On September 30, 1856, 19-year old Minerva married 26-year old John Algernon Algernon Baker, an attorney from Wilmington NC. (His middle name also found as Alpheus.) The couple removed to Wilmington where their only known child was born -- Jennie Jane Graham Baker.
When the War Between The States broke out, her husband joined the ranks of the 3rd Calvary in Wilmington where he rose to the rank of Colonel. Col. Baker was captured in June 1864 and held by Federal Authorities on Morris Island, SC until the end of the war. Col. Baker took the Oath of Allegiance in Mar 1865, and returned to Wilmington where he once again opened a law office on Front Street, opposite the Bank of Cape Fear.
Minerva Baker survived the war but died shortly thereafter, passing in 1866 at the young age of 29. Whether by choice or coercion, her husband turned over the care of their only daughter to Minerva's family.
John A. Baker, whose military record is less than complimentary, was a notorious rake, reportedly being devastatingly handsome. Records indicate he married multiple times after Minvera died, with some reports saying he wed as many as 5 women. This researcher found evidence of 2 wives -- Letitia C. Hargin, whom he married in 1868 and then abandoned (without benefit of divorce), to marry NY socialite Susan A. Lawrence, whom he married in 1873. Susan died in childbirth in Charleston in 1874, and the infant did not survive. John reportedly died in Galveston, Texas in 1903 just a few days shy of his 73rd birthday.
As for Minerva's daughter, Jane Jennie Graham Baker, she grew up in Raleigh after her mother died. Following her mother's death, she went to live with her maternal grandmother in Raleigh, and was last known to be a living with her maternal aunt, Annie Haywood Ruffin in Raleigh in 1910. She was unmarried.
∼This info is from a cemetery survey compiled in 1940 by the Historical Records Survey of North Carolina located in the Wake County Family Records Collection, State Archives. Please be aware that I have found numerous errors in spelling and dates, which leads me to believe that whoever transcribed the original had trouble reading the handwriting.
On September 30, 1856, 19-year old Minerva married 26-year old John Algernon Algernon Baker, an attorney from Wilmington NC. (His middle name also found as Alpheus.) The couple removed to Wilmington where their only known child was born -- Jennie Jane Graham Baker.
When the War Between The States broke out, her husband joined the ranks of the 3rd Calvary in Wilmington where he rose to the rank of Colonel. Col. Baker was captured in June 1864 and held by Federal Authorities on Morris Island, SC until the end of the war. Col. Baker took the Oath of Allegiance in Mar 1865, and returned to Wilmington where he once again opened a law office on Front Street, opposite the Bank of Cape Fear.
Minerva Baker survived the war but died shortly thereafter, passing in 1866 at the young age of 29. Whether by choice or coercion, her husband turned over the care of their only daughter to Minerva's family.
John A. Baker, whose military record is less than complimentary, was a notorious rake, reportedly being devastatingly handsome. Records indicate he married multiple times after Minvera died, with some reports saying he wed as many as 5 women. This researcher found evidence of 2 wives -- Letitia C. Hargin, whom he married in 1868 and then abandoned (without benefit of divorce), to marry NY socialite Susan A. Lawrence, whom he married in 1873. Susan died in childbirth in Charleston in 1874, and the infant did not survive. John reportedly died in Galveston, Texas in 1903 just a few days shy of his 73rd birthday.
As for Minerva's daughter, Jane Jennie Graham Baker, she grew up in Raleigh after her mother died. Following her mother's death, she went to live with her maternal grandmother in Raleigh, and was last known to be a living with her maternal aunt, Annie Haywood Ruffin in Raleigh in 1910. She was unmarried.
∼This info is from a cemetery survey compiled in 1940 by the Historical Records Survey of North Carolina located in the Wake County Family Records Collection, State Archives. Please be aware that I have found numerous errors in spelling and dates, which leads me to believe that whoever transcribed the original had trouble reading the handwriting.
Gravesite Details
Spouse of Col. John A. Baker; Daughter of Hon. William Henry Haywood & Jane Graham
Family Members
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