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Celebrating 300 Blog Posts with My Top Ten Favorites

  October 1st marks my 300th Leaves on the Tree blog post. Hooray!! Writing my blog posts is one of my very favorite things to do. I am excited to share my discoveries, family stories, photos, heirlooms, and more. It's always a kick when a cousin, subscriber, or even casual reader comments on a post or finds their own link to my extended family. What could be better than to find connection ?   To celebrate this milestone, I've picked my Top Ten Leaves on the Tree Blog Posts .  And wow, it's hard to pick just ten favorites. But here they are, in no particular order: What Would You Tell Me, Catherine? My imagined conversation with my second great-grandmother, Catherine Ryan Gilbride. In Periculo Mortis A reflection on my strange baptism. Mom's Chocolate Covered Cherry Caper A favorite holiday story! Family Fun Stories: The Rabbit Another fun anecdote involving my mother and brother. What is a Pickslate? Defining the role my great-great uncle took as an eleven-yea...
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EDWARD JOSEPH BAKER

Edward Joseph Baker.1


31 Days of Writing Family History Challenge

January 10, 2022:   Paternal Great Grandfather #2  - Edward Baker (1886-1961)


by Nancy Gilbride Casey

Once again, the treasure chest of family photos gives up some gold today, with terrific photos of Edward Joseph Baker, another paternal great grandfather.

Edward Joseph Baker was born on 1 October 1886 in Port Dalhousie, St. Catharine's, Ontario, Canada, to Joseph Becker and Sarah Dyer, one of the couple's ten children. He married Catharine Anna Cassidy on 11 June 1907 in Port Dalhousie. Around 1910, the couple moved to the United States and took up residence in Cleveland on W. 11th Street, with their son Charles.2 It was in Cleveland that all Edward and Catherine's daughters were born, including our grandmother Mary Josephine Baker Gilbride.

Edward had an athletic streak, evidenced early on: he played both hockey and lacrosse. In 1906, he was a member of the Factory Lacrosse League championship team for McKinnons in St. Catharines, Ontario.3

Edward Baker, undated hockey photo.4

Eddie Baker (middle row, 4th from left), was a member of the 1906 Factory Lacrosse League championship team in St. Catharines, Ontario.5

This athleticism no doubt helped Edward in his later career as an iron moulder; he worked in a Cleveland foundry in 1910; in 1917 he reported working for Allyne-Rand. He was employed there as late as 1942, and perhaps beyond.6 Allyne-Rand did grey iron casting, one of the very oldest types of iron casting historically, and used in many industries such as agriculture, architecture, machinery production and transportation.

My Dad often told me of his fond memories of his Grandpa and Nana Baker. Photos of Edward show him to be a family man, who appears to genuinely enjoy his charges.

Catherine & Edward Baker and their children: Kathryn, Charles (center), Grandma Mary Josephine (with bow), Gertrude and Marybelle.7

 

Catherine and Edward Baker. I am gobsmacked by the incredible resemblance of Edward to our Uncle Tom, his grandson!8


Edward and Catherine Baker in their later years, likely mid-1950s.9

NOTES

1 Edward Baker, undated, unknonw photographer/location; private collection of R. Firestone [address for private use], 2022.

2 For birth: Ontario, Canada, Births and Stillbirths Registrations, County of Lincoln, Div. of Pt. Dalhousie, book 2, p. 352, Edward Becker, 1 Oct. 1886; database & images, "Canada, Ontario Births, 1869-1912," FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-Y3SC-M6K : accessed 10 January 2022), image 345 of 823; citing Archives of Ontario, Toronto. For marriage: Ontario, Canada, Marriages, County of Lincoln, Division of Pt. Dalhousie, p. 173, record 56, marriage of Edward Joseph Baker to Catherine Anna Cassidy, 11 June 1907; database & images, "Canada, Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927," FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-Y391-CHJ : accessed 10 January 2022); image 707 of 1517; citing Archives of Ontario, Toronto. For 1910 residence: United States Federal Census, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, population schedule, enumeration district 125, sheet 3-B, Cleveland Township, dwelling 59, family 78, Edward Baker (23); image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRVD-HL7 : accessed 10 January 2022).

3 "Factory Championship 1906," unknown newspaper, calculated publication date 1946; private collection of T. Gilbride [address for private use], 2022.

4 Photo of Edward Baker, undated photo, photographer/location unknown;private collection of T. Gilbride [address for private use], 2022.

5 Factory Championship photo, about 1946.

6 U.S. Selective Service System, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Local Record Board #2, Draft Registration #205, Edward J. Baker (30), about 1917; image FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-L1DD-8BS : accessed 10 January 2022); citing NARA microfilm publication M1509, Washington, D.C.; U.S. Selective Service System, Ohio State Headquarters, Cuyahoga County, Local Record Board #39, Draft Registration #U2495, Edward Joseph Baker (55), 27 April 1942; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1002/images/2wwii_2371491-1749 : accessed 10 January 2022); citing NARA record group 127, St. Louis, Mo.

7 Photo of Baker Family, undated, unknown photographer/location; private collection of R. Firestone [address for private use], 2022.

8 Photo of Catharine and Edward Baker, undated, unknown photographer/location; private collection of R. Firestone [address for private use], 2022.

9 Photo of Edward and Catherine Baker, about mid-1950s, unknown photographer/location; private collection of N. Casey [address for private use], 2022.


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