Jonathan Hamilton Baker Collection

    
 

 

Summary: The original diary of Jonathan Hamilton Baker (July 13, 1832 - October 18, 1918) is thought by many to be the greatest treasure in the Tarrant County Archives. For more than 60 years, Baker kept a detailed diary, which now provides a thorough account of life in frontier Northwest Texas. This journal covers from the day Jonathan Hamilton Baker set off from Virginia for Texas on March 1, 1858, to 1918. The image above is a single page from the diary dated May 1, 1858. The Archives also maintains a Biographical File on Jonathan Hamilton Baker.

 

A Virginia native, Jonathan Hamilton "Ham" Baker came to Texas in 1858 with his brother G. W. Baker and his Uncle Eli Young. Stricken by malaria while a teacher in Fort Worth, he later moved to Palo Pinto County where his Uncle Frank Baker was homesteading. He opened a school in Palo Pinto, and soon after helped form the town's first Methodist Church. In 1859 Baker was chosen to lead a company of local men organized to defend the area against Indian attacks. He served under Captain J. R. Baylor and later worked with Captain Lawrence Sullivan Rossto recover Cynthia Ann Parker, a settler captured by a group of Comanche in 1836. During the Civil War Baker served as leader of the home guard. He was also an open-range cattleman, and he began driving his herds to Kansas railheads in 1869. Active in local government, he served as Deputy Sheriff, Justice of the Peace, Deputy Postmaster and Clerk of the County and District. In 1890, he moved to Granbury, where he became a successful nurseryman. He and his wife, Nancy A., are buried in Granbury Cemetery, Hood County, Texas. A historical marker which mentions this diary is dedicated to Baker on the Courthouse Square of Palo Pinto County.

 

Donated by Charles Edward Fancher, Charles F. Fancher Jr., Jeanne Fancher and Virginia M. Rigby (Mrs. George W.), 1979

 

Transcribed by Archives volunteers Roger Waite and Cecelia Gilbreath, 2012-2017

 

Credit: Jonathan Hamilton Baker Diary, Tarrant County Archives, Fort Worth, Texas.

 

Pictured: Roger Waite transcribing Baker diary in Tarrant County Archives, 2013.