William Evans BAKER

                   B-Hooper Ward Record GSF #026,033 p54
M-Record of Reuben Baker & Mary Ann Savage/GSF# EH 183,397 p52 Liv Slg
D-Record of Deaths Weber Co. GSF#026,453 Obit Rec. Card Cat GSF #321,139
Bapt.-End Rec GSF #183,406 p212 28 Jan 1856 - Rebapt GSF#026,033 1 JUN 1879
End.-EH Living End GSF#183,406 p 212 #25
Slg-EH Living Slg GSF#183,397 p52
Occupation: Farmer
Parish of Kingsbury, Warws., Eng. GSF #198,735


WILLIAM EVANS BAKER:

       William Evans Baker was born in Hurley, Warwickshire, England, the 12th day of June 1834, the son of Thomas and Mary Evans Baker.  He was not named Evans at the time of his christening in the Church of England, but later assumed his mother's maiden name to distinguish him from the other William Bakers.  The date of Thomas' death is not known, but the census records show that in 1841 the family was alone without a father.  It is likely that William's life as a child was one of work and responsibility.
       When he was 21 years of age he heard and accepted the message of the Latter-Day Saint missionaries in England.  His sisters, Sarah and Caroline had been baptized.  On the 28th day of January 1856 he became a member.  The next seven years were ones of continuous service to the Church for he served as Branch President of the Little Heath Branch and as a missionary.
       In 1862 he sailed for America, landing in New York on the 16th day of June.  With his widowed mother, only brother, Reuben and sisters he crossed the plains by ox team, walking all the way.  At Rocky Ridge Station he was asked to remain for six weeks to guard provisions from the Indians.  This he did, and then proceeded to Salt Lake City, arriving the 25th day of October, 1862.  He walked to Riverdale to meet his mother and sisters.
       It was in Riverdale he met Esther Celestia Cole, daughter of William Riley Cole and Nancy Parrish.  Here they made their first home.  Like most of the newly arrived pioneers, William Evans Baker had no money.  His only possessions were a team of oxen with which he must wrest a living from the soil.
       Shortly after William and Esther were married, the president of the stake came to him with a request to send William's team back across the plains with supplies to aid the immigrants on the trail.  The president prophetically promised that the oxen would return.  It was spring and time to start farm work, but William's faith in the new church was strong, so he gave all that he had without question.  Six months later the promise with fulfilled, and the oxen returned; but they were so weak and worn, they never worked again.  In the meantime a blessing much greater than William could have anticipated came to him.
       In the spring of 1865 many were rushing to the gold fields of California.  Where the trail reached the mouth of the Weber Canyon they found the Weber River a swollen and rushing torrent too dangerous to cross.  William recognized his opportunity.  Borrowing a horse, he and "Hi" Alfred scouted the river along the channel in what is now Uintah.  They located a favorable crossing, and for one dollar each they forded the prospective miners across the river.  Six weeks after releasing his oxen William had sixty-five dollars and enough money to buy a team of buckskin horses.
       In Riverdale their first child, Esther Diana was born to this couple.  When Diana was six months old, William took the hind wheels off a wagon, used the reach for a tongue and put on springs and a box.  With a horse and an ox, he went to what is now Hooper, Utah to look for a homestead.  Here the family located, living at first in the wagon box at Hooper Springs.  Nearby they gathered from the top of the soil a substance called saleratus (potassium or sodium bicarbonate.)  This they hauled to Salt Lake and sold.
       William E. Baker was the first settler in Hooper and their second child, Julia was the first white child born there.  The family farmed, raising peaches, apples, strawberries and potatoes.  They would peddle the fruit from Hooper to Coalville, Wanship, Hoytsville, Morgan and Henefer.  They hauled coal back on the return trip.  Parley would go with father on these trips but Nathan who was older stayed home to work.
       Esther Celestia also peddled fruit.  The family had acquired two new wagons.  These they filled with cases of strawberries.  Parley and Nathan would drive one wagon full of fruit to Bountiful where someone waited with the other wagon and a team of fresh horses.  Usually this was Esther or a son-in-law, Byram Bybee or Chancy Garner.  Teams would be changed and the wagon full of fruit was driven on to Salt Lake where the strawberries were peddled from door to door for 50 cents a case.  Parley recalls waiting and crying while his mother tallked to customers.  While driving to and from Salt Lake, Esther would knit stockings for the family.
       Once in Farmington, Esther fell into a bog of quicksand.  William was unable to pull her out, so he threw her a rope, fastened it to the team and pulled her out.  They often laughed together over this incident.
       William and Esther were blessed with a family of five boys and eight girls.  She often called them her "Baker's Dozen."
       William's life was one of continued wervice to the Church and community.  On the 24th of February, 1908 his long and useful life closed, leaving a large posterity to bless him and exemplify his good works.
       (Incidents in this account are given by William's son, Thomas Parley Baker.)

