Research Interests Forum Entry for WESLEY GUY BAKER at RACINE, MEIGS CO, OH, USA

Contact: Stanley G. Baker
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Research Interest: The family of Wesley G. Baker and his wife Deborah Roller (Wolf?)Baker are first reported in the 1840 census in the Racine area. Their marriage is first recorded in the 1831 register of marriages for Meigs Co. In the 1850 and 1860 census they are still residing in Meigs Co., although in the 1860 census, Wesley now seems to be using William J and Deborah is using Frances instead of their real names. The children are also confused in their name spellings which could be associated with the illiteracy of the parents and the census scheduler. After their son George W. Baker was killed in the battle for Cloyd's Farm or Mountain in VA on 9 May 1864, the family seems to have lost interest in the Ohio area. In the fall of that year, they emigrated by wagon train from Racine to Shelby County, Illinois. The trip allegedly took approximately 6 weeks and involved the crossing of a rain swollen river where Wesley allegedly lost the family belongings. They arrived in Shelbyville in October of 1864 and began p urchasing land and setting up households. From this couple was to evolve a total of 10 children. The oldest son, David Madison Baker, born in 1832, eventually soured on the Illinois area and decided to take his family and return to the state of WV. He arrived in Lincoln Co, WV in 1879-1880 whe re the family appears in the 1880 census for Laurel Hill District, Lincoln County, WV. After two ro three years, family tradition states that David sold all his belongings and headed for the Snake river valley to stake claim to land so he could move his family west. He was never heard from once leaving Ranger, Wv with all the family monies on his person. To this day, no work has been received as to the fate of David M. Baker. This is my direct line of descent through his son Lawrence Alonzo Baker, t hen his son Jacob Bryan Baker. Stan Baker, Huntsville, Al