Rev. Samuel Nicholas Baker

Do not confuse with Deacon Samuel Baker

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Apr 14 2018, 6:57:55 UTC

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Fear Robinson, bapt. at Barnstable, Mass., Jan. 26, 1644; d. in Norwich or Windham, Conn. ; m. Rev. Samuel Baker of Hull. He was born at Hingham, Mass., bapt. Oct. 2, 1638, and died by June 7, 1715, when administration of his estate was granted to "Abigail Baker, widow, and John Huntington, son-in-law." Samuel was the son of Rev. Nicholas Baker of Scituate and Barnstable, Mass. Rev. Samuel Baker married for his second wife Mrs. Abigail (Lathrop) Huntington, widow of John Huntington. He moved from Hull to Barnstable before 1687, where he was still residing in 1704. He was a brother of Sarah Baker who married Josiah Litchfield, the paternal ancestor of W. J. Litchfield of Southbridge, Mass.

From Find a Grave:

Samuel Baker, eldest known child of Rev. Nicholas and Elizabeth Baker, bapt. Oct. 21, 1638 at Hingham, Mass. by Rev. Peter Hobart. When Samuel d. is unknown, but he was alive on Mar. 24, 1714/15 in Barnstable, Mass. (Barnstable TRs.]

By Dec. 1664, Samuel m. Fear Robinson, eldest surviving dau. of Isaac Robinson and Margaret Hanford, bapt. Jan. 26, 1644/5 (by Rev. John Lothrop) in Barnstable, Mass. When Fear d. is not of record and where Samuel and wife Fear are presently interred is not of record.

Between the date of their marriage and early 1687, Samuel and Fear resided at Hull, Mass. Samuel and Fear relocated to Barnstable, Mass. by 1686 and were admitted to the Barnstable church May 12, 1687 by letter of dismission from the church at Hull [Barnstable Ch. Rec.] They had five known children, all b. in Hull albeit no vital or church records exist for the first 50 years of that town's existence.

John Baker, the first acknowledged child of Samuel and Fear, was b. Oct. 15, 1672, almost eight years after the marriage of his parents. It is the writer's belief circumstantial evidence indicates a namesake son Samuel and dau. Fear, b. before son John, have been overlooked and not considered by researchers of either the Baker or Robinson family.

The current recognized children of the family are:

• i. Deac. John Baker, b. Oct. 15, 1672 in Hull, Mass., d. Jan. 27, 1763 in Windham, Conn., Æ 91 (g.s.); m. Oct. 14, 1696 in Barnstable, Mass., Anna Annable, dau. of Samuel Annable and Mehitabel Allen, b. Mar. 4, 1675/6 in Barnstable. She d. Mar. 21, 1732/3 in Barnstable, Æ 57 (g.s.). Ten children of the family.

• ii. Mercy Baker, b. before June 1678 in Hull, Mass.; was given a £10 legacy in the Oct. 30, 1678 will of her paternal grandfather, Rev. Nicholas Baker, but there is no subsequent record of her unless she is one and the same as iv. Mary Baker below.

• iii. Nathaniel Baker, b. after May 7, 1679, d. May 7, 1750 in Barnstable, Mass., Æ 71 (g.s.); m. 1) before 1705, prob. in Hull, Mass., Mercy Binney, dau. of John and Marcy Binney of Hull, b. Dec. 15, 1682 in Hull. She d. Mar. 9, 1718 in Barnstable, Mass. He m. 2) Jan. 5, 1718/9 in Barnstable, Mercy Lumbert, widow of Shubael Lewis, who d. in Barnstable, Mass. after Aug. 22, 1725. Nine children of the family, all by first wife Mercy Binney.

• iv. Mary Baker, b. circa 1682 in Hull, Mass.; m. Oct. 26, 1699 in Barnstable, Mass., Adam Jones, her surname entered as "Baker" in the printed marriage record in the 1912 issue of the Mayflower Descendant, but as "Barker" in the NEHG Society's 2001 Barnstable Town Records CD. Three known children of the family.

• v. Grace Baker, b. circa 1684 in Hull, Mass., d. May 18, 1730 in Windham, Conn.; m. Dec. 16, 1701 in Barnstable, Mass., Israel Luce of Tisbury, Mass., s. of Henry Luce and Remember Litchfield. He d. May 20, 1727 in Windham, Conn. Nine children of the family. Grace and her husband are largely the progenitors of the Luce family of Windham, Conn.

Several items concerning Samuel Baker must be noted.

First. In Charles F. Swift's revision of Amos Otis's original 1860-1861 Barnstable Families series, Swift added to the Isaac Robinson outline that Isaac's daughter Fear married "Rev. S. Baker of Barnstable." Swift apparently interpreted the singular "Mr." in a 1691 Barnstable town record for Samuel to mean "Rev." At the time "Mr." also meant a person who had an honored social, political or economic status in a town. This revisionary notation by Swift is repeated in subsequent writings on the related family, including by Fred A. Baker in 1917 in his Rev. Nicholas Baker... genealogy. The title of "Rev." was also adopted by Anderson in the Great Migrations Begins. However, there is no record that Samuel was formally trained for, ever ordained as, or ever held a ministerial office in any church in New England. In Frederick Lewis Weis: The Colonial Clergy and the Colonial Churches of New England (1936), the only Baker who was a recognized clergyman in early New England was Samuel's father.

