Standard History of Adams & Wells Counties, Indiana – 1918
Tyndall & Lesh, Pages 499 & 500

PHILIP BAKER

Philip Baker’s recollections of this county go back to the time of his boyhood, more than sixty years ago. The family is a numerous one and they have always borne the reputation of honest and substantial citizens and for the most part have been splendid representatives of the agricultural type.

Mr. Baker was born in Champaign County, Ohio, Mary 15, 1846, a son of Jacob and Sarah (Hower) Baker. His parents came originally from York County, Pennsylvania, were pioneers in Clark County, Ohio, and about 1828 settled in Champaign County of that state. On both sides the family is of German stock. When Philip Baker was ten years old, in August, 1856, his parents moved to Adams County and a year later settled upon the farm in Root Township where Mr. Baker now lives. This was a tract of wild land comprising eighty acres, and it improvements as well as its subsequent care and productive development have been the work and result of constant expenditure of labor upon the part of the Baker family.

Jacob Baker was long and prominently known in Adams County, and died here in July, 1893. He had survived his wife many years, her death having occurred in 1863, when Philip was seventeen years old. They had a large family of children, named: Susanna, deceased; Phillip; Joseph, deceased; William H.; Mary E., deceased; John M.; Sarah E., deceased; and Thomas A. deceased.

Mr. Philip Baker was reared and educated in Adams County, attended the common schools of Root Township, and his early training and discipline on the home farm fitted him for the vocation which he followed for many years. For fourteen years Mr. Baker lived in Decatur and was engaged in the manufacture of saddle stirrups. In January, 1894, he bought the old homestead from his father’s estate and has managed it so as to provide amply for the needs of his family and to produce a reasonable competence for his later years. Mr. Baker is a democrat in politics, though more and more inclined to independence in casting his vote. He is affiliated with St. Mary’s Lodge No. 167 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Decatur. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

November 18, 1877, Mr. Baker married Nancy B. Kimsey, daughter of William and Nancy Kimsey. Her brothers and sisters were: John, deceased; Sarah E.; William T.; Robert N., deceased; Joseph F., deceased; Mary E., deceased; and Emma, deceased. Mr. And Mrs. Baker’s children are Bertha A., who married Emerson Elzey and lived in Van Wert County, Ohio; Charles E., who married Flossie Bolinger and lives at Decatur; Harvy M., who married Augusta Ketchum; Alva D. who married Annota M. Dailey, of Root Township; Franklin O., who married Opal Butcher, of Root Township; Lola D. and Lulu B., twins and Carl, deceased. Of the twin daughters, Lola married William J. McCague, and Lulu is now deceased. The grandchildren are: The two children of Alva D. are Philip D. and Forest; Franklin O. has three children, Otis Melroy, Kenneth C. and Vernon M.; Mrs. Lola D. McCague has two children Frances B. and Philip A.; Mrs. Bertha Elzey has one child, Dorothy L.; Charles Edward has two children, Mildred and Charles E., Jr.; Harvy M. has one child, Marion H.