Orlando Harrison Baker (September 16, 1830 – August 6, 1913) was a professor of ancient languages at Simpson College in Iowa and the principal of

Algona College Algona College was a private Methodist college in Algona, Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It i ...

. He later served as the U. S. consul at posts in Denmark, Australia, and Borneo.

Life

Orlando Harrison Baker was born in Union County, Indiana, the oldest child of Jacob Baker and Mary Baker. He was educated at Mt. Morris Seminary in Illinois and at Allegheny College in

Meadville, Pennsylvania Meadville is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The city is within of Erie and within of Pittsburgh. It was the first permanent settlement in Northwestern Pennsylvania. The population was 13,388 at the 2010 censu ...

. For lack of money he had to drop out of college and go to work as a carpenter, painter, and teacher. He eventually saved up enough to complete his undergraduate degree at Indiana Asbury University (now DePauw University) in 1857. He was ordained a minister around 1858, and he received his M.A. from Indiana Asbury University in 1861. In 1868, he took up the post of professor of Latin and Greek at Simpson College. In 1871, he moved to

to serve as its president, a position he held until the college closed in 1875. From 1875 to 1877, he served as pastor of churches in Cambridge and

Boonsboro Boonsboro is a town in Washington County, Maryland, United States, located at the foot of South Mountain. It nearly borders Frederick County and is proximate to the Antietam National Battlefield. The population was 3,336 at the 2010 census. ...

, and in 1878 he became the principal of the Boonsboro school system. In 1879, he moved his family back to Indianola, and the following year he took up the editorship of the Indianola ''Herald'', a position he held until 1886. Following that, he became a traveling correspondent for the '' Chicago Inter Ocean'' newspaper until 1892. Baker next moved into government service as a U.S. consul, first in Copenhagen, Denmark (1893-94) and then Sydney, Australia (1900-08). In 1908, he took up the consulship of Sandakan, North Borneo, where he remained to the end of his life. In 1913, as he was on his way back to the United States on leave, he died on board the U.S. transport ''Thomas'' in the harbor at Nagasaki, Japan.

Family

Baker married Mary Catherine Ridley in 1858; she died in 1890 and he remarried, to Rachel Halton Beach. He had six children, four of whom survived to adulthood. His daughters Myra and Joanna also became professors, Myra at Napa College and Joanna at Simpson College.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Orlando Harrison 1830 births 1913 deaths DePauw University alumni Simpson College faculty Classics educators People from Union County, Indiana Heads of universities and colleges in the United States