William Twitty "Billy" Baker

William Twitty Baker

• Birth: Nov 15 1856 - Carroll Co., AR
• Death: Jan 31 1937 - Leslie, Searcy Co., AR
• Parents: George Washington Baker, Manerva Ann Baker (born Beller)
• Siblings: Mary Lovina Baker, Martha Elizabeth Terry (born Baker), Sarah Francis Gladden (born Baker)
• Wife: Elizabeth Theodora Baker (born Smith)
• Wife: Cornelia Belle Baker (born Griffin)
• Children: Sophia Vadia Cantwell (born Baker), Maude Florence White (born Baker), George Richard Baker, Willie Winkle Baker, Josephine Taylor (born Baker), Daisy Pullen (born Baker), Luna Viles (born Baker), Ruby Mable Beauchamp (born Baker), William Arthur Baker, Woodrow Wilson Baker, Gladys Alexander (born Baker), Pauline Brattan (born Baker), Bonnie Shipman (born Baker)

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http://www.mtn-meadows-assoc.com/georgebaker.htm

The State of Utah was very brief in responding to the needs of the 76 year-old man who was orphaned from the richest family on the ill-fated wagon train. According to the depositions in the National Archives, his father, George Baker, lost two wagons, 136 cattle, 3 horses, 16 oxen, and five family member in the massacre and had a total worth of $4320. That was an awful lot of money during the Panic of 1857 and in the Great Depression in 1933. All of that propery was absorbed into the coffers of Brigham Young and his followers. It seems that a compassionate society could have given some help to William Twitty Baker who was orphaned by their actions and cast into of life of poverty. ....

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William and his two older sisters were three of 17 surviving children of the Mountain Meadows Massacre in UT, 9/11/1857. They were the children of George and Manerva (Beller) Baker, whom were slain in the massacre along with 118 other brave souls on the Fancher-Baker wagon train on their way from AR to CA. He was raised by his uncle after his return to Carroll Co., AR

George Washington Baker's three youngest children, Martha Elizabeth "Betty" Baker, born 7 March 1852, Sarah Frances "Sally" Baker, born 20 November 1854, and William Twitty "Billy" Baker, born 15 November 1856, survived the Massacre and were returned to their paternal grandmother, Mary A. (Ashby) Baker, in 1859.

If his daughter Sarah Frances' account is accurate, George Washington Baker appears to have died in the initial surprise attack on 7 September 1857. Her account says her sister, Martha Elizabeth, told her she had been sitting on her father's lap, and the bullet that killed him nicked Sarah's ear.

The Mountain Meadows Monument Foundation, Inc. placed a permanent marker on William Twitty Baker's grave in the Leslie Cemetery in Leslie, Arkansas.

Links

• William Twitty Baker November 15, 1856 - January 31, 1937 MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE SURVIVOR
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KJPH-FT5?cid=partn...