Joshua Baker

Infobox Governor


order = 23rd
office = Governor of Louisiana
term_start = 1868
term_end = 1868
lieutenant = Albert Voorhies
predecessor = Benjamin Flanders
successor = Henry C. Warmoth
birth_date = birth date|1799|3|23|mf=y
birth_place = Mason County, Kentucky
death_date = death date and age|1885|4|16|1799|3|23|mf=y
death_place = Lynne, Connecticut
party = Unionist
spouse = (1) Fanny Assherton
(2) Catherine Patton

Joshua Baker was a Unionist Governor of Louisiana during Reconstruction.

Early life

Baker was born March 23, 1799 in Mason County, Kentucky. His father was Joshua Baker and his mother was Susan Lewis. In 1803, the Baker family moved to the Mississippi Territory and by 1811 they had settled at Oaklawn Plantation in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana in the Orleans Territory.

Education and military service

Baker attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York from 1817-1819. Whereupon, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and later briefly became a Professor of Engineering. In 1821 he moved to Litchfield, Connecticut to study law, joining the bar in Mason County, Kentucky in 1822. Baker returned to Louisiana to practice law at the Opelousas, Louisiana office of John Bronson during 1822-1829 and 1832-1838.

In 1825, Baker married Fanny Assherton in Opelousas. They had three children before she died on August 17, 1831. From 1826-1829 Baker was a Colonel in the Louisiana State Militia. He also worked on Engineering projects in Plaquemines Parish until 1829, when he was appointed Judge in St. Mary Parish; a position he held until 1839.

He married a second time to Catherine Patton from Fairfax, Virginia in 1832. They had two children. In 1833, he was Assistant State Engineer for the State of Louisiana until 1838. Appointed Director of Public Works for the State of Louisiana 1840- 1845.He was made Captain of Cavalry, Louisiana State Militia 1846 until 1851 and in 1853, he was appointed to the Board of Visitors United States Military Academy, serving until 1861. Throughout this time, Baker owned three plantations: Black Bayou in Terrebonne Parish, Grand River in St. Martin Parish, and Fairfax Plantation in St. Mary Parish. He also was enthusiastic investor in steamboat properties.

Civil War and Governership

With secession and the Civil War, Colonel Baker retired to Franklin, Louisiana in 1861. As a Conservative Democrat who opposes secession, he chose to cooperate with the Union Army of Occupation. On January 8, 1868, Baker took the Oath of Loyalty to the Union. He was Appointed Military Governor by General Winfield Scott Hancock upon the resignation of Benjamin Flanders. As Governor, Baker supported the lenient reconstruction plan of President Andrew Johnson. His administration has little influence on the course of the Louisiana government. On March 10, 1868, Governor Baker was arrested and brought before a commissioner charged with perjury for claiming not to build a barricade across Bayou Teche. Meanwhile, General Hancock unilaterally removes 9 New Orleans City Councilmen which results in President Ulysses S. Grant's reversal of this order. For this, Hancock asks to be reassigned. With Hancock's departure, support for Governor Baker evaporated and in a special election Republican Henry C. Warmoth was elected Governor.

Joshua Baker died at the house of his daughter in Lynne, Connecticut on April 16, 1885.

ources

* [http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/380/Default.aspx State of Louisiana - Biography]
* [http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=497d224971c81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=4b18f074f0d9ff00VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD National Governor's Association biography]