Thompson Baker    

Thompson Baker, a retired farmer whose home is in Ansley, Nebraska, is honored as a veteran of the civil war and respected as a useful, public-spirited citizen. Mr. Baker was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, January 18, 1839, eighth of the eleven children born to Richard and Catherine (Thompson) Baker, both also natives of Pennsylvania, the father born in Beaver county and the mother in Mercer county. Both died in Beaver county, the father in 1882, and the mother in 1884. Of their children the following facts are available: James, died in 1863, a prisoner in infamous Andersonville prison; William, died in 1908, at the age of eighty years; Sophronia, and Sidney, live in Pennsylvania; John, lives in Iowa; Robert, died in 1862, while confined in Libby prison; George, lives in Pennsylvania: Richard, lives at Westerville, Custer County; Sarah, lives in Pennsylvania; Thompson, is the specific subject of this sketch. Of these children, six sons served in the civil war, all of them with distinction.

The boyhood and young manhood of Thompson Baker were spent on his father's farm and he received the usual education accorded a farmer's son in those times. December 28, 1861, he enlisted in Company D, One Hundredth Pennsylvania Roundheads, served until the close of the war, and received his final discharge at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, July 24, 1865. He participated in many important engagements, the most noteworthy of which were: James Island, South Carolina; Bull Run, Virginia; South Mountain, Maryland; Fredericksburg, Virginia; Vicksburg, Mississippi; Jackson, Mississippi; Blue Springs, Tennesse; Siege of Knoxville, Tennessee; Battle of the Wilderness; Spottsylvania Court House; North Anna River, Virginia; Petersburg, Mine Explosion, Popular Grove Church, Hatcher's Run, Fort Steadman, and the final Assault on Petersburg, April 2, 1865. He was promoted to the rank of corporal May 5, 1863; to that of sergeant May 20, 1864, and to first sergeant May 17, 1865.

At the close of the war Mr. Baker returned to Pennsylvania, and there married, October 3, 1865, Sarah E. Huffman, also a native of that state. In March, 1866, this couple moved to Iowa, where they lived on a farm until the fall of 1872, then with his wife and three children, removed to York county, Nebraska, where he secured a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres of land not far from the town of York. He also secured a timber claim of a like size. In 1878 he came on farther west to Custer county, which has since been his home. He pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land on Clear creek, where he lived many years.
In the fall of 1880, Mr. Baker was elected sheriff of Custer county. In very early days he did his share in organizing school district number four, and he has always taken great interest in all questions affecting the general welfare and prosperity of the region. In 1897 he moved to Ansley, made his home there for a period of ten years, then returned to his farm, where he lived about two years, and in March, 1910, sold his farming interests and again located in Ansley, where he purchased the comfortable home where they have since resided.

Thirteen children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Baker, of whom eleven now survive: Frank, married and living on Clear creek, eight miles north of Ansley, has three children; Tina, widow of Charles R. Hare, who died September 1, 1904, has one child and lives at Ansley; Richard J., is married and lives in Berwin township, Custer county, and has three children; Walter, married and living on Clear creek, nine miles north of Ansley, has four children; Alice, married Frank Hayse, and they are the parents of three children and live on Clear creek; Hattie B., married William Gardner, and they live on Clear creek, and have eight children; Ralph, a merchant, married and living at Westerville, has three children;, Wesley N., married and living nine miles north of Ansley on Clear creek, has two children; Katehrine, wife of Austin Daniels, lives at Ansley, and they have one child; May, wife of John Davis, lives at Westerville, and they have one child; Maud, wife of Herbert Hollenbeck, lives at Westerville, and they have two children. Mrs. Baker's father, James Huffman, was born in Pennsylvania and spent his entire life there, as did the mother, and Mrs. Baker now has three brothers and a sister still residing in that state. Mr. and Mrs. Baker are well known in Ansley, and vicinity, and have many warm personal friends.

Mr. Baker assisted in the organization of Steadman Post number one hundred and eighty, Grand Army of the Republic, at Westerville, Nebraska, and for a long period of years was active as a member. He is also a member of Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Ansley lodge number one hundred and fifty-six.

Compendium of History, Reminiscence and Biography of Nebraska, Containing a History of the State of Nebraska, Embracing an account of Early Explorations, Early Settlement, Indian Occupancy, Indian History and Traditions, Territorial and State Organizations; a review of the Political History; and a concise History of the Growth and Development of the State. Chicago, Alden Publishing Co., 1912, pages 677-678.  Search Hundreds of 1880s-1890s Pennsylvania County History Books for biographies and historical information on your ancestors.  View the book page images on line and print them out for your genealogy file!  Free Access to the old history books - plus birth & death records, census images and ALL other records at ancestry.com.