Notes for Baber Family Members
Individual Notes from the database.
The notes are of no particular order or family relationship.

Notes Page #5

Note 154:  Obit of James David "Jake" Baber

Death Comes to J.D. Baber, Age 85  J.D. (Jake) Baber, 85, retired farmer died at 9 P.M. Sunday at his home in Pinchem, Clark Co. Kentucky.  Mr. Baber was a native of Clark County and was the son of the late Stanley and Martha Baber.  He was a member of the Antioch Christian Church.  Survivors include four sons, Howard, James, and Edward, all of Clark County and S/Sgt. Robert Baber of the U.S. Air Force stationed in Maine; a daughter, Mrs. William T. True, Red Lion, Ohio, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.  Funeral arrangements had not been completed.  The body is at Scobee Funeral Home.

Note 155:  Obit of Stanley Baber 1849-1918

Stanley Baber dies Saturday.  Succumbs at his home at this City from a complication of diseases.  The death of Stanley Baber, well know citizen of Clark County occurred Saturday night at his residence at Maple and Sycamore Streets of this city.  Mr. Baber who was 68 years of age died from complication of diseases.  Funeral Services were conducted Monday afternoon at 2 o'clock by Reverend H.C. Shoulders at the Winchester Cemetery where the deceased was laid away.  Mr. Baber is survived by his wife who before there marriage was Miss Callie Parido and 10 children.  They are seven sons, John, George, Riley, Claude, Charles, French, and Asa and three daughters, Mrs. Myra Moore, Mrs. C.E. Burgher, and Mrs. R.E. Merritt.

Note 156:  Obit of Asa Baber

Asa Baber, 66; wrote Playboy's 'Men' column June 18, 2003 BY DEBRA PICKETT Staff Reporter "I am here to urge you to be a little more brave, a tad more courageous and self-controlled," Asa Baber wrote in his last column, which appears in this month's issue of Playboy magazine, "and to take some private time to contemplate the mysteries of the universe and ask yourself how you plan to spend whatever time you have left. "How can you avoid wasting your life?" Mr. Baber, the longtime author of Playboy's "Men" column, died Monday morning at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He'd been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in September 2001. Mr. Baber and Gehrig, his childhood hero, shared a birthday: June 19. Mr. Baber would have turned 67 on Thursday. A public memorial service is planned for Monday, June 30 at the Thorne Auditorium, 375 E. Chicago, at 6:30 p.m. Mr. Baber grew up on the South Side of Chicago, a self-described "gutter snipe" with a penchant for small scale trouble that might have gotten bigger had his grandmother not intervened and shipped him off to the Lawrenceville Academy, a posh New Jersey boarding school, and then to Princeton University. But Mr. Baber's elite education was always tempered by the tough-guy streak that had been born on 47th Street and honed in the U.S. Marines' Platoon Leader Corps, which he joined while in college. He served in the Marines, after his 1958 graduation, until 1961. Mr. Baber had grown up wanting to be a writer in the style of the hard-boiled journalists he'd met on his summer job as a newspaper copy boy. A chance meeting with William Faulkner set him on a more literary path. After graduate work at Northwestern University and the prestigious University of Iowa Writer's Workshop, Mr. Baber published his first novel,The Land of A Million Elephants, a story of military intrigue in Southeast Asia clearly influenced by his own--top-secret--experiences in the Marines. Mr. Baber was a professor of English at the University of Hawaii from 1969 to 1975. He was so beloved by his students there, and those he later taught at a series of visiting professorships, that a Chicago Sun-Times feature about him published in February 2002 prompted more than two dozen former students to get in touch with him. Mr. Baber's writing, which included fiction, essays, journalism and drama, appeared in several major national magazines and garnered many awards. But he was best known for his work in Playboy. In 1982, after writing an essay called "Who Gets Screwed in a Divorce? I Do!," Mr. Baber launched the "Men" column. Developed with his mentor, longtime Playboy editor Arthur Ketchmer, the column was a touchstone for the men's liberation movement. With humor, often raunchy and usually wry, and an utter disdain for political correctness, Mr. Baber waged a battle of the sexes that celebrated difference but never surrendered to stereotype. After going public with his ALS diagnosis in an appearance on the 2002 Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon, Mr. Baber was elected to serve as a national vice president of the MDA. Colleagues there loved his humor, his sprit and, of course, the quintessentially manly courage with which he faced his disease. "He wasn't 'Tuesdays With Morrie'," said Lauren Webb, an MDA health care coordinator at the ALS clinic at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, "He was Asa." "Even at his bedside, when he was dying, he was still cracking jokes," said his son Brendan, "and there was still laughter in the room." Mr. Baber is also survived by another son, Jim; his fiancee, Sherri Stubbs, and his sister Dorothy, best known as Ducky. His first grandchild, a boy, is due to arrive in September.

