Peter G. Baker

According to census records, Peter G. Baker was born about 1809 in Maryland (as were his parents).  He married Elizabeth Catherine Gross (born 1816 in New Jersey) August 27, 1835, in Pickaway Township, Pickaway County, Ohio¹.  They had at least 11 children surviving to adulthood:

            Lydia Ann, born 1836 Ohio (as are all the children)

            Elias, born June 15, 1838

            Elizabeth C., born 1840

            Mary Ann, born June 23, 1842

            Isabelle, born 1843

            Emanuel, born 1845

            George, born 1846

            Sarah, May 14, 1850

            Ellen, born March 9, 1853

            Matilda, born September 17, 1855    

            Simon Peter, born 1857

            An infant born and died 1860

There are several Peter Bakers in the area in 1840 so I can't identify which one is ours specifically.  The 1850 census taken October 1 for Brown Township in Delaware County, Ohio shows:

            Peter, 41, born Maryland

            Elizabeth, 24 [34?], born Ohio

            Lydia Ann, 14, born Ohio (as are all the children)

            Elias, 11

            Elizabeth C., 10

            Mary Ann, 8

            Isabel, 7

            Emanuel, 5

            George, 4

            Sarah, 3/12

The 1860 US census entry for Peter Baker in Brown Township, Delaware County, Ohio, Post Office is Kilbourne lists

   Peter Baker, 49, farmer, b. MD, real estate $5400, pers prop $925

             Elizabeth, 44, born in Ohio

             Elias, 22, born OH

             Mary, 19, born OH

             Isabelle, 15, born OH

             Manuel, 14, born OH

             George, 12, born OH

             Sarah, 10, born OH

             Ellen, 6, born OH

             Simon, 9, born OH

             Matilda, 5, born OH

Elizabeth died in 1862 leaving several small children and is buried in Green Mound Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio².  In June 22, 1862, at the age of 54, Peter married Margaret Sharer who was 41³.  [See more about Margaret Shearer below.]  They had one son, Henry Abraham born on December 3, 1864, on a farm near Alum Creek (presumably the homestead) in Delaware County, Ohio.

The 1870 census shows a Peter G. Baker in Delaware County, Brown Township, Ohio, [Post Office - Ashley] with a son named Henry A. who is 5 years old born in Ohio.  The remainder of the entry for Peter shows

Peter G. Baker, 60, born in Maryland, farmer real estate value of $3200 and personal property value of $730, couldn't read or write

            Margaret, 48, born in Maryland

            Matilda, 14, born in Ohio

            Simon, 18 born in Ohio

Henry Baker, Peter's last son, had mentioned that he had eleven half-siblings but that they were grown and away from the house before he was born or could remember.  Until May 2009, the family history showed a belief that Peter G. Baker came from Germany and Henry showed his father being born in Germany in later census records. 

The 1880 census shows Peter Baker still in Brown Township, Delaware County, Ohio:

            Peter, 73, farmer, crippled in the hip, born in MD as were both parents

            Marguerite, 60, born in Maryland, parents born in Pennsylvania

            Henry, 16, farmer, born in Ohio

Herbert Baker, a grandson, recalled the story that Peter went out to the woods and made a barrel each day to make a little money.

Peter died May 9, 1890, in Delaware County at the County Home and is buried there⁴.

Margaret Shearer Baker

Margaret was born 1821 in Maryland. Margaret Shearer's name is listed as Shaver in the Family History Center's records.  We have a copy of the marriage record and the "r" does look like a "v".  She also spelled her name Sharer on a note in the family Bible she signed in 1864.  Family letters also spell the name Sherer.

Margaret was apparently one of at least 8 children whose names are listed in letters we have dating from the 1860s.  Her parents are shown in LDS Family History Center records⁵ as Henrich (born 1792 in Maryland) and Elizabeth (born 1794 in Baltimore, Maryland) Shearer.  They were married about 1811 and had the following children:

            Catarina, born December 10, 1812

            Christena, born February 3, 1815

            Elizabeth, born May 10, 1818

            Margreth (Margaret), born August 18, 1821

            Maria Magdalena (Laner), born October 13, 1823

The names match the girls' names we find listed in letters from Christena Shearer Fourhman to Margaret Sharer in the 1860s.

Margaret was married first to a Mr. Hinton and had a son, Charles Hinton, before marrying Peter Baker in 1862.

The dates of death and ages for Henry and Elizabeth Sharer were written by Margaret Sharer in a family Bible on December 2, 1864, just one day before her son was born.  Henry died on Thursday, January 15, 1839 at 3 pm.  Margaret would have been 43 years old.  Elizabeth probably moved to Ohio and lived with her daughter, Margaret, based on inferences in the letters from Christena.

Margaret died May 9, 1890, and is buried at the Delaware County Farm in Brown Township.

Source Notes

1.      Leaf Family Tree A, submitted by cmullens61 on ancestry.com.

2.      Leaf Family Tree A, submitted by cmullens61 on ancestry.com.

3.      Delaware County, Ohio, Marriage Record, page 148, item #274, recorded July 25, 1862.

4.      Leaf Family Tree A, submitted by cmullens61 on ancestry.com.

5.      LDS Family History Center record submitted by an individual.