John Baker

1737 - 1787  (50 years)

• Name	John Baker
  Birth	1737	Bingen on the Rhine, Germany
  Gender	Male
  Arrival	1755	, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
  Residence	1760	, Shenandoah, Virginia, USA
  Residence	1767	Dunkard Creek, Greene, Pennsylvania, USA
  Death	1787	Cresap, Ohio, West Virginia, USA
  Person ID	I22570	Master
  Last Modified	8 May 2018

  
  

  Father	George Perilous Baker,   b. 1715, , , , Germany
  Family ID	F5855	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Elizabeth Ann Sullivan,   b. 4 Feb 1742, , , , Germany d. 22 May 1836, Woodsfield, Monroe, Ohio, USA (Age 94 years)
  Marriage	1760	, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
  Children	+ 1. Margaret Baker,   b. 1761, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA d. 1848, Fish Creek, Marshall, West Virginia, USA (Age 87 years) + 2. George Baker,   b. 1762, , Shenandoah, Virginia, USA d. 1845, Graysville, Marshall, West Virginia, USA (Age 83 years)   3. Henry Baker,   b. 1763, , Shenandoah, Virginia, USA
  Family ID	F5854	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	5 Jan 2015

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - 1737 - Bingen on the Rhine, Germany Arrival - 1755 - , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Residence - 1760 - , Shenandoah, Virginia, USA Marriage - 1760 - , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA Residence - 1767 - Dunkard Creek, Greene, Pennsylvania, USA Death - 1787 - Cresap, Ohio, West Virginia, USA  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  Captain John Baker was born between 1737 and 1740 in Bingen-on-the-Rhine, Prussia. He died in 1787 at Bakers Station, Ohio Co, VA., killed by Indians. He was buried in Graveyard Run, Cresap, Marshall Co, WV. Came to America 1740-1750, Philadephia, on the ship Neptune from Rotterdam, German, Revolutionary War Veteran, Killed by Indians. It is believed John had a brother, Jacob who died unmarried in 1836 and a sister, Beulah who married a Philpot. There may have been another brother, Michael. Some believe all came to America together but no proof has been found. John is believed to have served a six year service for his passage, and that he first married before leaving for America; she dying at sea following birth of her first child. Abt 1760 he married Elizabeth Adams, some say Elizabeth Sullivan, could have been Elizabeth Adams Sullivan. She was born 1744 and died 1836 in Monroe Co, OH, and buried on the old Matz farm. It is believed John served as a Captain in Col Silas Hedges 11th Regiment of drafted militia for the Colony of VA, but some think this is a different John Baker. "History of the Panhandle", 1879, pages 361-3 INDIAN TROUBLES--EARLY REMINISCENCES. From an article published in the Wheeling Intelligencer, of May, 1866, the following is obtained: Colonel Samuel P. Baker, from whom these facts were ascertained, lives near Benwood, Union district. He is the second son of Henry Baker, and was born in the year 1798. In the year 1825 he married Caroline, oldest daughter of Samuel Tomlin. He now lives on a part of the 600 acre tract of land formerly owned by Tomlinson, and is now in his eighty-first year, and is the oldest native born citizen living in Marshall county. He is a very intelligent old gentleman and what he relates is authentic. The following was written nearly verbatim: "John Baker, my grandfather, was a Prussian, and he came to the United States in the year 1755. He landed at Philadelphia, where he married a German lady by the name of Elizabeth Sullivan, in the year 1760. Immediately after his marriage he moved to the Shenandoah valley, Virginia, where in the year 1763 Henry Baker, my father, was born. In the year 1767 he emigrated from there to Dunkard Creek, Greene county, Pa., and settled among the Indians, four tribes of whom were then living there in peace with the whites, viz: the Delaware, the Wyandots, the Swanees, and the Mingoes. He remained there until the breaking out of Dunmore's War, when he took refuge with his family in what was then called Redstone Old Fort, now Brownsville, Pa. In the year 1781 he went to where Washington, Pa., now stands, then known as Catfish Camp. About this time the country about there was very much alarmed, and the people were on the lookout for the Indians, who were reported to have crossede river near Holiday's Cove, and were expected to make inroads upon the settlements. An express was sent to Wheeling fort to give the alarm concerning it. The party sent consisted