Augustus, was graduated at the College of the City of New York, and from the Columbia College law" school, in 1870, at present practising in New York city. Pie has published "Point Lace and Diamonds," a volume of vers de societe (New York, 1875), and "Bad Habits of Good Society" (1876).
BAKER, George Bernard, Canadian statesman, b. in Dunham, province of Quebec, 29 Jan., 1834. He was graduated at the university of Bishop's college, Lennoxville, in 1855, studied law, and
was admitted to the bar in 1860. He represented
Missisquoi in the house of commons from 1870 until
1874, when he retired, was elected by acclamation
to the Quebec legislature in 1875, and in 1876 was
appointed a member of the executive council and
solicitor-general. In 1878 he was elected to the
dominion parliament. He is a liberal-conservative.
BAKER, Henry Brooks, surgeon, b. in Brattleborough, Vt., 29 Dec, 1837. He received a common-school education, and studied medicine at the University of Michigan in 1861-'2. He served through the civil war with the 20th Michigan infantry, and from July, 1864, was its assistant surgeon. He was graduated at Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1866, and then began to practise in Lansing, Mich., where he has since performed important operations. In 1870 he took charge of the vital statistics of Michigan, and in 1873 he became secretary of the State Board of Health. In his official capacity he has edited and published "Statistics of Michigan " (Lansing, 1870), "Vital Statistics of Michigan," registration reports (1870-'6), and the "Reports of the State Board of Health" (1872-85). His own papers, which are quite numerous, principally on sanitary subjects, have appeared in various medical journals, chiefly those of Detroit. Dr. Baker has devoted much time to studies relative to the causation of diphtheria, typhoid fever, cholera, and pneumonia. The results thus far obtained have appeared in the
"Transactions of the American Public Health Association" and "Transactions of the American Climatological Association," 1886. He is a member of the American Climatological Association, the Royal Meteorological Society of England, and the French Society of Hygiene.
BAKER, James H., soldier, b. in Monroe, Butler co., Ohio, 6 May, 1829. He was educated at Wesleyan university in Ohio. Subsequently he became a teacher, and took charge of a female
seminary at Richmond, Ind. In 1853 he purchased
the “Scioto Gazette”, and became its editor. He
was elected secretary of state for Ohio in 1855, and
afterward secretary of state for Minnesota.
He served as a colonel in the army in 1862-'3, was
appointed a provost-marshal for the department of
Missouri, and served in this capacity until the close
of the war, receiving the brevet of brigadier-general
of volunteers. After the war he was appointed
register of public lands at Booneville, Missouri, and
retained the office two years, after which he retired
to his farm in Minnesota. From 1871 to 1875 he
was commissioner of pensions.
BAKER, Lafayette Charles, of the U. S. secret service, b. in Stafford, Genesee co., N. Y., 13 Oct., 1826; d. in Philadelphia, 2 July, 1868. His
grandfather, Remember Baker, was one of Ethan Allen's captains. Baker's father inherited the curious baptismal name of the Green Mountain Boy, as well as his adventurous spirit, and in 1839 removed to Michigan and settled where Lansing, the capital, now stands. Young Baker took part in the work of making a home in the wilderness, but in 1848 went to New York and Philadelphia, and in 1853 to San Francisco, in each of these cities working as a mechanic. When the lawless element became dominant in San Francisco in 1856, Mr. Baker joined the vigilance committee and took an active
part in the summary proceedings that restored order in the city. He went to New York on business in 1861, expecting to return at once, but the civil war intervened, and he went to Washington and offered his services. At the suggestion of Gen. Hiram Walbridge, of New York, he was introduced to Gen. Scott, and, as a result of the interview, he started on foot for Richmond, where, in spite of arrest, imprisonment, and several interviews
with Jefferson Davis, while under suspicion as a spy, he succeeded in collecting much information and returning to Washington after an absence of three weeks. This was but the first of a series of adventures involving high executive ability and a wonderful talent for tracing conspiracy and frustrating the designs of confederate spies and agents. As soon as his abilities were demonstrated to the satisfaction of the government, he was placed at the head of the bureau of secret service, with almost unlimited resources at his command, and in
February, 1862, the bureau was transferred to the war department. Mr. Baker was commissioned colonel, and subsequently brigadier-general. His duties naturally made him enemies in influential quarters, and charges of a serious nature were several times preferred against him, but were never substantiated. When President Lincoln was assassinated. Col. Baker organized the pursuit of the
murderer, and was present at his capture and death.
His agents effected the capture of the other participants in the plot. Gen. Baker published a "History of the United States Secret Service" (Philadelphia, 1868), which is necessarily semi-biographical, and touches authoritatively many disputed passages in the secret history of the civil war.
BAKER, Marcus, explorer, b. in Ostemo, Kalamazoo CO., Mich., 23 Sept., 1849. He was educated at Kalamazoo College and the University of Michigan, graduating in 1870 ; in 1870-'1 was made professor of mathematics in Albion College, and in
1871-'3 tutor of mathematics in the University of
Michigan. In 1873 he became connected with the
U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, attaining in 1886
the grade of assistant geographer. During this
time he spent several years in explorations and
surveys in Alaska, and traversed the entire Pacific
coast from southern California to the Arctic ocean.
Prom July, 1882, to August, 1884, he was in charge
of the Los Angeles magnetic observatory, established by the U. S. signal service. He has devoted much time, with William II. Dall, to the compilation of material for a Coast Pilot of Alaska,
and also to the " Alaska Coast Pilot, Appendix I.,
Meteorology and Bibliography" (Washington, 1879).
Mr. Baker has contributed mathematical papers to
the scientific journals, and has been one of the secretaries of the Philosophical society, Washington.
BAKER, Nathaniel Bradley, governor of New Hampshire, b. in Hillsborough (now Henniker), N. H., 29 Sept., 1818; d. in Des Moines, Iowa, 11 Sept., 1876. He was educated at Phillips Exeter academy and Harvard college, being graduated in 1839, studied law in the office of Franklin Pierce, and admitted to the bar in 1842. For three years he was joint proprietor and editor of the "New Hampshire Patriot." In 1845 he was appointed clerk of the court of common pleas, and in 1846 clerk of the superior court of judicature for Merrimac co. He was elected to the legislature in 1851, was chosen speaker of the house, and served two terms. He was a presidential elector in 1852, and in 1854 was elected governor of the state on the
