The sun., 1894-11-26

NrrrIu Once ais Partner IN R-ni Estate
Venture. List OF IIir Hoidins-.

Rrbr.t H. Merritt Of 40 West 18th street.
who was associated with Frrdc"i x Baker In
real estate speculation. sad last night:
Lam SIN un,onVIncci :lro; MIR. lakrr had
any acquaintance with S.,'y except ia u
social way. believe thG; hc was IN no
way in completely with him. and that it Is
4, ease uf mistaken identify. Neither do | be-
,iryr tha' his death was Suicide. hn the evil
d"nrr points to the fact that it was accident.
He LEFT 1t paUrr "f any kiud telling
uf a purpo-c To take his lie. and We
have been able 10 ;iud nothing N his private
papers To- warrlu: ihe assumption that lie lad
ever contemplated II. lie was IN good health
and never de- pDul"n;. aud his husinrs, Affairs.
| believe. were ia perfect order went with his
-on trcdorici, to the Office al .Od Broadway to-
day to lock over Mr. Bakers pap.r~. We found
his desk to be Just n he ALWAYS left 1t his lci-
trrs and other papers strewn about as
!, was h!S custom 10 leave them. We
could fad no.hing 10 indicate that Mr..
BAKER ever had an account at the shoe and
Leather Bank. bat we did find his account book :
of the Chatham anu Park banks. The former
was his personal account. and the latter his ac-
count rs executor OF two small e-tntcs Each
was properly balanced. We also found an old
book Of the East River Savings Bank in which
there was balance OF 81. which had been draw
I'VE found all Mr. BAKERS papers except those
which he kept IN his safety, deposit box in the
could not yet hohl OF to-day hut ,h" bgN will be-
oper d ;G-morrow, We regard !, a, altogether
unl,Rcly that we s'ull ind anything 10 indicste
tnN NT. Baker N'as IN ANY sOrt OF trouble.
Thu statement that Mr.. Baker owned prop
rrl "hir., Lr Lad placed IN the MANS OF other
really tran'artOns for many yenr-. and know
exactly what NJ own aud has owned With
ii"ta street and in >,Veni.. avenue. brooklyn aud
the farm al Hand'n P"ini, "veryth hing was IN my
entire interest through depreciation and the
Large tax rates We had ~ pay. AZ that time
family all the property we had owned jointly.
lhe consideration in each case was 81. To his
wife Amelia +. Baker, transferred ia. M houses
cey street. los, lO;, ard 100 tiiuton street. and
1854 Delaney street. To Frederick Il, baker
transferred the houses 5l5 East Eleventh
street and !s9 Avenue y. The daughter, Florence
A. baker GOT 5iDE Eleventh street and GeI
street, The house Ui sheriff street went Jointly
To Frederick r. and Florence The last piece
ronysyed n6 st. MarSs PLACE; vent 10 r ,he w,tr,
residences and he sands Point farm had already
been placed. These sixteen pieceS we're all the
Isins about 40 acres and l. WORT about S"O.OOO.
The value of the other pieces can't even Az
proXtmate, because there are mortgages on all
That Mr.. Baker was held in high esteem by
the people who knew him becomes plain, 1
think, when IL i considered how many trusted
him. He was the executor nf he estate Of Au-
gust kagel and OF his former law partner. Mr..
Henson, aud WAS attorney for lr. Lewis \.
Sayr-. trustee AMI receiver OF tue Charles Hen
ry Hall estate. II was Mr. Baker who disc3v-
cred that Dr. Sayre's wife was the heir Of the
estate, and II created something Of u stir In
legal circles AT The time MI. Baker was instru-
Mrs. bakers brother. robert Hobbs, wall pa
per manufacturer, Is now in this city comforting
with frederck 4, bsker about his fathers
death, and the troubles that II seems have come
upon the family. 4 sister Of Mrs. Baker is the
wife ot John !. Lindsey. who Z n charge OF the
MIR BaGer followed the law in Brooklyn and
In the panic nj IL; ~ he tailed and lost pretty
much all he had. ! never knew him 10 specu-
The first time vas ia ISs'! when he invested
$4,000 in the lirpGt Equator Consolidated Gold
MlninT somrany my Nj ?f .iTorgTtGwm % wol, T4smin'
Ill his death. In lSS4 he hought;
stock, II rose seven points within few weeks,
and he s0ld out. That was, 10 my knowledge.
his first and last venture IN Wall street lie was
not gambling man; he never went ~ horse
races or 10 pool rooms, ind he was a member oi
VERY rarely went ont i'm lie evenings even with
his family, lie was not exactly piOus man, hut
he went To church with some degree Of regu-
MIR Shotwen who has been a clerk in Fred
eriCk Rnkers Office for ia" past four years, lives
street, BROOKLYN. loa SUN reporter last night
Mr. ShOtwel said: o" have known Mr.. Baker
TOT llNaFu OF tllIlN -llNt NtAIh. anu a htlltE or
a more generous man never met. lie WAS my
ideal of "a busint - man, precise and correct In
all his methods, and he usually Kept his affairs
To himself. collected the rents from number
Of tenement houses which he owned on the
east side in the district known as Little
Jerusalem and often made deposits for him
in the Chatham Bank. | made deposit OF
between $500 and $500 AT that hank last Friday.
never knew lac had aINthing to do with the
shoe and Leather Rank. Mr. -rely came
frequently 20 the Office, hut did not know who
he was until few months agO. Mr. Robert
Merrett, who Was also in the utliCe, held,
believe, some OF MIR. Bakers property in
his name. The last time | saw Mr.,
BAKER was on Friday afternoon at 2
O'Clock, when lie left tie Oftice for his
home A. sands Point. lie cheerful
and lively, and there was nothing unusual IN
his manner. lie said he would be down 10 the
of1ice again on Monday morning lie was gen
erous almost TO a fault and although cOntin-
ually bothered By beggars. he never turned one
Of them away empty handed. lie always paid
his bills promptly, and IL was his custom TO pay
the interest on the mortgages on his property la
advance | knew nothing Of his death until
read about Il in the morning papers knowing
him as did do not believe he committed sui-
eide. think his death was accidentaL"