of Henry Baker, my father (then eighteen years of age,) Henry Yoho, and ------Starnater. They traveled in safety until they came to the Narrows, on Wheeling creek, near where Col. Woods lived and died. Here they were ambushed by a party of Indians. Starnater shot the Indian nearest him and in return he and his horse were immediately killed. Yoho's horse was shot and fell but arising almost immediately it dashed through the Indians, carrying him away in safety to Wheeling fort. Baker's horse was shot but ran some hundred yards when it fell on him. Extricating himself as soon as possible, and throwing away his arms to lighten himself, he ran for about a quarter of a mile, when seeing a very large red skin approaching him directly in front with a pistol in one hand and a tomahawk in the other, he saw that escape was impossible and stopped. He said the Indian took him by the hair of the head and shook him till he almost thought he would shake his head off, telling him at the same time in good English you are a prisoner. He was taken back to the body of the Indians, among whom was a brother of the one killed by Starnater. This Indian was raving mad, and was determined to kill Baker in revenge for the death of his brother, but he was prevented from doing so by the chief. They came rapidly down this ridge where I live, no doubt thinking they would be pursued. They struck the river at Kate's Rock, where they found several canoes filled with Indians, who seemed to be waiting for them. From this point, after rowing a short distance down the river, they left the stream, and going back of the Grave creek flats they crossed the creek near where the water station now is and struck the river again at the lower end of the Round Bottom. Here they crossed the river and encamped for the night at the head of Captina Island. All this time he carried his own and Starnater's and the dead Indian's rifles strapped to his back. He was tied to a sapling and passed the night without food. They started early next morning and traveled three days and three nights without stopping to camp, or with scarcely anything to eat. At the end of this time they arrived at Chillicothe. Here, thinking they were out of danger of pursuit, they traveled more leisurely and killing some deer, they had plenty to eat. Arriving at Sandusky they found a band of at least three hundred warriors, and there were nine other men from Kentucky as prisoners. They were all compelled to run the gauntlet. My father being young and active ran it easily, which so enraged a young Indian that he knocked him down with his club after he had entered the house. He witnessed the burning of the nine Kentuckians, one being burned each day, all the time being warned that his fate was to be the same as theirs. On the tenth day he was ordered to be taken out and tied to the stake by an old Indian. He resisted somewhat, and tried to parley with them, but on starting out toward the stake he saw a horseman rapidly approaching. When the horseman came up he saw a man dressed in the uniform of a British officer. He immediately ran to the man. He told him that the Indians were about to burn him, and he wanted him to save him. He found out the man to be Simon Girty, who, on finding who Baker was and where he was from, plead with the Indians for two hours to spare his life, and finally succeeded. My father always supposed that Girty anticipated making an attack on Wheeling and expected him to be useful to him as a guide, for he took him aside and asked him all manner of questions concerning Wheeling and vicinity. Through the interposition of Girty he was sent to Detroit and reported to the Governor. He was then set at liberty. Hiring himself to an Indian trader, he remained with him some time trading with the Indians. At length he started with two others for Virginia, and after a tedious march, getting lost at one time for near three weeks, they arrived at the point where Bridgeport now stands. The inhabitants of Wheeling were some of them on that side of the river, making sugar and selling it. They supposed them to be Indians and fled to the fort and gave the alarm. Finally, when the inhabitants of the fort found out who they were, they welcomed them within its walls. Baker here found that during his absence his father had moved to the Round Bottom, whither he went, and when summer opened they all went to Fort Tomlinson. In the year 1784 my father built what was long known as Baker's station, near Cresap's grove. In the same year a family by the