William Baker (April 14, 1795 – November 6, 1871) was an American lawyer and politician.

Life

Baker was born April 14, 1795, in Minden,

Montgomery County, New York Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,532. The county seat is Fonda. The county was named in honor of Richard Montgomery, an American Revolutionary War general killed in 17 ...

, the son of Thomas and Mary Baker. At the age of 22, he moved to Springfield,

Otsego County, New York Otsego County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,524. The county seat is Cooperstown. The name ''Otsego'' is from a Mohawk or Oneida word meaning "place of the rock." History In 1 ...

, to study law. In January 1826, he married Delia Bianca Crain of

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...

Herkimer County, New York Herkimer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,139. Its county seat is Herkimer. The county was created in 1791 north of the Mohawk River out of part of Montgomery County. It is named ...

. Her father was Rufus Crain, a prominent local physician, and her brother, William C. Crain, was Assembly

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

1846 Events January–March * January 5 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Country with the United Kingdom. * January 13 – The Milan–Venice railway's bridge, over the Venetian Lagoon between ...

. Baker was a member of the New York State Assembly (Otsego Co.) in 1830, 1833 and

1834 Events January–March * January – The Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad is chartered in Wilmington, North Carolina. * January 1 – Zollverein (Germany): Customs charges are abolished at borders within its member states. * January 3 � ...

, and was

in 1834. On May 25, 1836, he was appointed a

Canal Commissioner The Commission to Explore a Route for a Canal to Lake Erie and Report, known as the Erie Canal Commission, was a body created by the New York State Legislature in 1810 to plan the Erie Canal. In 1817 a ''Canal Fund'' led by ''Commissioners of the C ...

, and served until the removal of all Democratic commissioners by the newly elected Whig majority in the State Legislature in February 1840. After his time in politics, he moved to Utica, where in 1845 he was chosen the first Recorder of the City (i.e. Deputy Mayor and City Judge). He was well known for his expertise in patent law. Baker died on November 6, 1871, at his home in Utica,

Oneida County, New York Oneida County is a county in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 232,125. The county seat is Utica. The name is in honor of the Oneida, one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois League or ''Haudenos ...

, and was interred in Forest Hill Cemetery in Utica.

Sources

''History of Political Parties in the State of New-York''
by John Stilwell Jenkins (Alden & Markham, Auburn NY, 1846)

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