The Biographical Dictionary of America/Baer, John Willis

BAER, John Willis, secretary, was born on a farm near Rochester, Minn., March 2, 1861. The first eighteen years of his life were spent in Cleveland, Ohio, where he acquired a good elementary education. In 1879 he engaged in newspaper work in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and in 1881 was employed with the Van Dusen elevator company, Minneapolis. In 1890 he was elected to the secretaryship of the United States Society of the Christian Endeavor, and at the general convention at St. Louis in June, 1890, was largely instrumental in making the gathering a notable success. The secretary's office was established in the general rooms of the United States society at Boston.