name of Parr settled in the Flats, and a short time thereafter Henry Baker married one of his daughters. After marriage he settled at Tomlinson's fort, and in the year 1786 his first son, John Baker, was born. (He was the father of Captain A.O. Baker, present clerk of the circuit court). He lived at the fort until Wayne's treaty in 1791, when he moved to Round Bottom, where he bought a tract of land at the lower end of the bottom, including also Captine Island. Here he lived and died. His oldest son, John, married Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan Roberts. DEATH OF CAPT. JOHN BAKER BY THE INDIANS Captain John Baker, who located here in the early settlement of the country, was captain of a company of men fighting the Indians, and about 1787 met with his death. He was in company with the Wetzels, three in number, in a block house that had been erected at the head of Cresap's bottom. They were watching Indians who sauntered around on the opposite banks of the Ohio river, evidently waiting an opportunity to kill the whites that had taken refuge in the fort. Baker seizing the first chance fired and killed an Indian that was in range of his gun. The Indians pretending they were frightened, scattered and ran in different directions, leaving their bleeding and dying brother upon the ground. Baker seeing at once that his shot had proven fatal, and being somewhat daring, suggested to the Wetzels to cross the river and examine their dead foe. No Indians then, of course, were in sight--all tranquil and every appearance of safety. But the savages were using strategy. They had secreted themselves not far from their dead companion. He was left there for a bait, and Baker was thus decoyed. A canoe was secured and they crossed to the opposite bank to take a look at their dead victim. Whilst reconnoitering him, several shots from the Indians were unexpectedly fired, and one taking effect on Baker, who fell and was captured by the Indians. The Wetzels recovered the body shortly afterwards--they found he had crawled partially under a log, lying insensible, with both eyes gored out--and he was carried across the river on the canoe, only surviving but a short time after reaching the fort, or block-house. He was buried at that place. The following named persons attended the funeral: Henry Baker, the old Indian warrior, and family; Reuben Roberts, and family; George Baker, Leonard Raigor and two brothers; Aaron Hughes, and Capt. Roberts. There were three canoe loads went from the Round bottom to Baker's Station, where the block-house stood. Col. S. P. Baker and Capt. Roberts are the only two persons now living that attended on that occasion. He was married to Elizabeth Adams Sullivan (daughter of Doctor Sullivan) in 1760 in Philadelphia, PA. Elizabeth Adams Sullivan was born on 14 FEB 1744 in Germany. She died on 22 MAY 1836 in Monroe Co, OH. She was buried in Steed Cem, Monroe Co, OH. John Baker Captain and Elizabeth Adams Sullivan had the following children: i. Margaret Baker. ii. Catherine Baker. +9 iii. George Baker. +10 iv. Henry Baker. +11 v. John Baker. +12 vi. Mary Jane Baker. +13 vii. Elizabeth Baker. +14 viii. Joseph Baker. +15 ix. Jacob Baker. +16 x. Martin D Baker. +17 xi. Isaac Baker. Generation One of the John Baker Family by Valerie Jean Kramer Captain John BAKER was born between 1735 - 1740 in Bingen-on-the-Rhine, Prussia, Germany, and was killed by Indians in 1787 at Cresap, Ohio County, (West) Virginia. He married Elizabeth Ann SULLIVAN between 1760 and 1765 in Philadelphia, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, daughter of Dr. Sullivan. Elizabeth was born February 14, 1743/44 in Germany. Elizabeth died May 22, 1836 in Woodsfield, Center Township, Monroe County, Ohio. She is buried in the Steed Hill Cemetery on the Matz farm just outside Woodsfield Ohio. The Children of JOHN BAKER and ELIZABETH SULLIVAN are: CATHERINE BAKER, b. 1761, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia; d. 1847. MARGARET BAKER, b. 1761, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia; d. 1830, Fish Creek, Marshall County, West Virginia. GEORGE BAKER, b. 1762, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia; d. 1845, Graysville, [West] Virginia. HENRY BAKER, b. About 1763, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia; d. 1849, Cresap, [West] Virginia. JOHN BAKER, JR., b. 1765, Dunkard Creek, Greene County, Pennsylvania; d. May 22, 1794, Captina Creek. ELIZABETH BAKER, b. 1768, Dunkard Creek, Greene County, Pennsylvania; m. CHRISTIAN