Merced-Tuolumne-Stanislaus County CA Archives Biographies.....Baker, William Newton 1853 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 9, 2006, 12:46 am

Author: John Outcalt (1925)

WILLIAM NEWTON BAKER

   One of the most highly developed fruit ranches and vineyards located on the
State highway in Merced County and situated at the crossing of Cressey Way was
improved to its present state by William Newton Baker, who is now residing on
the property and superintends its cultivation for his son, Dr. W. A. Baker, of
Tuscon, Ariz., to whom he recently sold it. Mr. Baker was born in Boone County,
Mo., March 18, 1853, the son of Ambrose Dudley and Hannah (Baker) Baker, both
natives of Kentucky, but who were married in Missouri, where the father was a
farmer and a stock-raiser. They both died in California, the father at Modesto,
at the age of sixty-eight, and the mother at the home of our subject in 1913,
aged eighty-three. They came to California in 1864, with their five children,
across the plains and arrived at Tuolumne City on July 20, of that year, where
an uncle, C. C. Baker, was already located. The children of the family were:
Columbus Baker, who died in Santa Ana in 1920; Martha Margaret Hamilton, who
died in Orange County in 1918; William Newton, of this review; Pauline, widow of
I. C. Grimes of Modesto; and Queen Elizabeth, Mrs. J. E. Clarey of Fruitland
precinct, Merced County.

   William Newton was a lad of eleven when his parents crossed the plains and he
drove the loose stock brought by his father, riding horseback all the way. He
attended school in Missouri, and in Stanislaus and Merced Counties, the school
in the latter county being taught by Frank Fowler, a well-known teacher at
Snelling, when that was the county seat. He grew up in Stanislaus County until
1869, when the family removed to Merced County and located at Snelling. His
first business experience was in the sheep business, going out on the old Spence
ranch above Merced Falls, where he ranged his band of sheep, which in time
increased until he had 3000 head and owned 720 acres of land on the Merced
River, having a frontage of one and one-half miles on that stream. This ranch is
still known as the Baker ranch. From the sheep business Mr. Baker engaged in
merchandising at Snelling and Merced Falls, but as the population was decreasing
he left there and went to Modesto where he bought wool for San Francisco firms
for several years. His next move was to Delano, Kern County, where he operated a
store for about five years, removing at that time to Orange County and engaging
in the real estate and insurance business, and in buying wool, for fourteen
years. We then find him back in Merced engaged in the real estate business for
three years. He had bought ninety acres on the highway and rented it, but the
renters did not carry on as he wished and he moved onto the place and since then
has been looking after its cultivation. He set out all the trees and vines and
erected the buildings suitable for his needs. Now there are seventy-five acres
in Malagas, Emperors and Tokays, and seven acres in peaches, also an acre of
family orchard. He sold it all to his son, Dr. W. A. Baker, but manages the
property for him. While living in Modesto Mr. Baker served as justice of the
peace for two years.

   Mr. Baker was married in 1872, to Miss Elizabeth Willis, daughter of Thomas
and Elizabeth Willis, ranchers near Sonora, Tuolumne County, where the wedding
was celebrated. They had five children born to them: Walter E., a rancher in
Fruitland precinct; E. N. Baker, secretary of the Chamber of Commerce at Merced;
Edna Elizabeth (twin of E. N.), now the wife of R. C. Balaam of Merced; W. A.
Baker, a prominent dentist in Tuscon, Ariz.; and Maud B., who became the wife of
B. C. Keister of Merced. The wife and mother died in 1882, at the age of
thirty-three. The second marriage of Mr. Baker was in 1883, when he married Mrs.
Clara A. Clark, widow of C. A. Clark, by whom she had a daughter, Grace, now
Mrs. G. T. Parr, of Berkeley. Mrs. Clara A. Baker was a daughter of A. H. Hall,
a lumberman of Truckee many years ago. She was born in Maine and died in
Berkeley on June 18, 1923, aged seventy-two. Mr. Baker has always been
interested in the development of Merced County and has done what he could to
help every worthy project that would be of benefit to the people or make the
county a better place in which to live and prosper. He holds the respect of all
who know him and his friends are legion.


Additional Comments:
From:

HISTORY OF
MERCED COUNTY
CALIFORNIA
WITH A
Biographical Review
OF
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been
Identified with Its Growth and Development
from the Early Days to the Present

HISTORY BY
JOHN OUTCALT

ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME
HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1925

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