BAKER, BENJAMIN M.
Benjamin M. Baker was born in Russell county, Alabama, January 20, 1850, seventh of a family of ten children of Benjamin H and Eliza (Greer) Baker, and one of the four of that number who are now living.
Benjamin M. Baker, the subject of this sketch, received such education as he ever got in the "old field schools'" of Russell county, Alabama. At the age of nineteen, he came to Texas, and soon thereafter took up the study of law in the office of Col. A. W. DeBerry, at Carthage, Panola county, and in 1871 was admitted to the bar and at once entered upon practice. He practiced law at Carthage till the end of the year 1882 when he removed to Decatur, and from thence to Austin in January, 1883, to enter upon the duties of Secretary of the State Board of Education to which position he was at that time elected. While living at Carthage he was thrice elected to the House of Representatives, serving in the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth legislature representing Rusk, Panola and Shelby counties. In the sixteenth legislature he was chairman of the committee on penitentiaries and in the seventeenth legislature was chairman of the important committee on finance.
When Mr. Baker took charge of educational matters as secretary to the state board, public school affairs were indeed chaotic. He framed a bill organizing the present system and creating an independent department for public school affairs with a state superintendent, and influenced its passage, and thus secured for the people the beginning of the present very efficient system of free schools. Mr. Baker was appointed the first state superintendent, and when the office became elective he was elected to it in the Fall of 1884 for a term of two years. At the expiration of that term he voluntarily retired feeling that his school system would be successful. The years that have followed prove his wisdom.
In 1887 Mr. Baker moved to the Panhandle, and became one of the first settlers of Canadian. He practiced law till the Fall of the year 1890 when he was elected Judge of the 31st Judicial District. He was elected to the same position three other times in succession, serving in that capacity sixteen years. In January, 1907, he again opened a law office in Canadian, and is now practicing his profession in that city.
Judge Baker was married at Carthage, Texas, in December, 1872, to Miss Emily Hull, a native of North Carolina, who was reared in Texas. Their children are Mrs. Annie Daniels, Mrs. Maude Johnson and Mrs. Nellie Willis, all residing with their husbands at Canadian. The two grandchildren are B. M. Daniels and Maurine Willis; the first twelve years and the second seven years of age.
Politically Judge Baker is and has always been a Democrat. He has been a Free Mason many years, but he does not belong to any other organization. [Source: "A History of Texas and Texans Vol 3", by Frank Johnson, Eugene Barker, and Ernest Winkler - Published by American Historical Society 1914]
Benjamin M. Baker was born in Russell county, Alabama, January 20, 1850, seventh of a family of ten children of Benjamin H and Eliza (Greer) Baker, and one of the four of that number who are now living.
Benjamin M. Baker, the subject of this sketch, received such education as he ever got in the "old field schools'" of Russell county, Alabama. At the age of nineteen, he came to Texas, and soon thereafter took up the study of law in the office of Col. A. W. DeBerry, at Carthage, Panola county, and in 1871 was admitted to the bar and at once entered upon practice. He practiced law at Carthage till the end of the year 1882 when he removed to Decatur, and from thence to Austin in January, 1883, to enter upon the duties of Secretary of the State Board of Education to which position he was at that time elected. While living at Carthage he was thrice elected to the House of Representatives, serving in the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth legislature representing Rusk, Panola and Shelby counties. In the sixteenth legislature he was chairman of the committee on penitentiaries and in the seventeenth legislature was chairman of the important committee on finance.
When Mr. Baker took charge of educational matters as secretary to the state board, public school affairs were indeed chaotic. He framed a bill organizing the present system and creating an independent department for public school affairs with a state superintendent, and influenced its passage, and thus secured for the people the beginning of the present very efficient system of free schools. Mr. Baker was appointed the first state superintendent, and when the office became elective he was elected to it in the Fall of 1884 for a term of two years. At the expiration of that term he voluntarily retired feeling that his school system would be successful. The years that have followed prove his wisdom.
In 1887 Mr. Baker moved to the Panhandle, and became one of the first settlers of Canadian. He practiced law till the Fall of the year 1890 when he was elected Judge of the 31st Judicial District. He was elected to the same position three other times in succession, serving in that capacity sixteen years. In January, 1907, he again opened a law office in Canadian, and is now practicing his profession in that city.
Judge Baker was married at Carthage, Texas, in December, 1872, to Miss Emily Hull, a native of North Carolina, who was reared in Texas. Their children are Mrs. Annie Daniels, Mrs. Maude Johnson and Mrs. Nellie Willis, all residing with their husbands at Canadian. The two grandchildren are B. M. Daniels and Maurine Willis; the first twelve years and the second seven years of age.
Politically Judge Baker is and has always been a Democrat. He has been a Free Mason many years, but he does not belong to any other organization. [Source: "A History of Texas and Texans Vol 3", by Frank Johnson, Eugene Barker, and Ernest Winkler - Published by American Historical Society 1914]
BAKER, BENJAMIN M.
