Person:John Baker (47)

[Stamps-Sites_TFS.FTW]

According to Aunt Etta, John (Hannes) Becker came from Germany to Pennsylvania, and arrived in North Carolina on a pony. Other sources say he arrived with his parents, Peter and Mary Baker, by wagon train. His parents re-settled later in Missouri, but he stayed behind, apparently for love of Catherine Yoder. His homestead was located at the head of Cow Branch near Propst Crossroads. He was a blacksmith by trade, and she gave us a sheet of his account book dated 1820, partly in German. He became a prosperous blacksmith and wagonmaker, and had business enough to utilize apprentices in his shop, which included his wife's younger brother, Adam. His wife was only 15 when they married. They had nine children, [BO:David:BO], Elizabeth, Sarah, John, Catherine, Solomon, Polly, Eliza, and Hannah. Baker's Mountain in Catawba County is named after him after he bought it from his Yoder brothers-in-law. He also purchased Henry Miller's lands on Potts Creek & Jacobs River. In all, he owned nearly 1900 acres. He died apparently of a heart attack one night after fighting a forest fire, and one wonders if it was on his Baker Mountain property. The old Catawba County historian, Col. G. M. Yoder, wrote that he and his wife were Tunkards, and their home was used as a preaching station. The German pastor, Rev. Rhodes, is quoted as saying at his funeral, "A rich man can die shust as vel as a poor man."

In the Marriage Bonds of Lincoln Co., John (Hannes) Baker married Catherine Yoder on May 8, 1798. John Miller and John Dickson, witnesses and surety.

1. ↑ Stamps-Sites TFS.FTW.

   Date of Import: May 13, 2004

2. ↑ Stamps-Sites TFS.FTW.

   Date of Import: May 13, 2004

3. ↑ Stamps-Sites TFS.FTW.

   Date of Import: May 13, 2004

4. ↑ Stamps-Sites TFS.FTW.

   Date of Import: May 13, 2004