New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-11-27
BAKERS EARLY LIFE.
HE WAS FORMERLY A BARBER /.
BROOKLYN AND WELL KNOWN.

HOW HE BRANcIIED OUT INTO REAi-ESlA ATE
SPECIFICATIONS AND GAVE SIGNS or pos
sEssING wEALTH-ACouAINTED WITH
HENRY WARD BEEcHER.
so,,e interesting details In the life OF FREDERICK
Baker in Brooklyn have come to ignt since "s 'uu
den death at Sands Point re hn
| by older residents Of the city as oa
| her who had shop in lower Futon-st peiore ne
| read law forty years ago His father was Der
man baker and his name appears hfs' u" W"
Brooklyn Directory In 1883 as barber at ui'on anu
| Cumberland SITS In 1853 he appeared as n """
| dresser at No. aS7 Futon-st In 1913 ne "rSt ap
| pcareI as lawyer at that number. some o' "'s
former patrons gave him bills 20 collect, ana ne oc
/ Gan 10 indulge in real-estate specuiatohs. ne ''-,
afterward in State-st. Sixth-ave ana ficKs-s' anu
| I'm 1855 he removed to No. q SeventnaVe' WHICH Is
| still owned by his wife. But long before TINS ''me
| no had established his country home at Hah's
! Point Mrs Baker is said to have been miiher
| IN carly life and at one time after her marriage
she and her husband worked at paperhanglng Aiter
taey moved 10 State-st they became connected WIN
| Dr. TalmaGes Tabernacle. Baker invested III lo'9
| along the Doueass-st boulevard in 1870. and lost
| consi icrablc money on them In the financial de-
| preston following 1913. Later he began to nave
! plenty of money.
! Af,cr the first Tabernacle burned the Bakers
ATTENDED Plym) IN Church. ana when lying II hicks
! 81 were vel known to Mr.. and Mrs heecnet an"
| the Rev Mr. Halliday. Mrs. Bcecher had dispatch
on Sunday announcing Mr Bakers death ana yes
rorlay wrote to Mrs. Baker letter % confidence
After Mr. Beechsrs death they seldom attended IN"
| church II, family first went to Sands Point az
! barriers At the Mot farm ana year OF wv"
! later hou-h. the pare which they renamed hn'
! low" AMI stocked with fancy breeds 81 cate t"'
/ tho family failed to become intimate WIZ N''
! nolghb,rg. and spent much time In travel p''n
| ahrn,d and i'm this country. Their house ~ say
enih-avc' WAS seldom occupied. and more umH wa
spen; at Sands Point than elsewhere. IN l>~ hane'
! and his wife ard daughter were IN EUROPE I've IT,
, turned IN midsummer and Mrs. Baker hurried nom"
| after The Charleston earthquake. when some H"-
| rope,n rapers said had destroyed New-York lhey
vc-. Frequently Al fashionable simmer resorts ana
Baker seemed to be- nan 81 Wuch leisure Hoo"'
| a year AMI Il hall ago the house In Wesi seventeen.
| ST. was bought and the furniture was remover
| from the sevcn,h-ave house In brooklyn. Inc
house was placed In the hands Of Leonard Moody
| I, sell for 5000 and he s,lll has It unsof
| Mr. Moody said yesterday. Il knew Frederick
! Baker f1r twenty-s!x years and ne was IN my
Office i've or six weeks ago. Ills house has been IN
/ my hands FOR sale Tor two or three years. c'ui
! no, believe that the man drowned at Sands Point
was he al first. but now am convinced lie hVci
/ A, Orange and Hicks SITS when / ars; knew Mn.
! have mot him In London and at saratoga ana
/ other watering Places. Until about hfteen years
/ AZ, he W. A trustee of Or Ta'mage's Tabernacle
lie WAS ~ A ohesriul disposition. ana the las' man
would have thought Of committing suicide.
Albert g. Mcdonald. corporation Counsel OF
Brooklyn has a summer home at Sands POINT near
nsk.r's place He said yesterday. Il knew Baker
/ personally. bat not professionally lie had hahu-
some country seat. and spent good deal OF money
| on f. especially In boodcd stock He hveh IKE
! a man with an Income OF 5000 OF sl.or year
and kept horses and carriages But theiT ne'sh-
! hors knew little OF them. There are eight or ten
/ families there Who are intimate terms but the
! Bakers never tried to get into the circ" never
/ heard ~ Baker professionally. !, was understood
! that he was a rcal-estate lawyer and ha1 an ola
established practice IN New-York \ man Tx"
| TINT can have a large income ard not be heard OF
I'm the courts or newspapers. used TO meet Baker
on boats and trains and he usually was reading
magazines or illustrated newspapers. lie read ana
! spoke German. / remember
| M,s Baker vas Florence Hobbs before she mar
| RED Baker and her brother T. Robert H. Hobbs.
| ., IN. National wall paper Trust William Elan
nixau n uell-known contractor. OF No. 80 Sev-
| euth-ave Brooklyn. said yesterday: PRED BAKER
| was tn. first who shaved M" IN hto""iyh'
! He had come from Philadelphia ana studied law
| I'm his shop when not shaving customers He hai
a smattcring o. the law. and used TO receive small
! ,.es from, tho poor Germans who hvcd AZ that
| time In the neghborhood OF his shop. He saved
few hundred dollars and began specuatns In lots
| when the Douglass st boulevard was first laid out
tie was simply oar6er wien ven, Mrs' IN S'
! fouud him a fll-nelgcl lawyer. living In n house
81 his own In Sixth-ave. II" had craze Tor spec
! ulatIur I'm but never in those days
! s,r,,od 10 have any ready money. several years
| ,go ne tried To buy the house at Eighth ave. ana
! lincoln Place that aftcrword sold 10 Nike
| DNycr Raker couldn't then raiae money enough 10
| INV II I'm the first days OF his speculation. ! re-
| member several OF his transactions were consid-
cred very shaky. ,,,, ,.,
| an SATURDAY afternoon Deputy Marshal Kennedy.
| q, Now York went the Brooklyn Federal Build
Ing ard secured a warrant ior Bakers arrest from
| i-nited States Commissioner Morle. IL was given
| IN Deputy Marshal riggart, VINO went To Sands
| Point with detective and an cmploye or the bank.
| whom they reached Bakers house and Marshal
| Hieeart asked TO see Mr.. Baker he was shown
| his dead body. The warrant was turned In At
The offic, o. the United States District -Attorney
| vesteriay Endorsed: This prisoners body was
| fcund nv me AT his residence at Sands Point. h"
| having committed suicide"
Nnrshal Bigsart said yesterday; II learned that
| p.ker's body was found In barely two Feet OF
,,"tcr and close TO the shore. II Is my impression.
! and I think the autopsy Will bear mo out that
Unlf.r took uolson and then started to row out on
| ,hc hay The drug acted sooner than he expected:
aul no cell unconscious out OF the boat lie could
| haze saved himself from drowning II he had not
! hc.n weakened by some drug taken with suicidal
/ intent , , , So.,,. ,s f., ,ho h,r,,
~ The FEDERAL officials In Brooklyn. and the house
1 ~ 10 90 Iiasey-st.. where his FAMILY i've, Is
| watched No Information could be secured ihere
| yesterday Mrs Seely IL completely proStrnted ara
ier Md ~ sck Her physician said she Nas seri-
IN h he pyuecfcd sine would recover