Edward D. Baker
- February 24, 1811 - October 21,
1861

Edward Dickinson
Baker was born in England, February 24, 1811. He immigrated to the
United States in 1815 with his parents, who settled in Philadelphia.
They moved to Illinois in 1825. Baker studied law and was admitted to
the bar in 1830 and commenced practice in Springfield where he was a
close friend of Abraham Lincoln.
Baker was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-ninth Congress and served
until his resignation when he was commissioned a colonel in the
infantry in the Mexican War. After the war he moved to Galena, Illinois
and was again elected to Congress. He moved to San Francisco in 1851
and resumed the practice of law. Baker moved to Salem, Oregon in 1860
where he was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate.

While serving as senator from Oregon he
raised a Union regiment in New York and Philadelphia. He was offered
the rank of general but declined so he wouldn't have to resign his
senate seat. Instead Baker was named colonel of the Seventy-first
Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Sen. Baker was killed in the
Battle of Balls Bluff, Virginia, October 21, 1861. Baker City and Baker
County, Oregon are named for him.
On May 19th, 2011, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber signed SB809 into
law, designating each February 24th as Edward D Baker Day in Oregon.
Col. Edward D. Baker Camp No. 6, SUVCW provided testimony to both
houses of the Oregon Legislature and help obtain a unanimous vote on
this issue.