William Barnes Baker
Surnames: Barnes, Betts, Burton, Maider
Towns and villages: Constantia, Gloversville, Lenox, Pulaski, Syracuse
Counties: Fulton, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego
Source: History of the Mohawk Valley - Gateway to the
West - 1614-1925
Covering The Six Counties of Schenectady, Schoharie,
Montgomery, Fulton, Herkimer and Oneida.
Volume IV, Illustrated; (Pages
463-464)
Chicago, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1925
When death claimed William Barnes Baker on June 23, 1924, it brought to an abrupt end a career that is distinguished for its professional eminence and public service. Since 1910 Mr. Baker had been one of the most prominent lawyers in Fulton County and a leader in republican affairs. The news of his passing was received with profound regret, not only in his home city of Gloversville, but throughout this section, where he had become widely known through his years of legal activities and political connections. He was born in Constantia, New York, on January 30, 1869. His father was William Henry Baker, whose ancestry for several generations was native to the state of New Hampshire. Born in the town of Lenox, Madison County, New York, on January 17, 1827, William Henry Baker was admitted to the bar in Syracuse in November, 1851, and became a barrister of high standing. In 1862 he was elected district attorney for Oswego County and in 1866 was appointed district attorney to fill a vacancy, being reelected and serving until 1869. He also represented his district in congress as a member of the Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth congresses and in 1894 was a member of the New York state constitutional convention. His wife was Sarah Barnes, born in Constantia, December 15, 1834, of English parents who came to America in 18.30.
William Barnes Baker undoubtedly inherited from his successful father a taste for the legal profession and was influenced in his choice of a career by the surroundings of his childhood and youth. He received a common school education in Constantia that was later supplemented by intense personal study and reading. Like many of the eminent legal lights of his generation, Mr. Baker did not prepare for his profession in a law school, but followed the good old-fashioned apprentice system that is still in high favor in our sister country of Great Britain. As a young man he came to Gloversville and read law in the offices of Baker and Burton, two of Fulton County's best attorneys. He passed his examination and was admitted to the bar in April, 1894.
Until he was thirty-three years of age Mr. Baker maintained his residence in Constantia and there he first engaged in law practice under his own name. After two years, however, he sought the larger opportunities afforded by the city of Oswego, where he practiced from 1896 until 1910, building up a very successful practice. He moved to Gloversville in 1910 to become a member of the law firm of Baker, Burton & Baker, which continued until June, 1922, at which time the firm was reorganized, Judge A. D. L. Baker and Frank Burton retiring from active participation. It was then that Wesley H. Maider, a prominent lawyer and for ten years city attorney of Gloversville, formed a partnership with Mr. Baker under the name of Baker & Maider, with Judge Baker and Frank Burton as counsel. The firm, thus reorganized, continued to engage in the general practice of law, not specializing in any particular field. Mr. Baker was a lawyer of the highest rank and his education was profound. Always earnest, painstaking and capable, in examining the matters brought to his attention, his conclusions were ever dependable. He was prominent in the trials of cases both in Oswego County, the place of his former residence, and in this county, where for years he was engaged in nearly all important pieces of litigation. There were few attorneys his equal in this part of the state and none enjoyed a more faithful clientele.
From the time he attained his majority, Mr. Baker took a deep interest in political affairs and in the ranks of the republican party he was a loyal worker and valued counselor. In 1896, his first year in Oswego, he held his first public office, being named special surrogate for the county of Oswego. He held this office until 1902. The following fall he was a candidate for the office of district attorney of that county and was elected, taking office on January 1, 1903, and retaining it for six consecutive years. As district attorney he was unrelenting in his prosecutions and his term of office was marked by a general cleaning up of conditions in the county. He also conducted a famous murder trial with complete success during this period. In Fulton county, Mr. Baker never held office, although he was always an active participant in republican affairs. Twice he was led to seek support for office: Upon the death of County Judge Frank Talbot he sought appointment to the vacancy from Governor Nathan L. Miller, who, however, gave the appointment to the late Judge W. S. Cassedy. The only other time Mr. Baker sought political honors was during his last days when he was actively engaged in conducting a campaign as candidate for election to the county judgeship in the fall elections. In fact, it was when speaking at the mill of H. H. Bradt in connection with his candidacy for the fall election that Mr. Baker was stricken with a cerebral hemorrhage that resulted in his death a week later.
On December 3, 1902, Mr. Baker was married to Miss Florence M. Betts, the ceremony taking place in Pulaski, New York. Mrs. Baker was born in Pulaski, on September 21, 1869, and is the daughter of Albert F. and Florence P. Betts. Her father, who died in 1917, was the son of Dr. James Betts of that village who was for many years a prominent physician of his community. Mrs. Betts, her mother, is living and makes her home in Pulaski. Mr. and Mrs. Baker had one child: Florence Sarah Baker, born June 18, 1905, who is now living in Gloversville with her mother.
Mr. Baker held a prominent place in the fraternal life of his home city as a member of Gloversville Lodge, No.429, A. F. & A. M.; a member and former trustee of Gloversville Lodge, No.226, B. P.O. E.; and one of the Ancient Order of Foresters. At the time of his decease he was serving on the board of trustees of the Gloversville Free Library and for some time had been vice president of the institution. Also he belonged to the Eccentric and Masonic Clubs of Gloversville and gave his support to the Congregational church. As a sportsman he excelled in fishing and hunting, which were the sources of much pleasure and recreation to this busy man of affairs and he always anticipated the short vacations he could spend with his rods and guns far from law courts and the burdens of his large practice. Personally Mr. Baker had much in his makeup that commanded the admiration and won affection. In the language of a supreme court judge he was "full of humanity," always friendly and never critical. Friends were easily made and always retained. As a citizen he was upright and highly esteemed by a large circle of acquaintances.