Caleb Baker

Notes:

Like his father, he may have been born in England or northern Ireland. He appears to have worked with his father as a gunsmith in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania from about 1719 to 1741.

In 1719 he is listed in a Conestoga, Pennsylvania tax assessment list as of age; so is his younger brother Samuel. If Samuel was therefore born no later than 1698, 1696 seems a good guess for Caleb.

That he was a son of Robert Baker, gunsmith of Lancaster county, is proved by multiple surviving documents. A good collection of them is here.

"He is referred to as 'Rev. Caleb Baker,' but the writer has found no evidence that he was a minister of the Gospel. Captain Abner Baker, in his 'Life Book,' refers to him as 'a farmer.'" [Joseph D. Eggleston, citation details below.]

"By 1743 there were several Scotch-Irish settlers in the Prince Edward area. The suit of Samuel Wallace vs. Caleb Baker brought a number of neighbors from the Buffaloe Settlement as witnesses for the litigants." [Herbert C. Bradshaw, citation details below.]

Caleb married Martha BrooksLancaster County, Pennsylvania. Martha died between 20 Apr 1759 and 8 May 1759 in Prince Edward County, Virginia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Martha Baker died after 24 Jul 1770.

Notes:

From England (or perhaps northern Ireland), he settled in Lancaster County by about 1719. He was a gunsmith at the confluence of Pequa Creek and the Susquehanna River. Died in 1728, date said to have been 19 September.

Said to have been married to a Susanna Packer. This is almost certainly a mistaken reference to the Susanna Packer who married a Robert Baker of Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1709, herself often said to be a daughter of TNH 7XG-grandparents Philip Packer and Hannah Sessions. The Robert Baker who married this Susanna Packer appears to have lived from 1686 to 1760.

From Arms Makers of Colonial America, citation details below:

Robert Baker acquired 250 acres on Pequa Creek, Mayhill Township, Lancaster County. Robert died intestate. On 17 February 1738, John Cunningham was appointed by the Lancaster County Orphan's Court to administer Robert's estate. On 23 October 1739, he granted the land to Caleb Baker.

From Herbert C. Bradshaw, "The Settlement of Prince Edward County." Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 62:448, 1954:

The second major stream of migration consisted of Scotch-Irish settlers from Pennsylvania. These people, who were Scotch in nationality, had the Irish hyphenated as a result of a sojourn of approximately a century in Northern Ireland. They had been settled there by James I to repopulate a land desolated by the armies of Queen Elizabeth I. There they had prospered until economic discrimination by the English government cut off the market for their goods, and severe depression followed. Many migrated to Pennsylvania, where they settled on the frontier. Indian troubles made life precarious there, so many took again to the weary road and sought a haven in the "back parts" of Virginia.

About 1735 two Scotch-Irish settlements, both under the leadership of John Caldwell, were made in Southside Virginia, one on Cub Creek in Brunswick (now Charlotte) County, the other on Buffalo River in Amelia (now Prince Edward) County. The Scotch-Irish for the most part moved in companies and made their homes in a settlement, for the threefold purpose of mutual protection against the rigors of the wilderness, of maintaining social contacts, and of convenience for religious worship.