Second. According to the 1925 Robinson Genealogy, Samuel Baker, husband of Fear Robinson, relocated from Barnstable to Conn. in 1704 where he m. as his 2nd wife the widow Abigail (Lothrop) Huntington, and then d. in Windham, Conn. shortly before June 7, 1715. This is repeated in numerous modern texts including in the Great Migration Begins. Unfortunately, this claim is based on an error by Charles Manwaring in Vol. 2 of his Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records, Hartford District, in which Manwaring misstated the place that Samuel Baker, husband of Abigail Lothrop, died, which was Windsor, not Windham, Conn. Barnstable town records prove that Samuel Baker, husband of Fear Robinson, was alive and residing in Barnstable on Mar. 24, 1714/5. For a complete explanation of this error see Abigail (Lothrop) Huntington's Second Husband, Samuel Baker, of Windsor, Connecticut, in the NEHGS REGISTER (Vol. 161, April 2007, pp. 123-126).

Edited 11/16/2016

By Dec. 1664, Samuel m. Fear Robinson, eldest surviving dau. of Isaac Robinson and Margaret Hanford, bapt. Jan. 26, 1644/5 (by Rev. John Lothrop) in Barnstable, Mass. When Fear d. is not of record and where Samuel and wife Fear are presently interred is not of record.

Between the date of their marriage and early 1687, Samuel and Fear resided at Hull, Mass. Samuel and Fear relocated to Barnstable, Mass. by 1686 and were admitted to the Barnstable church May 12, 1687 by letter of dismission from the church at Hull [Barnstable Ch. Rec.] They had five known children, all b. in Hull albeit no vital or church records exist for the first 50 years of that town's existence.

John Baker, the first acknowledged child of Samuel and Fear, was b. Oct. 15, 1672, almost eight years after the marriage of his parents. It is the writer's belief circumstantial evidence indicates a namesake son Samuel and dau. Fear, b. before son John, have been overlooked and not considered by researchers of either the Baker or Robinson family.

The current recognized children of the family are:

• i. Deac. John Baker, b. Oct. 15, 1672 in Hull, Mass., d. Jan. 27, 1763 in Windham, Conn., Æ 91 (g.s.); m. Oct. 14, 1696 in Barnstable, Mass., Anna Annable, dau. of Samuel Annable and Mehitabel Allen, b. Mar. 4, 1675/6 in Barnstable. She d. Mar. 21, 1732/3 in Barnstable, Æ 57 (g.s.). Ten children of the family.

• ii. Mercy Baker, b. before June 1678 in Hull, Mass.; was given a £10 legacy in the Oct. 30, 1678 will of her paternal grandfather, Rev. Nicholas Baker, but there is no subsequent record of her unless she is one and the same as iv. Mary Baker below.

• iii. Nathaniel Baker, b. after May 7, 1679, d. May 7, 1750 in Barnstable, Mass., Æ 71 (g.s.); m. 1) before 1705, prob. in Hull, Mass., Mercy Binney, dau. of John and Marcy Binney of Hull, b. Dec. 15, 1682 in Hull. She d. Mar. 9, 1718 in Barnstable, Mass. He m. 2) Jan. 5, 1718/9 in Barnstable, Mercy Lumbert, widow of Shubael Lewis, who d. in Barnstable, Mass. after Aug. 22, 1725. Nine children of the family, all by first wife Mercy Binney.

• iv. Mary Baker, b. circa 1682 in Hull, Mass.; m. Oct. 26, 1699 in Barnstable, Mass., Adam Jones, her surname entered as "Baker" in the printed marriage record in the 1912 issue of the Mayflower Descendant, but as "Barker" in the NEHG Society's 2001 Barnstable Town Records CD. Three known children of the family.

• v. Grace Baker, b. circa 1684 in Hull, Mass., d. May 18, 1730 in Windham, Conn.; m. Dec. 16, 1701 in Barnstable, Mass., Israel Luce of Tisbury, Mass., s. of Henry Luce and Remember Litchfield. He d. May 20, 1727 in Windham, Conn. Nine children of the family. Grace and her husband are largely the progenitors of the Luce family of Windham, Conn.

Several items concerning Samuel Baker must be noted.

First. In Charles F. Swift's revision of Amos Otis's original 1860-1861 Barnstable Families series, Swift added to the Isaac Robinson outline that Isaac's daughter Fear married "Rev. S. Baker of Barnstable." Swift apparently interpreted the singular "Mr." in a 1691 Barnstable town record for Samuel to mean "Rev." At the time "Mr." also meant a person who had an honored social, political or economic status in a town. This revisionary notation by Swift is repeated in subsequent writings on the related family, including by Fred A. Baker in 1917 in his Rev. Nicholas Baker... genealogy. The title of "Rev." was also adopted by Anderson in the Great Migrations Begins. However, there is no record that Samuel was formally trained for, ever ordained as, or ever held a ministerial office in any church in New England. In Frederick Lewis Weis: The Colonial Clergy and the Colonial Churches of New England (1936), the only Baker who was a recognized clergyman in early New England was Samuel's father.

Second. According to the 1925 Robinson Genealogy, Samuel Baker, husband of Fear Robinson, relocated from Barnstable to Conn. in 1704 where he m. as his 2nd wife the widow Abigail (Lothrop) Huntington, and then d. in Windham, Conn. shortly before June 7, 1715. This is repeated in numerous modern texts including in the Great Migration Begins. Unfortunately, this claim is based on an error by Charles Manwaring in Vol. 2 of his Digest of the Early Connecticut Probate Records, Hartford District, in which Manwaring misstated the place that Samuel Baker, husband of Abigail Lothrop, died, which was Windsor, not Windham, Conn. Barnstable town records prove that Samuel Baker, husband of Fear Robinson, was alive and residing in Barnstable on Mar. 24, 1714/5. For a complete explanation of this error see Abigail (Lothrop) Huntington's Second Husband, Samuel Baker, of Windsor, Connecticut, in the NEHGS REGISTER (Vol. 161, April 2007, pp. 123-126).

Edited 11/16/2016