburg with the regular army February 25, 1864, and assigned to Co. F, 4th U.S. infantry. He discharged by surgeon's certificate July 12, 1865, at Fort Columbus, New York, reason as yet unknown, a private. His obituary in the Harrisburg Telegraph claims his discharge point was Petersburg, Virginia, but his service records say otherwise.
The 1880 census lists him as an engineer, which likely means train engineer as he later moved to Philadelphia to work for the Reading Railroad as a car inspector. While on the job at Belmont Station, he crawled under a car to adjust a bolt but reportedly had failed to put up a warning flag that would have given evidence of his unseen presence. Not seeing the safety flag, an engineer of another train backed into Baker's car to couple with it and cut off both of his legs. He died later that day at German Hospital. The Philadelphia Inquirer demonstrated no sympathy by bluntly stating that Baker had died "through his own carelessness." A company of members from an unnamed Philadelphia G.A.R. post accompanied his body to Hummelstown where it was met by a contingent from Henderson Post No. 443.
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Civil War
Branch:Grand Army of the Republic
Military Dates:02/25/1864 - 07/12/1865
remarks:Severely wounded at Petersburg, Va Co F 4th US Inf.
The son of Daniel & Mary (Greenawalt) Baker, he married Malinda Kinzel ca. 1857 and fathered Ida Henrietta (b. 10/28/57), Eugene (b. 01/03/60), Otis or Otto M. (b. 10/13/61), William (b. 03/28/63), Henry C. (b. 08/15/64), Harry R. (b. 10/??/65), Jennie V. (b. @1867), Stella (b. @1869), Estelle (b. 01/27/71), and Leon G. (b. 09/??/72). In 1860, he was a blacksmith living with his family in Hummelstown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, and stood 5' 7" tall with black hair and dark eyes.
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted in Harrisburg with the regular army February 25, 1864, and assigned to Co. F, 4th U.S. infantry. He discharged by surgeon's certificate July 12, 1865, at Fort Columbus, New York, reason as yet unknown, a private. His obituary in the Harrisburg Telegraph claims his discharge point was Petersburg, Virginia, but his service records say otherwise.
The 1880 census lists him as an engineer, which likely means train engineer as he later moved to Philadelphia to work for the Reading Railroad as a car inspector. While on the job at Belmont Station, he crawled under a car to adjust a bolt but reportedly had failed to put up a warning flag that would have given evidence of his unseen presence. Not seeing the safety flag, an engineer of another train backed into Baker's car to couple with it and cut off both of his legs. He died later that day at German Hospital. The Philadelphia Inquirer demonstrated no sympathy by bluntly stating that Baker had died "through his own carelessness." A company of members from an unnamed Philadelphia G.A.R. post accompanied his body to Hummelstown where it was met by a contingent from Henderson Post No. 443.
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Civil War
Branch:Grand Army of the Republic
Military Dates:02/25/1864 - 07/12/1865
remarks:Severely wounded at Petersburg, Va Co F 4th US Inf.
A Civil War veteran, he enlisted in Harrisburg with the regular army February 25, 1864, and assigned to Co. F, 4th U.S. infantry. He discharged by surgeon's certificate July 12, 1865, at Fort Columbus, New York, reason as yet unknown, a private. His obituary in the Harrisburg Telegraph claims his discharge point was Petersburg, Virginia, but his service records say otherwise.
The 1880 census lists him as an engineer, which likely means train engineer as he later moved to Philadelphia to work for the Reading Railroad as a car inspector. While on the job at Belmont Station, he crawled under a car to adjust a bolt but reportedly had failed to put up a warning flag that would have given evidence of his unseen presence. Not seeing the safety flag, an engineer of another train backed into Baker's car to couple with it and cut off both of his legs. He died later that day at German Hospital. The Philadelphia Inquirer demonstrated no sympathy by bluntly stating that Baker had died "through his own carelessness." A company of members from an unnamed Philadelphia G.A.R. post accompanied his body to Hummelstown where it was met by a contingent from Henderson Post No. 443.
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Civil War
Branch:Grand Army of the Republic
Military Dates:02/25/1864 - 07/12/1865
remarks:Severely wounded at Petersburg, Va Co F 4th US Inf.
Inscription
Co. F 4 R. U. S. I.
Family Members
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