Daily new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1897-1906, 1898-10-14
UNCLE JACOB BAKER.
The Oldest Man in the State has
died at his home in Marion
County.

remarkable Man-Ine STORY OF MS
Life as he tells it Himself-He was a
Life long Democrat and voted the
Straight Ticket every Election dnr-
ing his long Life.
The age of man, so the psalmist
sang, is three score years and ten
but Jacob Baker, of near Farming
town, outliyed the limit set by the
psalmist 81 years He was I'M
doubtedly the oldest man in the
State
The following sketch of Mr.. Baker
is taken from the writing of A. j.
johnson in the Uniontown News
Standard, of July 6, 1896:
Five miles back in the country
from Pennington, near the point at
which East Run and Buffalo creek
meet and make their truce the
writer found this aged native and
for two hours or more listened to
the interesting story of his life,
which has been contemporaneous al
most with the life of the great Re
public.
When / told him that the town in
which he was born and about which
he spent his early childhood was GO
ing to hold a big celebration com
memorating the hundredth anniver-
sary OF her incorporation and that
the committee in charge of the affair
had sent me to invite him to be her
guest of honor, he was delighted be-
You'd measure. His face beamed
with JOY and he willingly gave his
consent to come, provided, however,
that his good friend, E. B. Parks,
would come along to keep him out
Of nisohief, "for," he said, boys will
be boys, you know"
Il was born about mile and a
half from Uniontown in the direction
of High House, March, 10, 1892. My
| father Nicholas Baker and my mother
| Barbara Miller, came from Germany
before the Revolution and were among
the early settlers in Fayette county,
Pa. | remember Henry Beeson. the
| founder of Uniontown and his brother
Jacob. While / was yet a lad our
| family moved to New Geneva and later
to Dunkard, Greene county. My recol-
| lections Of the stirring scenes at home
during the war of 1912 are vivid to
this day. You know most of the fight
ing in that conflict took place in Ohio
and we were afraid the British would
swoop down upon US at any time.
! Mu al n cd
and served over year when he came
home sick. My uncle, Sol Reil, went
back as his substitute. | had grown
almost 10 mans estate when sod
Hickory" Jackson trounced the Red
Coats at New Orleans and the war
ended. Soon after our family and
several relatives, including William
Fast and John and Jacob Baker emf
grated to Wooster, 20, but we didn't
live there long, for when / was about
81 years old we came to West Virgin
ia, then Virginia, and settled down
near Pennington. This section was
then portion of Harrison county out
of which Marion county has since been
erected. My father died about 40
years ago. | married Catharine En-
ceminger. daughter of George and
Margaret (Bock) Enceminger also ma
tives of Fayette county. We had
seven children, Margaret Ann, (Mrs.
Daniel Fletcher) Catharine, (Mrs. Jane
Davis Mile, Mrs. Charles Fletcher
Jane, Mrs. Cyrus Van Zant) Dowsy
S., Jacob and Perry. l have outlived
all my sons and sons-in-law except Mr..
Davis with whom ] make my home.
My oldest daughter, Mrs. Daniel
Fletcher, is 70 years old and has five
children and eighteen grand children.
/ have thirty three grand children and
forty-one great grand children, some
of them over twenty years of age.
My wife died twenty-six years ago and
sleeps just over the hill, he said,
pointing to the east, where l soon
must join her.
j "Among these hills and rocks |
have spent the greater portion of my
life on the little farm which pur-
chased over eighty years ago. have
been farmer all my life, but have
also spent many wintry days with my
axe in the forest getting out lumber
for shipment down the river. Many
tine have / RATED down the Monon-
gahela past my old home at New Gen.
eva, through Brownsville and Pitts
burg to Wheeling That was rouud-
about way, to be sure, but we had no
Il railroads then and had to use the best
means at our command, and the old