The mother was born in Benton County, Tennessee, January 19th, 1828, and died in Williamson County, Illinois, June 13th, 1877. Aunt Lizzie, as she was familiarly called, was the family physician and counselor in the pioneer families for miles around where she lived and her name and presence was so indissolubly connected with their joys and sorrows that she yet lives though dead.
Martin L. Baker was born in Benton County, Tennessee, July 5, 1854. He was two years of age when his parents moved to Williamson County, Illinois. He grew to manhood on the farm, attending school about three months each winter. At the age of sixteen he began teaching in the country schools, teaching in the winter and farming in the summer. At eighteen he attended the S. I. N. U. one term and afterwards Ewing College two terms, paying his expenses by labor on the farm during the intervening vacations. (Ewing College was at Ewing, Illinois, Franklin County.)
He studied law in the offices of Hon. F. M. Youngblood and Judge D. M. Browning, at Benton, Franklin County, Illinois, and was admitted to the bar in 1851 at Mount Vernon, Ill., being one of the successful applicants in a class in which over one fourth failed to pass.
He first opened an office in Carterville, this county, but in the spring of 1883 located in Marion, where he resided. At the Municipal Election in 1885 he was elected City Attorney, and in 1886 he was appointed Master in Chancery of his County, which office he held for three terms.
In July and August of 1887 Martin had a house constructed at 204 N. Buchanan Street.
On September 22nd, 1887, he was married to Amanda M. Spiller, or as he puts it, he invested $1.00 in the matrimonial lottery and drew the capital prize. Two children bless this union, Maude Elizabeth Baker born in 1888 and Miles Luther Baker born in 1898. Amanda was one of William J. Spiller’s daughters.
In 1897 his health failed and under the advice of his physician, with great reluctance he abandoned his chosen profession. In the fall of the same year he formed a partnership with John H. Duncan and engaged in the retail hardware and furniture trade. The business of the firm prospered and in the fall of 1903 the business was incorporated under the name of Duncan—Baker Hardware Co., capital stock $30,000.00: a branch store established at Johnston City and a jobbing department added. He is the Secretary and Treasurer of said corporation. (Duncan Baker Hardware was located in the 300 Block of the Square next to the alley on the northwest side.)
Martin was an early shareholder in the formation of the Marion Pressed Brick Plant in 1903.
At the organization of the Marion State and Savings Bank he was elected a member of the Board of Directors and was appointed as a member of the committee on auditing and examination of accounts. (Marion State and Savings Bank was the bank that built the building now called the Hotel State. The bank failed in 1930 at the onset of the depression.)
Martin L. Baker died late in 1918 after the month of September and was buried at Rose Hill Cemetery.
Amanda continued living in the home after Martin died except for a brief period after his death when she accompanied Miles to St. Louis, Mo. and lived there till he finished dental school. She then, between 1922 and 1927, remarried to Matthew J. Cochran and continued living in the family home at 204 N. Buchanan St.
In the 1930 census, her new husband Matthew listed his occupation as landlord and values the home at $2,500. He is 70 years old and Amanda is 63. They have boarders in the home as the census taken every decade has indicated the home often did.
By the 1940 census, Amanda is still living in the home and is once again a widower, having outlived two husbands. She is still listed as living in the home in 1947 but the home is vacant by 1955, so Amanda likely passed away in this period, around 1950 at the age of 83. Her actual death record is yet to be found.
Sam’s Notes:
Maude Elizabeth (Baker) Shaw, born July 11, 1888, married Raymond Harper Shaw in 1909. Raymond was born Feb. 3, 1886, in Bradford, Pa. When the couple first married, Raymond was an electrician working at the electric light plant. They occupied a home at 200 N. Buchanan St. next door to Martin and Amanda.
The couple had their first and only child named Raymond Baker Shaw on Sept. 9, 1913 and by 1918 when Raymond Sr. filled out his WWI draft record he had started working for his father in law as a bookkeeper at the Duncan-Baker Hardware Store at 406 Public Square.
After Martin Baker’s death in 1918, it’s possible that Raymond stepped into his shoes for a while, since the 1920 census indicates that he is now a retail hardware merchant and self-employed. By 1930 the couple, now in their early 40’s, have a 16 year old son and Raymond is a furniture store merchant.
Shortly after the beginning of the 1930’s they left Marion as many did during the depression and relocated in Chicago looking for work. In the 1940 census, they are living at 107 Sheridan Rd in Chicago. Ray senior is 54 and working as a stoker man for a soap manufacturer. Ray Junior is 26 and works as a salesman at a retail department store. Maude is 51 and tends the home. Their rent is $39 a month.
Raymond Harper Shaw (Sr) died in December 1966 at Cedar Lake, Indiana. He was followed by his son Raymond Baker Shaw (Jr) who died May 4, 1970 at Hammond Lake, Indiana. Maude Elizabeth (Baker) Shaw passed away last in 1973, also in Hammond Lake, Indiana.
Miles Luther Baker was born Sept. 6, 1898 and graduated Marion Township High School in 1917. The following year he was enrolled in dentistry school at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.
When Miles filled out his WWI draft record in September 1918 he listed his father as his contact, unfortunately his father died before the end of 1918. The record indicates he was attending dental school in St. Louis, was of medium height and build, had brown hair and brown eyes.
After the father’s death in 1918, mother Amanda accompanied Miles to dental school and stayed with him, where they rented a place at 3948 Delmar Blvd. After graduating they returned to the N. Buchanan home and Miles began his dental practice in Marion.
Miles married in 1922 to a girl named Edith and in 1927 they had a son named Lee Baker. His mother, Amanda, also remarried around this same time, so Miles now has a step father to deal with in the family home.
In the 1930 census, Miles’ mother is now 63 and remarried to Matthew J. Cochran, age 70, who claims to be landlord of the home which is housing Miles, his wife Edith and their son Lee for which they pay $25 per month in rent. There are other boarders present as well.
By 1935, Miles and his family have made the exodus out of Marion during the depression looking for work. They land in Kankakee, Illinois where Miles sets up a private office. His wife Edith serves as dental assistant. The couple is still located there during the 1940 census. They are paying $35 per month in rent at 464 Poplar Street in Kankakee.
Miles Luther Baker passed away in November 1987 in Sugar Grove, Virginia.
(Extracted from 1905 Souvenir History, WCHS; notes in parenthesis by Sam Lattuca 03/27/2013)