Everything about Edward Dickinson Baker totally explained
Edward Dickinson Baker (
February 24,
1811 –
October 21,
1861) was an
English-born
American politician,
lawyer,
military leader. In his political career, Baker served in the
U.S. House of Representatives from
Illinois and later as a
U.S. Senator from
Oregon. A long-time close friend of
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Baker served as
U.S. Army colonel during both the
Mexican-American War and the
American Civil War. Baker was killed in the
Battle of Ball's Bluff while leading a
Union Army regiment, becoming the only sitting senator to be killed in the Civil War.
Life
Baker was born in
London in 1811 to Edward Baker and Lucy Dickinson Baker, who were poor but educated
Quakers. Edward Baker was a schoolteacher. In 1816, the family left
England and
immigrated to the United States, arriving in
Philadelphia, where Baker's father established a school. In 1825, the family left Philadelphia and traveled to
New Harmony,
Indiana, a
utopian community on the
Ohio River that was led by
Robert Owen and sought to follow
communitarian ideals.
About five years later (when New Harmony became defunct), the family moved to
Belleville in
Illinois Territory, a town near
St. Louis. There, Baker met
Governor Ninian Edwards, who allowed Baker access to his private
law library.
Later he moved to
Carrollton,
Illinois, where he was admitted to the
bar in 1830.
On
April 27,
1831, he married Mary Ann Lee. They would have five children together: Samuel (?-1852), Caroline C. (?-?), Lucy (?-?), Alfred W. (?-1898), and Edward Dickinson Jr. (?-1883).
A year after his marriage, Baker participated actively in the
Black Hawk War.
Around 1835, he became acquainted with
Abraham Lincoln and soon became involved in local politics, being elected to the
Illinois House of Representatives on
July 1,
1837, and serving on the
Illinois Senate from 1840-1844. In 1844, while living in
Springfield, he defeated Lincoln for the nomination for the 29th U.S. congressional seat and was elected as a
Whig. He served from
March 4,
1845, until his resignation on
December 24,
1846, to take effect on
January 15,
1847. The two remained close friends, however, with Lincoln naming one of his sons
Edward Baker Lincoln, affectionately called "Eddie".
During the
Mexican-American War, Baker briefly dropped out of politics and was commissioned as a
Colonel of the Fourth Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Infantry, on
July 4,
1846. He participated in the siege of
Vera Cruz and commanded a
brigade at
Cerro Gordo. Baker was honorably mustered out on
May 29,
1847. He returned to Springfield in 1848, but, rather than run against Lincoln again for nomination to Congress, Baker moved to
Galena, where he was nominated and elected as a
Whig to the 31st Congress (
March 4,
1849 -
March 3,
1851). He wasn't a candidate for renomination in 1850.
In 1851, after failing to receive a
cabinet appointment under President
Franklin Pierce, Baker moved to
San Francisco, California, where he was admitted to the state bar and resumed the practice of law. It was there that he became known for his charm of speech and abilities as a lawyer. One of his most famous speeches was given on the completion of the
transatlantic telegraph cable,
September 27,
1858. "Thought has bridged the Atlantic," he said, "and cleaves its unfettered path across the sea." In 1860 he moved again, this time to
Oregon, where he was elected as a
Republican to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy in the term beginning
March 4,
1859. His service began on
October 2,
1860.
In May 1861, Baker was authorized by the
Secretary of War to organize an
infantry regiment to be taken as part of the quota from California. Recruiting mostly in Philadelphia, Baker raised the
California Brigade and served as its colonel. A few months later he was assigned command of a brigade in
General Charles Pomeroy Stone's division, guarding fords along the
Potomac River north of
Washington. On
October 21,
1861, Baker was killed at the
Battle of Ball's Bluff. His death shocked official Washington and led to the formation of the Congressional
Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War.
Baker is buried in Section OSD, Site 488,
San Francisco National Cemetery. Of himself, Baker once said, "my real forte is my power to command, to rule and lead men. I feel that I could lead men anywhere." Baker's friends, however, thought his true talent lay in his gift of oratory.
Almost three years after his death, Baker's widow, Mary Ann, was placed on the government pension roll, receiving $55 per month. The Congressional bill which provided this relief is also viewable at the
Library of Congress website. (
S. 122
)
Honors
- Baker City, Oregon and Baker County, Oregon, were created and named for him. The county was created on September 22, 1862.
- Fort Baker (Nevada), located in the Las Vegas Valley, was established in 1864 and named in his honor.
- On April 29, 1897, the Lime Point Military Reservation, located near Sausalito, California, was renamed Fort Baker in his honor.
- There is also a Fort Baker in the District of Columbia named for him. It is located between Forts Meigs and Stanton, one mile east of Uniontown at Fort Baker Drive and 30th Street.
- A life-size marble statue of Baker was sculpted by Horatio Stone and placed in the Capitol Building. The Congressional bills that provided $10,000 in funds for its creation are viewable at the Library of Congress website. (H.R. 2762 and H.R. 2586)
- On December 12, 1861, after the announcement of Baker's death, a resolution was submitted, by James W. Nesmith of Oregon, and passed which stated that Senate members would go into mourning by wearing crape on their left arms for thirty days. (Library of Congress Journal of the Senate)
- There is a plaster carving of his face at the Illinois State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois. It is located in the Legislative Reference Bureau legal library, carved into the wall. (http://www.ilstatehouse.com/1st_floor.htm)
- San Francisco's Baker Street, extending from Haight Street at Buena Vista Park, past the Palace of Fine Arts to the marina within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area at Marina Boulevard, is named after Baker.
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