land agent, soldier, b. Stafford, N.Y. He attended Oberlin (Ohio) College and the Univ. of Wisconsin. During the Civil War he served in the Union secret service and in the cavalry, rising to the rank of major. In 1864 he was captured and spent several months in Libby Prison, Richmond, Va. After the war, he taught school and worked in the Michigan state land office. In 1874 he moved to Wisconsin, settling in St. Croix Falls where he acted as land agent for Caleb Cushing's extensive timber holdings. He built the first church and water works in the village. In his later years he became interested in forestry and made extensive experimental tree plantings near his home. He was the father of eight sons including the author, Ray Stannard Baker [David Grayson] (q.v.), and educators, Charles Fuller Baker and Hugh Potter Baker. St. Croix Falls, The Standard-Press, May 23, 1912; A. B. Easton, ed., Hist. of the St. Croix Valley (2 vols., Chicago, 1909); Wis. Mag. Hist., 28; R. S. Baker, Native Amer. (New York, 1941).

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Joseph Stannard Baker Papers for details.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]