CLOSED HONORED CAREER                                  Roy, Utah
                                                                                 February 24, 1908

William E, Baker,  Hooper's first settler goes to his rest.
       February 24th.  Another of the pioneers of Weber County, Wm. Evans Baker has gone to his long earned rest, having passed from mortality this morning at 11:00 o'clock at the family residence at Roy, Weber County, Utah at the ripe age of 73 years, 8 months and 12 days.  For a long time his health has been failing and the end came peacefully, with his large family near him.
       He was born at Hurley near Burmingham, England June 12, 1834 and was the son of Thomas and Mary Evans Baker.  When a young man he accepted the gospel in 1856 in his native land, and was baptized by Elder Wm. Gray, and ordained a Priest Oct. 23, 1859 by Samuel Carter, and was ordained an Elder Dec. 26, 1859 by Elder Samuel Carter and was put in President of the Little Heath Branch the same day.  He performed continuous missionary until landing in New York about June 16, 1862.  Crossing the plains with an ox team, walking all the way to Rocky Ridge, he was called on to stay there to guard provisions from being taken by the Indians.  He stayed there six weeks and then went on to Salt Lake City, arriving there Oct. 25, 1862.  He walked to Riverdale, Weber County the next day to meet his mother and sisters.
       In 1865 he was married to Esther C. Caole, who with five sons and six daughtersm fifty-three grandchildren and three great grandchildren survives him.  The deceased was the first settler of Roy, Utah and his daughter, Mrs. C. J. Garner of Roy was the first child born in Hooper.  He has been a faithful man in the Latter-Day Saints Church, and was a member of the High Priest's Quorum when he died.  He was ordained a High Priest March 25, 1905 by Bishop Robert McQuarrie.  For a number of years he was president of the Hooper Irrigation Company, and has done much for the building of that section of the country.  He was also one of the main instigators in bringing out the Weber and Davis County Canals.  He helped to draw the first chain to survey it and built the first house in Roy.


FUNERAL SERVICES OF WILLIAM E. BAKER

       William E. Baker was laid peacefully to rest in the family burial plot in the Hooper Cemetery yesterday afternoon.  Impressive funeral services were held at the Hooper Meeting House, bishop's counselor Oscar Rice officiating.  The ward choir sand several beautiful and appropriate selections.  Miss Hattie Jones sang "He Leadeth Me."  The speakers were Pres. Charles F. Middleton, Elders Lee Hammond, Gilbert Belnap, James Beus, Joseph Wright, Francis Starkey, Oscar Rice and Bishop George Kendall, who eulogized the many virtues and noble traits of charaacter of the deceased and his true devotion to the gospel, the active part which he took in the pioneer work of settling up Weber County, and helping others to do right.  The attendance at the services which crowded the church evidenced the love and esteem felt for him in that part of Weber County.  He died as he had ever lived, a loving father and kind husband, and a true Latter-Day Saint, with an assurance of a glorious resurrection.


A PATRIARCHAL BLESSING:
June 9, 1886

A patriarchal blessing by Joseph L. Robinson on the heas of William E. Baker born June 12, 1834:

       "Brother I lay my hands upon your head in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to impart unto you a father's blessing which is Patriarchal.  Thou are a son of Abraham of the house of Joseph through the lineage of Ephraim.  Thou hast received the Gospel in an honest heart.  The Lord thy God is pleased with thee because thou hast left thy native land and many of thy friends for the Gospel's sake.  Thou hast gathered with the people of the saints and planted thyself in the land of Zion.  Thou hast set out to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and to keep his Holy Commandments which of thou shall do thou shalt be greatly blessed, blessed in thy house, blessed in thy fields, thine orchard and vineyards, in thy flocks and in thy herds and shall be mighty in bearing testimony.  Thy posterity shall become numerous and honorable in Israel.  The Lord thy God hath a mission in store for thee and through the grace of God assisting thee with honor and great satisfaction.  Be diligent in thy labors and faithful in thy duties remembering the Lord thy God to walk uprightly before Him and thou shalt be greatly blessed in all thy labors, in all thine undertakings and shall live to accomplish a great and good work in the earth.  Thou shalt behold and assist in the redemption of Zion, shall see the Savior and rejoice exceedingly on the mountains of Israel.  Be humble (very) and the Lord thy God shall give unto thee Grace and shall impart unto thee of the Holy Spirit which shall be a light unto thy feet and a lamp to thy path.  Thou shalt be able to discern spirits and possess a quick conception to discern truth from error, right from wrong, light from darkness.

       These Blessings we seal upon your head with everlasting life to come forth in the morning of the resurrection of the just and you shall become a counselor in Zion and possess a Kingdom.  In the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen"

My Ancestors Assisted in Pioneering Utah, by Mary Ella Baker Bybee
     (Written on application for membership in the Society of Daughters of the
     Utah Pioneers)
     My grandmother's father, William Baker came with Captain Horne company across the plains - walking all the way.  They were compelled to ford each stream on their way; William carried his mother and two sisters across all of them.  When they were part way across the plains he was detained at  Rocky Ridge Station to take care of the flour, and protect it from the Indians.  He stayed six weeks; coming to Utah later.
       He settled in Riverdale, and it was there that he met Esther Cole (who came across the plains when 3 years old) whom he married.  when they had been married one year they moved to Hooper, Utah.  At this time Hooper was unsettled and they built a one room house, one of the first to be built there.  At this time he had a horse, and an oxen for a team.
       Esther Cole Bake went through many hardships in helping settle Hooper.  She would go, and gather salatrus, and haul it to Salt Lake in exchange for flour, and a few other provisions.  The grasshoppers were very bad, and one year they ate everything, and she had to go help fight them.  Later she moved to Roy, Utah where she lived until her death.  In later years she did a great amount of Temple work.  She was the mother of thirteen children and remained a faithful Latter-Day Saint to the end.