Samuel Baker (1732-?) and Rebecca Baker (1738-1765) Dennis, Mass.

May 6, 2012: Thanks to Marge Howes Perry for sending me information that proves Rebecca Baker's parents were Shubael Baker and Rebecca Chase. Samuel and Rebecca Baker did have a daughter Rebecca, but not the one who married David Howes.

My last blog entry on David Howes and his wife Rebecca Baker (see the entry here) reminded me that I haven’t written very much about my Baker ancestors. I suppose that’s because I find them inordinately confusing!

Rebecca’s parents were Samuel and Rebecca (Baker) Baker. Like researching them isn’t frustrating enough without Bakers marrying Bakers!

Samuel was born in Yarmouth (now Dennis) on 4 June 1732 to Samuel and Patience (Ryder) Baker. (I’ve also seen Patience’s maiden name as Berry).

Samuel married Rebecca Baker in Yarmouth (now Dennis) on 4 December 1755. She was born Dennis on 25 April 1738, so she was just 17 years old. Her parents were Judah Baker and Mercy Burgess.

Dennis Vital records lists three children born to Samuel and Rebecca:

1.      Samuel Baker born 19 of May 1759

2.      Zepheniah Baker born 9 of July 1761

3.      Rebeckah Baker born 23 of August 1763

Rebecca died in Dennis on 14 May 1765. Rev. Nathan Stone’s diary says that Samuel Bakers wife died in “child bed” so she must have given birth to a fourth child.

Samuel married second Sarah ______. Dennis Vital Records has the birth of four children:

1.      Thacher Baker born 24 of Decr 1767

2.      Susanna Baker born 16 of August 1770

3.      Samuel Baker born 13 of Jany 1788

4.      Zepheniah Baker born 26 of Novr 1789

It does seem odd that there would be such a large gap between Susanna and Samuel's births, but this is what is written in the Dennis Vital Records and was published in the Mayflower Descendant as well.  Swift’s 1912 work on the Baker family only gives the first two children for Samuel and Sarah.

Nancy Thacher Reid in her book on Dennis history has a chapter on Rev. Stone's diary and mentions his entry on Rebecca Baker's death in child bed. She also states that her husband Samuel was the man mentioned in the diary as being a Quaker "by profession" who died 14 Feb 1766, and that Rebecca may not have been a Quaker. If this is the case, then Samuel would not have married a second time and had additional children.

The diaries do mention a Samuel Baker quite frequently from the years 1765-1778, but perhaps he is talking about more than one Samuel. He mentions catechizing his children and preaching at his house, which wouldn't be the case if he was a Quaker.

If Samuel was not the one who died in 1766, I have not found his death or burial information. I have not found burial information on either of his wives. Perhaps they were too poor to afford gravestones or the stones didn't survive. Or, if they were Quakers, they often didn't use gravestones because of the perceived ornamentation.

So my Samuel Baker information is as clear as mud! If anyone has any information on Samuel, please drop me a note!

Sources Not Listed Above:

Charles F. Swift, Library of Cape Cod History and Genealogy, The Baker Family of Yarmouth, Descendants of Francis, No. 73, 1912

Derick, Burton N., Dennis Source Records, Volume 1: Church Records, 2004, Diaries of Rev. Nathan Stone

Charles F. Swift, History of Old Yarmouth; comprising the present Towns of Yarmouth and Dennis From the Settlement to the Division in 1794:  With the History of Both Towns to 1876