GATTS. JACOB MARTIN BAKER, b. 1775, Redstone Old Fort, Brownsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania; d. 1861, Calis , Monroe County, Ohio. JOSEPH BAKER, b. 1775, Redstone Old Fort, Brownsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania; d. About 1859, Belmont County, Ohio. MARY JANE BAKER, b. About 1778, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. MARTIN BAKER, b. October 10, 1780, Catfish Camp (Washington) Washington County, Pennsylvania; d. April 27, 1857, Monroe County, Ohio. ISAAC BAKER, b. January 13, 1782, Fort Henry on Wheeling Creek, Ohio County, [West] Virginia; d. 1865, Boynton Township, Tazewell County, Illinois. James Jefferson MILLER, (Family # 203) born in 1884, is said to have stated that Captain John Baker’s father was George Perilous Baker (b. 1715) and that John came to America with a brother, Jacob. According to some, John had six siblings: Jacob, Betty (or Beulah), Peter, Hannah, Henry, and George. Henry was supposedly born in 1731, died in 1807 and married Maria Elizabeth Fink. Beulah supposedly married a Philpot. George was born in 1749. According to one family legend, John was married in Germany and came to America with his wife around 1750. (Note that John would be only 10-15 years old if his birth date is 1735-1740!) On the way across the Atlantic, his wife gave birth to a baby girl, then died shortly thereafter and was buried at sea. The girl was given to a family in New York. After arriving in America, John worked 7 years to pay his passage. He then married Elizabeth about 1760-1765 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In another legend, John came to Philadelphia from Rotterdam in 1754 aboard the Neptune. In another, John’s wife gave birth to a son at sea instead of a daughter. Still other researchers have believed Captain John’s father’s name was Nicholas. Long-time researcher Denver C. Yoho sent me some information in which he had indicated that the John Baker aboard the Neptune was not the Captain John Baker who married Elizabeth Sullivan. By all accounts, John was married to Elizabeth Sullivan in Philadelphia and from there they moved to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. They lived there for several years and had the twins, Catherine and Margaret (b. 1761) and their first two sons, George (b. 1762) and Henry (b. about 1763). Mary Jane (b. abt 1778) is also shown by some as having been born here but it seems likely that either this birth date or location (or both) is in error. From the Shenandoah Valley, they followed the "Warrior Trail" to Green County in southwestern Pennsylvania and took up residence on Dunkard Creek near the mouth of the Monongahela River. [The Warrior Trail is a path that has been used for 5,000 years by native Americans going from the East to Flint Ridge, Ohio to obtain supplies of flint and to trade with others. It runs East-West about a half dozen miles north of the Mason Dixon Line and follows the divide between watersheds so there are no streams to ford. 45 miles of it, from Greensboro, Pennsylvania to the West Virginia border, is still maintained as a hiking trail today.] John Baker, Jr. (b. 1765) and Elizabeth (b. 1768) were both born on Dunkard Creek. In late April of 1774, Colonel Cresap murdered a couple of Indians in a canoe on the Ohio River. Shortly after this, Daniel Greathouse and others killed the relatives of the peaceful Mingo Chief, Logan, at the home/grog shop of Joshua Baker (no known relation) on the West Virginia side of the Ohio River just opposite Yellow Creek. These events led swiftly to the hostilities between the whites and the Indians known as "Dunmore’s War." At the outbreak of this war, many pioneers sought safer homes and John Baker was no exception. He moved his family to the safety of Redstone Old Fort, now Brownsville, Pennsylvania. His two sons, Jacob Martin and Joseph, were both born in 1775 at Redstone Old Fort. On October 10, 1774 Virginia settlers and militia won the Battle of Point Pleasant against a confederacy of Shawnee, Delaware, Wyandot, Cauyga and other Indian tribes led by Chief Cornstalk. This concluded Dunmore’s War. The American Revolution broke out soon after the close of Dunmore’s War so the family remained at Redstone Old Fort for several years. John was in the service of the Colony of Virginia during much of this time. 1966 Edition DAR Patriots Index lists him as a Virginia soldier in Col. Silas Hedges Regiment of drafted Militia. See also Dr. Brumbaugh’s "Revolutionary War Records of