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Our
Namesake:
Colonel Edward D. Baker
U.S. Senator For Oregon |
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Edward
Dickinson Baker,
was born in England, February 24, 1811. He immigrated to the United
States in 1815 with his parents, who settled in Philadelphia. They
moved to Illinois in 1825. Baker studied law and was admitted to
the bar in 1830 and commenced practice in Springfield where he was
a close friend of Abraham Lincoln. Baker was elected as a Whig to
the Twenty-ninth Congress and served until his resignation when
he was commissioned a colonel in the infantry in the Mexican War.
After the war he moved to Galena, Illinois and was again elected
to Congress. He moved to San Francisco in 1851 and resumed the practice
of law. Baker moved to Salem, Oregon in 1860 where he was elected
as a Republican to the U.S. Senate. While serving as senator from
Oregon he raised a Union regiment in New York and Philadelphia.
He was offered the rank of general but declined so he wouldn't have
to resign his senate seat. Instead Baker was named colonel of the
Seventy-first Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Sen. Baker
was killed in the Battle of Balls Bluff, Virginia, October 21, 1861. Baker City and Baker
County, Oregon are named for him.
On May 19th, 2011, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber signed SB809 into law, designating each February 24th as Edward D Baker Day in Oregon. Baker Camp #6, SUVCW provided testimony to both houses of the Oregon Legislature and help obtain a unanimous vote on this issue.
Baker Camp Named Most Outstanding SUVCW Camp 2008 by the National SUVCW!
See our News page for more details!
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