122 BAKER COUNTY. 



of the sufferings which were heaped upon him on account of 

 espousing the cause of his country. We, who are now happy 

 in the enjoyment of the blessings of civil and religious freedom, 

 are incapable of fully appreciating the immense sacrifices, the 

 incomparable hardships, and the dangerous struggles which 

 accompanied the revolutionary conflict. That portion of the 

 State in which Col. Baker resided had, from the very begin- 

 ning of the rupture between England and her colonies, evinced 

 open and unreserved opposition to the former, and was doomed 

 to experience a full measure of unmitigated severities from the 

 hands of our unfeeling invaders. John Baker was one among 

 the first objects of British vengeance. He beheld his house 

 robbed, his bed and clothing destroyed, the temple of his God 

 profaned, its minister thrown into a prison ship, and de- 

 nied the rights of a common burial when the enemy had caused 

 his death ; and worst of all, he saw the tombs in the church-yard 

 broken open, and their contents scattered to the winds. Is it 

 any wonder, therefore, that his son, Col. John Baker, should 

 always have been distinguished for his implacable hatred to 

 tyrants? In 1774, we find Mr. Baker associated with others 

 of a kindred spirit, in devising a plan to produce a concert of 

 feeling and action, throughout the parishes of the province. In 

 1776, Capt. Baker collected a body of men, and made an attack 

 upon Wright's Fort, on the St. Mary's river, but owing princi- 

 pally to the treachery of a part of his force, he was compelled 

 to retreat. Among those who deserted the standard of free- 

 dom at this time, were the McGirths, members of Baker's com- 

 pany, and who afterwards obtained great celebrity as leaders 

 of the tories, and whose progress was always marked by cru- 

 elties that would have made savages blush. Soon after this af- 

 fair he was engaged as commander of a body of observation, 

 stationed between the posts of Fort Howe, Beard's Bluff, and 

 Fort Mcintosh ; and throughout the whole war he contributed 

 his utmost efforts in favour of independence. He first entered 

 the army as a captain. In a skirmish at Bull Town swamp, 

 he was wounded. After the war he resided in Liberty 

 county, where he died. 



