Bartholomew County IN Archives Biographies.....Baker, Charles S. 1855 - 
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Author: B. F. Bowen (1904)

CHARLES S. BAKER.

   Charles S. Baker, a prominent member of the Bartholomew county bar, and a
leading citizen of Columbus, Indiana, was born near the town of Azalia, this
county, on December 12, 1855, the son of Major Thomas N. and Aurillia L.
(Shumway) Baker. Major Baker, father of the subject, was, like other of the
early citizens of Bartholomew county, a Southerner by birth, having been born
near Lexington, Davies county. North Carolina, on March 1, 1831. He was the son
of Samuel and Jincy (Ellis) Baker. The grandparents were among the pioneers of
Bartholomew county, they having removed here from North Carolina in the fall of
1831, when their son, the Major, was an infant six months old. They located on a
farm in the Quaker settlement, one mile east of the village of Azalia, where
they resided the rest of their lives. Major Baker acquired a good education, but
his knowledge of the higher branches was obtained without the assistance of
tutors. At an early age he became a teacher in the public schools, and was so
employed at Azalia when the Civil war began. He was intensely patriotic, and his
desire was to at once offer himself to the government and go to the front when
President Lincoln made his first call for volunteers. But he was deterred from
joining the first regiment raised at Azalia by the entreaties of his wife.
However, when later the second regiment was being recruited at Jonesville, and
the Major was addressing those enlisting or preparing to do so, he said "I will
not say to you go, but come!" and he at once enlisted himself. He was enrolled
as a member of Company F, Thirty-ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteers, which
afterwards became the Eighth Indiana Cavalry. He entered the service as second
lieutenant, was subsequently promoted first lieutenant and captain, and finally
reached the rank of major, which rank he held at the close of the war. At the
expiration of his first term of enlistment he re-enlisted, serving until the end
of the struggle. At the battle of Stone River, Tennessee, he was temporarily in
command of the Second Battalion, Pioneer Corps, and at a critical point in that
bloody engagement, when the Confederate forces, flushed with what seemed certain
victory, were making a determined attack upon the Union lines, the Second Corps
successfully resisted the assault, held their ground and turned the tide of
battle to victory for the Federal army. Major Baker, then only first lieutenant,
was in advance of the battalion, urging and inspiring his men to victory. and in
the official account of this battle, which is given in War of the Rebellion,
Official Record of the Union and Confederate Armies, issued by the government,
he receives honorable mention for his gallant services. At the close of
hostilities, and while at Indianapolis on his return home, Major Baker was taken
sick, and after an illness lasting two weeks he died in that city, on August 14,
1865. His remains were brought to his old home at Azalia and buried with all the
honors of war. Major Baker was twice the candidate of the Republican party of
Bartholomew county for the Indiana legislature, the first time before the war,
when a young man, and the second time was during the war when he was at the
front. The latter nomination, however, was not accepted, but his name was placed
upon the ticket and remained there during the canvass, nevertheless. He was an
earnest Christian, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as was also
his mother, who was known throughout the county for her Christian devotion and
for her eloquence and fervor in prayer. Major Baker was, on March 25, 1855,
united in marriage with Aurillia, the daughter of Charles and Jane Shumway. She
was born in Livingston county, New York, in 1833, and is of Huguenot descent. To
this union two children were born, Charles S., and Ella J., who married Dr. S.
T. Richman, now of Chicago.

   Charles S. Baker was prepared for college at the Quaker Seminary, near
Azalia, and in the fall of 1874 he entered DePauw (then Asbury) University,
where he was graduated in the class of '78 with honor, he receiving a gold medal
for excellent attainments in mathematics. After leaving college he began the
study of law in the office of the Hon. Ralph Hill, of Columbus, subsequently
continuing his legal studies in the office of the late Colonel S. Stansifer,
long the nestor of the local bar. In 1880 he entered the Central Law School, at
Indianapolis, where he was graduated the following year. He immediately began
the practice of his profession in Columbus, and a year later became a partner of
the Hon. J. B. Reeves, which partnership continued until the spring of 1885. The
following fall he became associated as a partner with his old preceptor. Col.
Stansifer, with whom he remained until February 18, 1902, when the Colonel died.
Since the death of his partner, Mr. Baker has been alone in his practice, which
is one of the largest and most important in Bartholomew county. He is and has
been since March 1, 1902, general counsel for the Indianapolis, Columbus &
Southern Traction Company, and besides a general practice, he is retained as
attorney for a number of the largest and most important manufacturing and
financial concerns in Columbus. While his general clientage is large, he is
regarded more as a corporation and commercial than as a criminal lawyer, and it
is along these lines that he has gained his reputation and prominence, which
extends beyond the borders of his county and state. In 1892 Mr. Baker was the
nominee of the Republican party for appellate judge, but he was defeated with
the general state and national ticket.

   Mr. Baker was married on October 27, 1887, to Frances, daughter of the Hon.
Jesse and Sarah Arnold, of North Manchester, Indiana. Mrs. Baker was graduated
from Kappe's Seminary, at Indianapolis, and later attended Wellesley College,
Massachusetts. Two children were born to this union, Jessie Arnold and Thomas
Nelson, the first dying in the fall of 1893 and the other in the spring of 1894.
Mrs. Baker died in the spring, of 1895, and on June 27, 1897, Mr. Baker married
Lulu B. the daughter of Edwin L. and Emma J. Brevoort, of Columbus. Mrs. Baker
was graduated from Butler College, Irvington. To this union two children have
been born, Mary Brevoort and Brevoort. Mr. Baker belongs to the Greek letter
college society, Sigma Chi, and is a member of the Masonic fraternity.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY
INDIANA

INCLUDING BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GOVERNORS AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS OF INDIANA

ILLUSTRATED

1904

B. F. Bowen PUBLISHER


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