BAKER, Edward Dickinson (1811-1861)
Senate Years of Service: 1860-1861
BAKER, EDWARD DICKINSON, a Representative from Illinois and a Senator from Oregon; born in London, England, February 24, 1811; immigrated to the United States in 1815 with his parents, who settled in Philadelphia, Pa.; moved to Illinois in 1825; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1830 and commenced practice in Springfield; member, State house of representatives 1837; member, State senate 1840-1844; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-ninth Congress and served from March 4, 1845, until his resignation on December 24, 1846, to take effect on January 15, 1847; commissioned colonel of the Fourth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, on July 4, 1846, and served until he was honorably mustered out on May 29, 1847; participated in the siege of Vera Cruz and commanded a brigade at Cerro Gordo; after the Mexican War moved to Galena, Ill.; elected as a Whig to the Thirty-first Congress (March 4, 1849-March 3, 1851); was not a candidate for renomination in 1850; moved to San Francisco, Calif., in 1851 and resumed the practice of law; moved to Oregon in 1860; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy in the term beginning March 4, 1859, and served from October 2, 1860, until his death; raised a regiment in New York City and Philadelphia during the Civil War; commissioned brigadier general of Volunteers May 17, 1861, but declined; colonel of the Seventy-first Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and major general of Volunteers 1861; killed in the Battle of Balls Bluff, Va., October 21, 1861; interment in San Francisco National Cemetery, San Francisco, Calif.
- Albin, Ray R. "Edward D. Baker and California's First Republican Campaign.'' California History 60 (Fall 1981): 280-89.
- Baltz, John D. Honorable Edward D. Baker, U.S. Senator from Oregon. Lancaster, PA: Inquirer Printing Co., 1888.
- Blair, Harry C., and Rebecca Tarshis. The Life of Colonel Edward D. Baker, Lincoln's Constant Ally, Together with Four of His Great Orations. Portland: Oregon Historical Society, 1960.
- Braden, Gayle Anderson. "The Public Career of Edward Dickinson Baker.'' Ph.D. dissertation, Vanderbilt University, 1960.
- Dickson, Edward A. "Lincoln and Baker: The Story of a Great Friendship.'' Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly 34 (September 1952): 229-42.
- Hay, John J. "Colonel Baker." Harper's New Monthly Magazine 24 (December 1861): 103-110.
- Kennedy, Elijah R. The Contest for California in 1861: How Colonel E.D. Baker Saved the Pacific States to the Union. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1912.
- Shutes, Milton H. "Colonel E.D. Baker.'' California Historical Society Quarterly 17 (December 1938): 303-24.
- Snigg, John P. "Edward Dickinson Baker--Lincoln's Forgotten Friend.'' Lincoln Herald 53 (Summer 1951): 33-37.
- U.S. Congress. Addresses on the Death of Hon. Edward D. Baker. 37th Cong., 2d sess., 1861-1862. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1862.
- Vandenhoff, Anne. "Edward Dickinson Baker.'' Pacific Historian 23 (Winter 1979): 1-8.
- ___. Edward Dickinson Baker, Western Gentleman, Frontier Lawyer, American Statesman. Auburn, CA: Pony Express Printers, 1979.
- Wallace, Joseph. Sketch of the Life and Public Services of Edward D. Baker, United States Senator from Oregon, and Formerly Representative in Congress from Illinois, Who Died in Battle Near Leesburg, Va., October 21, A.D. 1861. Springfield, IL: Journal Co., Printers, 1870.
