G. W. L. Baker is a native of Georgia, and was born near Sandersville, September 17, 1844. He is the son of Colonel Thomas H. Baker, a native of the same county, a planter and slaveholder, who died in Brenham, Texas, in 1863. His mother Annie Mills, a native of the same county, died in Brenham in 1859, a devoted member of the Baptist church. He has three brothers living: William M. is a merchant in Giddings, Texas; A. L. is a merchant and farmer at Seguin; Joseph is a farmer in Fayette County, and was a Confederate soldier during the entire war. His sisters are Miss Sallie A., who resides with her brother at Giddings, and Mattie, wife of J. L. House, a farmer and stockraiser in Fayette county, Texas. Young Baker was reared on a cotton farm, and did work on the plantation till man-hood, and removed to Brenham, Texas, with his parents in 1852. He received a fair education, and devoted himself to mercantile pursuits during all his business life. When the civil war began he enlisted in the 21st Texas infantry, and was under the command of General J. B. Magruder and General E. Kirby Smith, doing duty principally in Texas and Louisiana, and continuing in the service till the surrender. In 1867 he removed from Brenham to Seguin, and entered upon the business of a merchant with a capital of $1500, his inheritance from his father. Since that time, he has been in three separate firms, the first being that of Baker & Walker, 1868 to 1872; the second, Baker & Brother, 1870 to 1877. The next year he did business alone. In 1879 he formed a connection with his present partner, and the firm has since been Baker & Terrell, the capital at first being $10,000. They now operate a capital of $10,000 to $15,000; buy their goods in San Antonio, Galveston, and New York, do a general mer-chandising business, handle about a thousand bales of cotton and a large amount of country produce, besides forty to fifty car loads of grain, which they ship to Galveston and San Antonio. They sell on a cash basis, granting time on proper security. They employ five hands and their annual sales aggregate $45,000. Mr. Baker has been a successful business man; has never failed to meet his liabilities, though during his fourteen years of residence in Seguin he passed through several fi-nancial panics. He is the possessor of the handsomest residence in Seguin. It is built of brick, concrete and stone, is two stories high, eight rooms and a cellar, tin roof and a gallery on the south side. It is located in a lot of an acre, well shaded with live oaks and hackberries, and planted with fruit trees and shrubbery. The premises with the building cost $6,000. Mr. Baker was married in Seguin March 26, 1868, to Miss Maria Duggan, who was born in Seguin, March 30, 1848. She is the daughter of Thomas H. and Elizabeth Duggan, both of whom were natives of Mississippi, and moved to Texas in 1835, locating on the place where the city of Austin now stands. Mr. Duggan was a representative and sena-tor from Guadalupe county. Mrs. DugganÕs maiden name was Elizabeth Berry. Mr. Duggan died in 1864. Mrs. Baker is a niece of Judge Thomas Y. Berry, of Mississippi. Her sister Emma is the wife of John T. Duggan, a salesman in Seguin. By this marriage Mr. and Mrs. Baker have three children: Lizzie, born February 2, 1871; Harry, born Febru-ary 5, 1873, and Dudley, born September 4, 1875. Mr. Baker is junior warden in the Masonic and Odd Fellow lodges in Seguin. He has always been a Democrat, as was also his father, though he has never taken an active part in political affairs. He is not a member of any religious organization, but is ortho-dox in belief, and contributes to all church and educational purposes. Mr. Baker is five feet six inches in height, with blue eyes, brown hair and beard, and an open, expressive countenance. He has won his position by indefatigable labor, living economically, and attending strictly to his own affairs. Another business idea he has adopted as a ruleÑnever to become security for others. He has never permitted his notes to go to protest, nor has he ever on his own account been involved in debt. He is a man of sagacity and enterprise, and one of the shrewdest business men of Seguin. He stands well in the community, and is recognized as a gentleman of unquestionable integrity. [Corrections to this article Annie Mills Baker died 7 October 1860 (not 1859). Mr. Duggan died 26 December 1865 (not 1864). Harri is the usual spelling of nick-name (not Harry). Dudley was born 4 September 1876 (not 1875). Full names of people mentioned in article: George Washington Lafayette Baker, subject. Thomas Harrison Baker, Anna Marie Mills, parents. William Mills Baker, Augustus Lee Baker, J.H. Baker brothers. (Also Jonathon Green Baker who died in 1852, and Blake Baker who died sometime af-ter 1863). Joseph Harrison, half-brother. Sarah Ann Baker, Martha Washington Baker, sisters. Maria Elisabeth Duggan, wife Thomas Hinds Duggan, father-in-law. (Mother-in-lawÕs full name was given.) Children: Ella Elisabeth Baker, Thomas Harrison Baker, Dudley Duggan Baker. (Also, born after date of article: Emma Agnes Baker) I found a cemetary listing for Blake Baker, the youngest sibling of G.W.L. Baker in the Fayette Co., Texas website. He was born April 16, 1850 in Washington Co., Georgia and died in Fayette Co., Texas on February 13, 1870 and is buried in the Rectar Cemetery, Cistern, Fayette Co., Tx. |