Virginia" pp 198-225 and 403-408. It was during this time that he acquired the military title, "Captain." After the war Captain Baker moved once again, this time to Catfish Camp which is now Washington, Pennsylvania. His son, Martin, was born here 10 Oct 1780. The family stayed here only a short time before moving west to Round Bottom on the Ohio River, just south of present day Moundsville, West Virginia. His last child, Isaac, was born at Fort Henry [now] Wheeling, West Virginia on January 13, 1782. In 1784, Captain Baker erected a blockhouse surrounded by pickets on the Ohio River near the mouth of Fish Creek, across the river from Powhattan Point. It became known as "Baker’s Station" and afforded protection to the settlers of Cresap’s Bottom and those of the lower end of Round Bottom. It was on an Indian war path that led from the Muskingum River deep inside Ohio, eastward up Wills Creek, across a divide, and down the Big Captina to the Ohio River at Powhattan, then up Fish Creek to the interior of Virginia. Because of the strategic location, it became a popular rendezvous for hunters and Indian scouts. Although there were never any soldiers officially garrisoned at Baker’s Station, there were always plenty of defenders present, especially in times of trouble. In 1787 John Wetzel and his son, George, were at Baker’s Station when they and Captain Baker noticed some Indians on the Ohio shore walking leisurely about. Baker shot at one and killed him. The others appeared frightened and ran away leaving the dead Indian behind. Baker and the Wetzels crossed the river and were viewing the dead Indian when several shots were fired at them. Apparently the Indians had feigned fright to lure the whites into a trap. Captain Baker fell, mortally wounded. The Wetzels "treed" and commenced firing back. Several more men crossed the river to reinforce them and drove the Indians off. Captain Baker had crawled a short distance from where he had fallen and was alive but he died soon after arriving back at the station. He was buried on a flat near a stream called "Grave Yard Run" at the upper end of Cresap’s Bottom. After her youngest son, Isaac, married in 1802, Elizabeth migrated to Washington Township, Belmont County, Ohio in 1804 with her son Martin. She later moved to Monroe County, Ohio where Martin had purchased the North West quarter of Section Twenty Seven in Township Four Range 5 on September 3, 1813. (Again details vary among the various sources. "Belmont County History 1988" reports "Elizabeth and five of their sons moved to Belmont County in the early eighteen-hundreds. She and three of the boys later moved to Monroe County.") Two years later on September 16, 1815 Martin purchased an adjacent 109 acres in Section Thirty-three Township 4 Range 5. The 1820 census lists Elizabeth as living in a separate household with one boy and two girls under 16 and one girl over 16 and shows her as foreign, not naturalized. Elizabeth is buried in the "Old Baker" or "Stead" (or Steed) cemetery on the land on which she lived. Her tombstone has a drawing of a hand, finger pointing up and the message, "Died May 22, 1836 aged 92 yrs 3 mos and 8 days." She rests next to her son Martin and his wife, Sarah Farnsworth on the Matz farm near the junction of routes 26 and 8 just south of Woodsfield, Ohio. The site where Baker’s Station once stood was, for some years, a public picnic area known as "Americana Park." It was on Route 2 (the main road which parallels the Ohio River on the West Virginia shore), about nine miles south of Moundsville and just south of the mouth of Fish Creek on the side of the road away from the River. In addition to picnic tables etc., the site had tombstones for Captain Baker, John Wetzel and at least one other. It also had a sign that read: Baker’s Station Site of blockhouse built by Captain John Baker in 1784. Rendezvous of scouts along Indian war path from Muskingum Valley into Virginia. Nearby are buried Captain Baker, John Wetzel and others killed by Indians in 1787. Two other signs tell about General Zachary Taylor and George Rogers Clark, both of whom were here at other times. The park no longer exists. It is now a weed-choked, rubble-strewn field. Only the signposts remain to commemorate the site In order to preserve the tombstones, Oran V. Baker had them moved to a cemetery in Moundsville. According to legend, the actual grave site of Captain Baker is located under the present-day B&O Railroad tracks and the spot is marked with a red "X" painted on the rails or ties.