William and Sarah Bull Baker arr 1827
(1789-1844; 1798-1828)
Background
William and Sarah Bull Baker were of English descent. William was born in
New Jersey and moved with his parents (Thomas and Lydia Hand Baker) to Ohio
Their children were: Sarah, William, Rachel, Stephen, Thomas, Anna, James
John, Lucy, and Abner. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, stationed at
Fort Wayne, Indiana, which probably interested him in land in Indiana. In
1818 he married Sarah Bull of Bulls Run, VA. They lived at Miltonville, OH,
where William worked as a carpenter, and six children were born.
Arrival
The Bakers arrived in Sheffield township from Ohio in 1827. With them came a
large family group, with relatives from both sides: Andrew Jackson Bull,
John and Jane Bull Patton, Robert and Nancy Bull, and Thomas Bull, and
Thomas and Elizabeth Baker. Other Baker brothers (Abner and John) also came
to Tippecanoe County. On the way, at Richmond, Indiana, William and Sarah
lost a small daughter, who was buried in a hollow log, an Indian custom,
because the ground was frozen. The Baker cabin, built on arrival in 1827,
was the first cabin east of the Wild Cat.
Baker cemetery
Shortly thereafter, they and the Crouse, Baer, and Bayless families set
aside land for a cemetery, with the provision that the cemetery would be
named for the family who buried the first loved one there. The small body of
William and Sarah¹s daughter was brought here and the cemetery named Baker
cemetery.
Accomplishments
William was a member of the United Brethren church. Circuit riding ministers
held services at the Baker cabin. In 1841 the township paid him $75 to erect
a bridge across the Wild Cat at Dayton, probably the first bridge there.
Before that there was only a ford.
Family
Sarah and William had six children (Mary Ann, Robert, Thomas, Rachel, Eliza
Jane, and William). Sarah died in 1828. William remarried, in 1832, to
Hannah Moore. William and Hannah had six children (David, Martha Jane,
Abner, Josiah, Samuel, and George W.). William Baker died in 1844. Hannah
then married Henry Goble.
Sources: local records; county biography books; County commissioners'
records. Baker file at Tippecanoe County Historical Society. Ricks and
Grimes, "Remembrance of Times Past." Sesqui 75: Dayton, Indiana
1827-1977."
Articles on house in Dayton, in Lafayette Journal and Courier 1956.