BAKER, FRANCIS C. (1821-?). Francis C. Baker, newspaper editor and railroad promoter, was born in Indiana in 1821. Information about his education is lacking, but he was called Dr. F. C. Baker by the time he became an editor of the Jefferson Democrat at Jefferson, Texas, in 1848. In the same year he undertook a scientific exploration of Texas with J. Eppinger and J. D. Baker. In 1851 F. C. Baker and Eppinger compiled a pocket map of Texas. Apparently Baker contributed to DeBow's Review a group of unsigned articles describing the climate and geography of Texas as an inducement to settlers. He attended the railroad convention at Monroe, Louisiana, in 1852. In 1853 he wrote to the Texas State Gazette (see austin state gazette) a letter in defense of routing the Pacific railroad through Texas. In it Baker said that on his trip across Texas via El Paso to California in 1848, he kept a journal of natural topography that might have a bearing on the railroad. In 1870 Baker was a bookkeeper with the Jefferson Insurance, Savings, and Exchange Company and was married and had two children. He was still living in 1871.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Clarksville Northern Standard, January 8, April 22, 1848. James M. Day and Ann B. Dunlap, comps., Map Collection of the Texas State Archives, 1527-1900 (Austin: Texas State Library, 1962). James M. Day and Ann B. Dunlap, comps., "Map Collection of the Texas State Archives, 1888-1900," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 66 (October 1962). Texas State Gazette, March 22, 1851, November 11, 1853.