John Conrad Baker
John Conrad Baker, when a young man, came to America. He was born in Germany about 1742. The exact date of his coming to the United States is not known, but he married here in about 1782. Some time after he was married he returned to Germany to inherit an estate which had been left; he, being the eldest of the family, became heir to his father’s estate. He remained in the fatherland till 1797, when he returned to the United States with his wife and three children. He left the old country on account of being pressed into the army. He had no means with which to pay his passage. He went to the captain of a vessel about to sail for the United States to secure a passage for himself and family, but the captain said he dared not take him, for if it was found out he would have to suffer the penalty; but Mr. Baker, being very anxious to get away from the oppression, insisted on being taken. The captain finally agreed to take him and his family on condition they would suffer themselves to be shipped as ballast in the hold of the vessel, and remain there till the vessel had passed the boundary line of the German dominions. This they agreed to do. After getting his family secretly on board of the ship they were inclosed in large hogsheads or casks, with provisions enough to last them for several days. The casks were then placed in the bottom of the vessel with heavy ballast on top of them, so they could not be readily reached. After being in the vessel a day or two they left the dock and started on their perilous journey. After they had sailed about one day they were hailed by a government brig. The ofiicers of the brig came on board to see if they had any contrabands. They were told to search the vessel for themselves, but failed to find any one. They then parted company and the vessels separated; but the following day the same brig hailed them again and another search was made, with the same result as the day before. They supposed they were now free from further molestation, but thought it best that they should remain where they were until they were past the German jurisdiction; and well for them that they did, for the following day they were again hailed by the same brig as before. This made the captain of the vessel wrathy; he told the officers of the brig that they had searched his vessel twice before; now they might search it once more, but that they were within a short distance of his jurisdiction, and if they again attempted to stop him he would blow them out of existence; but they were not disturbed again. The family were now liberated from their hiding-place and permitted to come on deck after being stowed away five days in their narrow prison in the hold of the vessel. They landed safely in the United States, and here, by an agreement previously made, they were sold for their passage. The father’s time was sold for one year; the mother’s for eighteen months, and each of the children for five years, which time they each served out in full. In 1814 he moved to Greene County, O., and lived there till 1832, when he came to Shelby County to live with his son, John C. Baker, Jr. Here he died about a year afterward.
John C. Baker, Jr., came to Shelby County in 1830 from Virginia, where he had gone when a young man. He married Margaret Bush in Virginia.
From History of Shelby County, Ohio; R. Sutton & Co, Philadelphia PA, 1883