BAKER FAMILY HISTORY AND GENEALOGY

 

PENDLETON COUNTY KENTUCKY
 
 
WILLIAM J. BAKER
 
Permission to reprint by Julie Dargis of "Falmouth Outlook" 6.05.06
 
 

 

The photo above is how the grave marker looked after Mark Black finished resetting it

and then placed an American flag beside it.

 

The Lone Forgotten Soldier

By: Mark Black

 

 On this Memeorial Day I thought it would be fitting to write about a lone forgotten soldier buried in Northwestern Pendleton County.

 

He is remembered by a few local people in the area, but most have no idea about him and his story.

 

In a field right next to Jagg Road and just below Unity Baptist church lies the remains of a Union soldier of the Civil War.  His name was Private William J. Baker.  A lone Civil War military marker tells the spot of his burial over 140 years ago.  He is not located in a cemetery, but buried all alone in a field.

 

William was born in 1831 in Grant County, Kentucky, the son of Andrew Baker.  He was a Private in Company D, 4th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, Union Army, during the Civil War and fought through Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia.  He was severly wounded during the assault on Missionary Ridge, Tennesse on November 25, 1863, which was part of the Battle of Chattanooga.  Sometime afterwards, he was sent home to recuperate from his wounds at the home of his sister, Louisa McMillan wife of Robert McMillian, Jr.

 

Either during the last months of the war or right after it was over, William contracted smallpox while living with his sister and brother-in-law.  He died there and was buried in a field on his sister's farm because people back then were aftraid of spreading smallpox.  He was never married and had o children.

 

Recently his military gravestone was reset from where it had fallen over and a flag placed at his grave for Memorial Day.  I wanted to try to tell his story so others would know about him.  The saddest thing to see is a forgotten soldier's grave.  I suppose theree are many of them in our county.  If you know of any, please take the time to repair a stone, place a flag, or just make a note of where the grave is for anyone that may be interested.

 

I found out about William J. Baker's grave from my friend and cousin, Mr. Lewis Bowen.  The grave is located on his farm.  If it had not been for his information, I believe the grave would have been completely forgotten and lost to history.

 

 

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  More about William J. Baker and his father and sister who housed and nursed him through his tragic infirmities

 

 


                      
 
             
 
 
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