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Baker (Obadiah Ethelbert) Papers
mssBakeroe
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Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Baker, Obadiah Ethelbert Papers
Identifier/Call Number: mssBakeroe
Physical Description:
1.33 Linear Feet
(2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1859-1923
Abstract: This collection contains the papers of Civil war soldier and teacher Obadiah E. Baker and his wife, Melissa Dalton Baker,
of Iowa and, later, Northern California, and their family between the late 1850s and early 1900s. Notably, the collection
contains letters kept by Obadiah Baker to his wife, while serving in the 2nd Iowa Cavalry Regiment, which reflect on military
operations on the Western front, camp life, and Civil War hospitals and medical care.
Language of Material: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Obadiah Ethelbert Baker Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
The collection was purchased from Argonaut Book Shop in June 1966.
Civil War soldier and teacher Obadiah Ethelbert Baker (1838-1923), a native of Eden, New York, moved to Iowa with his parents,
settling in Strawberry Point in 1856. At 21, he began teaching a class of 72 students at the local district school. In 1860,
he married Melissa Dalton (1844-1918). In 1860s, Melissa, formerly a student of his, taught school in the same district.
In September 1862, Baker enlisted in the Second Iowa Cavalry Regiment. The regiment was organized at Davenport in August
and September 1861 and was posted at Benton Barracks, Missouri until February 1862, when it moved to New Madrid. The regiment
took part in the operations at New Madrid, Island No. 10, and the advance on and siege of Corinth, Mississippi, the action
at Iuka, the battle of Corinth, Mississippi, Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign, and operations in Mississippi, Louisiana,
and Tennessee. In 1863, Baker spent several months in various hospitals in Missouri and Tennessee. He was honorably discharged
in Washington, D.C., in April 1865.
After the war Baker taught school in Mississippi and then returned to Iowa. In 1874, the Bakers left Iowa for Shasta County,
California. In Shasta and Modoc Counties, Baker taught school and sold farm implements and medicines. In 1900, the Bakers
moved to Kenwood, California. Obadiah E. Baker was active in Civil War veteran affairs. Baker died on January 25, 1923.
Obadiah and Melissa Baker had four children: a son who died in infancy, daughters Grace Amelia (1870-1876) and Caroline Melissa
(1866-1896), and son Milo Samuel (1868-1961), a renowned botanist. Between 1881 and 1887, Caroline and Milo attended San Jose
Normal School.
During the Civil War, Baker and his wife exchanged journals containing daily letters to each other. In 1870-1880s, while
working on a book of memoirs, Baker made fair copies of some of these letter books.
This collection consists of correspondence and individual manuscript volumes of Civil war soldier and teacher Obadiah E. Baker
and his wife, Melissa Dalton Baker, of Iowa and Northern California, and their family between the late 1850s and early 1900s.
Notably, the collection contains daily letters kept by Obadiah and Melissa Baker during the Civil War in the form of journals,
which they exchanged with each other. Some of these volumes are fair copies of the letter books made by Obadiah Baker in the
1870s-1880s, while working on a memoir. Topics covered in the letters include military operations of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment
on the Western front; camp life of a soldier: payments, foraging; drills and inspections, picket duty roads, recreations,
hospitals, medical care; doctors and nurses, especially work of Catholic Sisters of Charity; and Confederate prisoners.
In addition, there are poems (nearly 200 loose pieces), notebooks, and essays of Obadiah Baker, often reflecting on the
Civil War experience and memory in the 1860s-1900s; family correspondence chiefly sent between the Bakers and their children,
while the children attended the San Jose Normal School in the 1880s. The correspondence touches on family news, Baker's teaching
experience, and, occasionally, business and financial affairs.
Former call number: mssBaker papers.
This collection consists of correspondence and individual manuscript volumes and is organized in the following manner:
- Box 1: Correspondence, manuscripts, and journals of the Baker family
- Box 2: Civil War journals of Obadiah E. Baker
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Schools -- Iowa -- 19th century
Corinth, Battle of, Corinth, Miss., 1862 -- Personal narratives
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Medical care.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861 -- 1865 -- Literature and the war.
Iowa -- Social life and customs
Mississippi -- Description and travel -- Civil War, 1861 -- 1865.
Tennessee -- Description and travel -- Civil War, 1861 -- 1865.
Missouri -- Description and travel -- Civil War, 1861 -- 1865.
California -- Description and travel
California -- Social life and customs -- 19th century.
Memoirs -- United States -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- United States 19th century
Poems -- United States -- 19th century
Diaries -- United States -- 19th century
Newspaper -- clippings -- United States
Photographs -- United States
Family papers -- United States