The Biographical Dictionary of America/Baker, Edward Dickenson

BAKER, Edward Dickenson, senator, was born in London, Eng., Feb. 24, 1811. He was brought by his father to Philadelphia in 1815. Being left fatherless at an early age, he supported himself and his brother by following the occupation of a weaver. In 1830 he removed with his brother to Springfield, Ill., where he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and established himself in practice. His oratorical ability brought him into prominence, and in 1837 he was elected a member of the state legislature. In 1840 he took his seat in the state senate. In 1842 he was one of three Whig candidates for the office of representative in Congress from Illinois before the nominating convention, John J. Harding and Abraham Lincoln being the rival candidates, and Harding was nominated and elected to the 28th Congress. In 1844 the three same candidates, presented themselves, and Baker was nominated and elected a representative to the 29th congress. In 1846 the three candidates again presented their names, and Abraham Lincoln was elected to the 30th Congress. He volunteered for service in the Mexican war in 1848, raised a regiment in Illinois, and fought gallantly in the battles between Vera Cruz and the city of Mexico. General Shields being incapacitated in the engagement at Cerro Gordo, Colonel Baker was given the command of his brigade and led it during the remainder of the campaign. Returning to Illinois at the close of the war he was elected a representative to the 31st Congress in 1848. In 1850 he declined a nomination to the 32d Congress and became interested in the Panama railroad. He removed in 1851 to California, where he led the bar as the most eloquent orator in the state. In 1860 he took up his residence in Oregon, and was elected in the same year U. S. senator. He took his seat, March 4, 1861. At the extra session of Congress, called July 1861, Senator Baker supported the administration in an able and eloquent speech. He addressed a mass meeting in Union Square, New York, after the firing upon Fort Sumter, urging eloquently the preservation of the Union. He volunteered for active service, and raised in Philadelphia and New York the "California" regiment and commanded a brigade at the battle of Ball's Bluff, where he fell from his horse, mortally wounded, Oct. 21, 1861.