Polk Co. IAGenWeb

BAKER, GEORGE C. - Of the firm of Geo. C. Baker & Co., hardware dealers, and manufacturers and jobbers of tinware. Among the prominent business men of this city may be mentioned the above named gentleman, who was born in Cook county, Illinois, December 21, 1844, and raised as a farmer's boy, and when eleven years of age he came with his parents to this county. In August, 1862, being but seventeen years old, he enlisted in company B, Twenty-third Iowa infantry, and participated in the following battles: Vicksburg, Milliken's Bend, Fort Esperanza, Fort Blakesley, Port Gibson, Champions' Hill, Black River, and Jackson, Mississippi, being mustered out in September, 1865. After his return from the army he engaged in the mercantile business in Polk City, where he continued until 1873, when he was elected County Auditor and was re-elected in 1875. He commenced his present business in April, 1877, and has succeeded in building up a large and constantly increasing trade. His private life and public record are alike untarnished. He was married in 1867 to Miss Mary, daughter of George and Mary Robinson, she is a native of Pennsylvania. Their family circle are George W. and Charles K. Have lost one son, Clyde E.