Remember Baker, II

Notes:

Land speculator, leader in the dispute with New York, Captain in the Green Mountain Boys, and cousin of the Allens. He was born in Connecticut in 1737. In 1763, Baker came to Vermont after serving in the French and Indian wars, settling in Arlington. He constructed the first gristmill there. He became involved in land speculation with I and Ira Allen.

In March 1772, an attempt by a band of Yorkers was made to capture Baker and thus claim the bounty which had been placed on his head by Albany leaders. A dozen men led by John Munroe of Arlington, an attorney who represented New York in the area, entered Baker's house, beat his wife and children and tried to set fire to the house. Baker escaped the house to draw attention away from his family. He was overtaken by his attackers and whisked away toward Albany. A rescue party was quickly organized in town and it set off in pursuit. They caught up with Monroe "a large, spiteful, willful, and very malicious dog, educated and brought up agreeable to their (Albany's) own forms and customs." The kidnapping was a "wicked, inhuman, most (barbarous), infamous, cruel, villainous and thievish act." Munroe himself later wrote in exasperation that the Vermonters "are all possessed of the spirit of contradiction, so full of venom and spite against the government and all its authority that they are forced yet the sting remains."

In 1775, Baker accompanied I than Allen's force at the capture of Ticonderoga. The following autumn, he was among the Green Mountain Boys taking part in the commencement of the invasion of Canada. General Schuyler ordered Baker into the interior to scout the British troop movements, and in the cover of the night he landed at the shore of St. John's in a canoe. A short while later, he came upon a party of Indians trying to steal his boat. A fight ensured, and Baker lost his life and his scalp. Thus ended a life of promise for the Green Mountain Boys.
From Gazetteer of Vermont Heritage, published by the National Survey, Chester, VT. 1974.
I can only say that after living for almost 20 years in New York state, things haven't changed much from the old days in Albany!
Married Desire Hurlbut 03 Apr. 1760.
Two children: Rema Baker F
Ozi Baker M
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Note supplied by FAG contributor BCTrail:
"Remember Baker II and Ethan Allen, 1737-1789, were first cousins. Remember's father, Remember Baker I, 1711-, and Ethan's mother, Mary Baker, 1706-1774, were siblings."