Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Baker, George F S 
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Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com December 3, 2007, 4:41 am

Author: Past & Present, 1907

George F. S. Baker, deceased, was for many years a resident of Will county and 
was classed with its most progressive and prominent farmers and stock-raisers. 
In 1879 he introduced into this part of the state the first pure bred Hereford 
cattle and in the conduct of his business interests he did much to improve the 
grade of stock raised, thus contributing directly to the material prosperity 
of the county. Moreover, in all his business transactions his methods were so 
honorable and his principles so straightforward that he commanded the 
confidence and esteem of all, and in business as well as in social relations 
he won many friends. A native son of Will county, Mr. Baker was born February 
6, 1858. His father, George Baker, was a native of Watertown, New York, and 
when a young man came to Illinois, which was then a frontier district. He 
first settled in Monee township, Will county, where he lived until 1857, when 
he removed to Crete township, where he purchased a farm, making his home 
thereon until his death, which occurred in 1861. On the 25th of December, 
1849, he married Jeannette Goodenow, a member of one of the early pioneer 
families of Crete township. Following her husband's demise she removed to 
Galesburg, Illinois, where she lived for several years, and her death occurred 
in Crete April 16, 1891. George F. S. Baker was one of a family of four 
children, but the others all died in infancy. His boyhood days were spent in 
Galesburg and he was provided with liberal educational advantages, being a 
graduate of Knox College and of Lombard University, of that city. After 
completing his education he returned to the farm with his mother and engaged 
in the tilling of the soil, making the place a splendidly improved property, 
to wrhich he added all modern equipments and accessories, such as are found 
upon model farms of the present day. He gave considerable attention to stock-
raising and in 1879 introduced into this part of the state the first pure bred 
Hereford cattle. Soon after this he admitted H. J. Fluck, a native of 
Herefordshire, England, and an expert in raising Hereford cattle, to a 
partnership in the business and the connection was continued until the death 
of Mr. Baker, since which time Mr. Fluck has remained in charge of the 
business. On the 24th of November, 1886, Mr. Baker was united in marriage to 
Miss Minnie E. Hewes, a native of Crete, Illinois, and a daughter of Daniel 
Hewes. Theirs was a most happy married life and their union was blessed with 
two children: George W., a young man of nineteen years, who has spent two 
years in the high school at Chicago Heights and a short term at Valparaiso, 
Indiana, and is now contemplating entering college; and Alice, who will 
graduate from the Chicago Heights high school in June, 1907. Mrs. Baker and 
her children reside upon the farm, which is also the home of Mr. Fluck, who 
manages the business interests. The place is known as the Oakland Stock farm 
and shows yet many evidences of the care and supervision of Mr. Baker, who 
died April 10, 1891. Few men in this part of the state have done as much to 
improve the stock-raising interests and his herd of Herefords became famous. 
Aside from business, he was widely and favorably known in the county of his 
nativity as a man of genuine personal worth, highly esteemed by many friends, 
while in his family he was a most devoted husband and father. Mrs. Baker still 
resides upon the home farm and has valuable real-estate and stock-raising 
interests. She has spent her entire life in this county and the hospitality of 
her beautiful home is greatly enjoyed by her many friends.

Additional Comments:
Past and Present of Will County, Illinois, by W. W. Stevens, President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907.

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