Edgecombe County NcArchives Biographies.....Baker, Julian Meredith 1857 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/ncfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 March 2, 2008, 6:20 pm Author: Leonard Wilson (1916) JULIAN MEREDITH BAKER IT IS generally conceded that the State of Virginia has furnished America with more men of real worth and eminence than any other equal territory in this Republic. From these men came the forbears of Dr. Julian Meredith Baker, who was born October 27, 1857, at Tarboro, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, where he has always made his home. He is a son of Joseph Henry Baker, physician and surgeon, and his wife, Susan Foxhall. The first of the name we find in Virginia is that of Jonathan Baker of Nansemond County, Virginia, settled in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, prior to 1730. His son, Moses Baker, married Naomi Garrett; their son, William S. Baker, M. D., married Julia Shurley, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Davis) Shurley; and their son, John Henry Baker, M. D., married Susan Foxhall, as noted above. The Baker Coat of Arms, brought from England to Virginia by the ancestors of Jonathan Baker, is thus heraldically described: "Argent on a fess nebulee between three keys sable, a tower triple towered, of the first." A wax seal bearing these arms is found on an old deed of Henry Baker, now in possession of Richard H. Baker, of Norfolk, Virginia. On the maternal side we find the ancestry of Dr. Baker traced for five generations in a genealogical chart of the Dancy family prepared by former Governor Henry Clark. This French Huguenot family originally spelled the name D'Ancie. William Dancy of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, married, in 1765, Agatha Little, of Charles City County, Virginia. Their son, Edwin Dancy, married Lucy Knight, having issue, 1, Edwin C. (Dr.); 2, Martha; 3, David (Dr.); 4, Francis L. (Colonel), and 5, Sarah. Sarah Dancy was twice married. As a result of her union with her second husband, William Foxhall, whom she married in 1823, the following children were born: Lucy, David D., Frank D., Susan and Edwin D. Susan Foxhall married Dr. Joseph H. Baker and had children: Frank S., Thomas A., Joseph H., Jr., and Julian, the subject proper of this sketch. Dr. Julian M. Baker was educated at Tarboro Male Academy, Horner and Graves Military Academy, University of Illinois, and the University of North Carolina, from which he was graduated with the degree of B. S. His medical education was acquired at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York, and at the University of Maryland, where he received the degree of M. D. in 1879. He has since devoted himself to the practice of his profession and has served as Assistant Surgeon General of North Carolina and Surgeon of the First Brigade, North Carolina State Troops. Dr. Baker is a Director of the Edgecombe Homestead and Loan Association. Politically he is a Democrat, but has never been actively identified with public affairs. In fraternal circles Dr. Baker is Past Master of Concord Lodge, No. 5S, A. F. and A. M., and Past High Priest Concord Chapter, R. A. M. He is a member of the Knights Templar, a Thirty-second Degree Scottish Rite Mason and belongs to the Phi Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Dr. Baker was married at Tarboro, North Carolina, June 17, 1884, to Miss Elizabeth Howard, born at Milton, North Carolina, August 30, 1863, a daughter of Hon. George Howard and his wife, Anna Stamps. They have three daughters: (1) Anna Howard, a graduate of Peace University, Raleigh, married W. E. Fenner, of Rocky Mount, North Carolina; they have one child, Julian Baker Fenner. (2) Sue Foxhall, a graduate of Peace Institute, married Dr. W. W. Green, of Tarboro, North Carolina. (3) Elizabeth Howard, unmarried. Dr. Baker has had an unusually successful career in his chosen profession. He is a firm advocate of higher educational requirements in State laws for the practice of medicine, and believes that greater restrictions should be placed upon the practice of medical quacks and charlatans. Dr. Baker's reading has been largely along the line of his profession and allied scientific subjects. He is a frequent contributor to medical journals, and his papers read before medical societies and published in their transactions are remarkable for breadth of knowledge and sound research. Dr. Baker's high professional standing is shown by the official positions he has held. He has been President of the Medical Society of the State of North Carolina; President of the North Carolina Board of Medical Examiners; a member of the American Medical Association, of the Medical Society of North Carolina, of the Seaboard Medical Association, of the Tri-State Medical Society, of the Edgecombe County Medical Society, and of the Associations of Surgeons of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. He has also been a member of the North Carolina State Board of Health. By his energy and capacity Dr. Baker has won for himself a strong position in the community which he serves, and has built up a character for good citizenship second to that of no man in his section. Additional Comments: Extracted from: MAKERS OF AMERICA BIOGRAPHIES OF LEADING MEN OF THOUGHT AND ACTION THE MEN WHO CONSTITUTE THE BONE AND SINEW OF AMERICAN PROSPERITY AND LIFE VOLUME II By LEONARD WILSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ASSISTED BY PROMINENT HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WRITERS Illustrated with many full page engravings B. F. JOHNSON, INC. CITY OF WASHINGTON, U. S. A. 1916 Copyright, 1916 by B. F. Johnson, Inc. Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/edgecombe/photos/bios/baker61gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/nc/edgecombe/bios/baker61gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ncfiles/ File size: 6.1 Kb