- WILLIAM BAKER, who has been a resident of Outagamie county, Wisconsin, for more than forty years, and is now living retired in the city of Seymour after a long period spent in agricultural pursuits in Seymour township, was born in Richfield, Washington county, Wisconsin, January 12, 1852, and is a son of Charles and Fredericka (Sehbrecht) Baker, natives of the Province of Brunswick, Germany. The parents of Mr. Baker were married in Germany, where Charles Baker followed farming until coming to the United States in 1849 with his wife and six children, the latter being: August, Henry, Charles, Louisa, Caroline, and Dorothea, of whom August is now deceased. Three children, William, Lewis and Anna, were born in the United States. Charles Baker located in Richfield, Washington county, Wisconsin, but some time later removed to Germantown, where he purchased a farm and followed agricultural pursuits until his death, January 13, 1890, at the age of eighty-five years, his widow passing away in 1902, when she had reached the same age .
William Baker received his education in the district schools, and his youth was spent much the same as that of other farmers' boys of his day, he being reared to the life of an agriculturist. As soon as he was able he was put to work on the home farm, and he discharged his duties there until he had reached the age of eighteen years, when he decided to start to work on his own account, and subsequently left home and came to Seymour. During the winter of 1869-70 he worked at the ashery, but during the following summer he found employment on a farm in Osborne township, on which he remained several years. His next employment was as a carpenter, but eventually he located on an eighty-acre farm situated three and one-half miles north of Seymour, in Seymour township, where he erected his own farm buildings and commenced to operate and cultivate his land. After many years of hard work he decided that he had earned a rest, and, selling his farm in Seymour township, retired to Seymour, where he has a handsome residence. Mr. Baker is a Republican in politics, but he has never aspired to office. His religious connection is with the German Evangelical Church .
In June, 1886, Mr. Baker was married to Miss Frana Green, who was born in Ontario, Canada, March 22, 1852, daughter of Balthaser and Catherine (Schmidt) Green, the former a native of Hesse Darmstadt and the latter of Elsass Lorraine, Germany. They were married in Canada, whence Mr. Green had come when twenty-four years old, Mrs. Green having accompanied her parents to that country when twelve years old. Their marriage took place November 8, 1836, and they were engaged in farming in Canada until 1861, at which time they came to the United States and settled at Greenville, Outagamie county, but in 1884 they retired and settled in Seymour. Here Mr. Green died in 1894, aged ninety-two years, his wife having passed away the year previous, in her seventy-second year. Their children were: Mary, who was born November 19, 1838; Catherine, born November 11, 1839; John, born October 1, 1841, died April 27, 1911; Louis, born February 28, 1843, and died at the age of sixteen years; Moses, born April 25, 1845, and died at the age of nineteen years in a hospital, while a member of a Wisconsin regiment during the Civil War; Conrad, born December 8, 1847; Paul, born January 18, 1850; Mrs. Baker; Anna, born May 16, 1854; Lydia, born July 10, 1856; Henry, born June 13, 1860; and Levi, born November 29, 1862 .
Mr. and Mrs. Baker have had two children, namely: Lenora, born April 17, 1887, and Franklin, born April 4, 1890, both residing at home.
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1852 - Abt 1914 (61 years)
1860 Census