Benjamin M. Baker was born in Russell county, Alabama, January 20, 1850, seventh of a family of ten children of Benjamin H and Eliza (Greer) Baker, and one of the four of that number who are now living.
Benjamin M. Baker, the subject of this sketch, received such education as he ever got in the "old field schools'" of Russell county, Alabama. At the age of nineteen, he came to Texas, and soon thereafter took up the study of law in the office of Col. A. W. DeBerry, at Carthage, Panola county, and in 1871 was admitted to the bar and at once entered upon practice. He practiced law at Carthage till the end of the year 1882 when he removed to Decatur, and from thence to Austin in January, 1883, to enter upon the duties of Secretary of the State Board of Education to which position he was at that time elected. While living at Carthage he was thrice elected to the House of Representatives, serving in the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth legislature representing Rusk, Panola and Shelby counties. In the sixteenth legislature he was chairman of the committee on penitentiaries and in the seventeenth legislature was chairman of the important committee on finance.
When Mr. Baker took charge of educational matters as secretary to the state board, public school affairs were indeed chaotic. He framed a bill organizing the present system and creating an independent department for public school affairs with a state superintendent, and influenced its passage, and thus secured for the people the beginning of the present very efficient system of free schools. Mr. Baker was appointed the first state superintendent, and when the office became elective he was elected to it in the Fall of 1884 for a term of two years. At the expiration of that term he voluntarily retired feeling that his school system would be successful. The years that have followed prove his wisdom.
In 1887 Mr. Baker moved to the Panhandle, and became one of the first settlers of Canadian. He practiced law till the Fall of the year 1890 when he was elected Judge of the 31st Judicial District. He was elected to the same position three other times in succession, serving in that capacity sixteen years. In January, 1907, he again opened a law office in Canadian, and is now practicing his profession in that city.
Judge Baker was married at Carthage, Texas, in December, 1872, to Miss Emily Hull, a native of North Carolina, who was reared in Texas. Their children are Mrs. Annie Daniels, Mrs. Maude Johnson and Mrs. Nellie Willis, all residing with their husbands at Canadian. The two grandchildren are B. M. Daniels and Maurine Willis; the first twelve years and the second seven years of age.
Politically Judge Baker is and has always been a Democrat. He has been a Free Mason many years, but he does not belong to any other organization. [Source: "A History of Texas and Texans Vol 3", by Frank Johnson, Eugene Barker, and Ernest Winkler - Published by American Historical Society 1914]
Benjamin M. Baker was born in Russell county, Alabama, January 20, 1850, seventh of a family of ten children of Benjamin H and Eliza (Greer) Baker, and one of the four of that number who are now living.
Benjamin M. Baker, the subject of this sketch, received such education as he ever got in the "old field schools'" of Russell county, Alabama. At the age of nineteen, he came to Texas, and soon thereafter took up the study of law in the office of Col. A. W. DeBerry, at Carthage, Panola county, and in 1871 was admitted to the bar and at once entered upon practice. He practiced law at Carthage till the end of the year 1882 when he removed to Decatur, and from thence to Austin in January, 1883, to enter upon the duties of Secretary of the State Board of Education to which position he was at that time elected. While living at Carthage he was thrice elected to the House of Representatives, serving in the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth legislature representing Rusk, Panola and Shelby counties. In the sixteenth legislature he was chairman of the committee on penitentiaries and in the seventeenth legislature was chairman of the important committee on finance.
When Mr. Baker took charge of educational matters as secretary to the state board, public school affairs were indeed chaotic. He framed a bill organizing the present system and creating an independent department for public school affairs with a state superintendent, and influenced its passage, and thus secured for the people the beginning of the present very efficient system of free schools. Mr. Baker was appointed the first state superintendent, and when the office became elective he was elected to it in the Fall of 1884 for a term of two years. At the expiration of that term he voluntarily retired feeling that his school system would be successful. The years that have followed prove his wisdom.
In 1887 Mr. Baker moved to the Panhandle, and became one of the first settlers of Canadian. He practiced law till the Fall of the year 1890 when he was elected Judge of the 31st Judicial District. He was elected to the same position three other times in succession, serving in that capacity sixteen years. In January, 1907, he again opened a law office in Canadian, and is now practicing his profession in that city.
Judge Baker was married at Carthage, Texas, in December, 1872, to Miss Emily Hull, a native of North Carolina, who was reared in Texas. Their children are Mrs. Annie Daniels, Mrs. Maude Johnson and Mrs. Nellie Willis, all residing with their husbands at Canadian. The two grandchildren are B. M. Daniels and Maurine Willis; the first twelve years and the second seven years of age.
Politically Judge Baker is and has always been a Democrat. He has been a Free Mason many years, but he does not belong to any other organization. [Source: "A History of Texas and Texans Vol 3", by Frank Johnson, Eugene Barker, and Ernest Winkler - Published by American Historical Society 1914]
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