Note 157:  Sons-in-law to Sir Thomas Leigh of Stoneleigh and his wife Alice:
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Records Guide: DR 18/10/97/12 date 7 September 1573:

"Conveyance by Dame Alice Leigh, widow of Sir Thomas Leigh, alderman of London to Thomas Coney of Basyngthorpe, Lincs., esquire, Edward Baber of Lincoln Inn, gent., and George Bonde, citizen and haberdasher of London [her sons-in-law]

Note 158:  Obit of Charlie Baber, born Rutherford Co. North Carolina

Charlie Baber, 72, of Chicago and formerly of Battle Creek, died Monday, November 3, 2003 at home.  He was born on March 5, 1931 in Rutherfordton, NC. Charlie married Joan Ramey on December 14, 1952.  Baber spent six years at Miami University in Ohio before coming to the newly formed Kellogg Community College in 1962, retiring in 1986. In addition to directing countless shows at KCC, he was active in Junior Theatre, the Marshall Civic Theatre, and the Tibbits Opera House in Coldwater.  Charlie enjoyed conducting estate sales, yard sales, collecting antiques, gardening, making "Sugercamp Pottery" with his wife, Joan. Most of all, Charlie loved being with his family and friends.  He is survived by his wife, Joan, daughter Lynn Baber, son-in-law Jeff Parker, granddaughters Grace and Constance Parker, brother Larry (Annette) Baber, Uncle C.B., and countless students and friends who learned from his teaching and from his enthusiasm for life.  He was preceded in death by daughter Robin Baber in 1998.

Note 159: Obit of Margaretta Geneva Baber Edwards

Margaretta Geneva Baber Edwards, 78, of Crimora died Sunday, November 16, 2003.

Born August 22, 1925, in Albemarle County, she was the daughter of the late Hildra E. Baber and Effie Canody Baber. She is also preceded in death by her husband, Samuel Henry Edwards; one sister, Ruby Birckhead; eight brothers, Archie, Virgil, Robert, Ashby, Russell, Curtis, Herman and Percy Baber.

She is survived by three children, Sylvia Morris and husband John, of Nellysford, Kenneth Edwards and wife Barbara of Crimora and Russell Edwards and wife Linda of Crozet; a brother, Aubrey Baber and wife Betty of Maryland; three sisters, Helen Hudson of West Virginia, Hazel Woody of Crozet and Gracie Toms and husband Grayson Jr. of Faber. She is also survived by five grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, four step-grandchildren and thirty nieces and nephews.

Margaretta retired in 1987 from Panorama in Earlysville and was a member of The Holy Cross Church in Batesville.

The family wishes to give a special thanks to The Hospice of the Piedmont.

Family visitation will be Tuesday, November 18, 2003, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Anderson Funeral Home in Crozet.

Graveside services will be Wednesday, November 19, 2003, at 11 a.m. at The Holy Cross Church Cemetery in Batesville, Va. with the Rev. Denny Sites and the Rev. David Snodgrass officiating.

Anderson Funeral Home of Crozet is in charge of arrangements.

Note 160: Nellie Baber Christensen, age 109

Nellie Baber Christensen, age 109, was the daughter of John and Sarah Ballenge Baber. One of seven children
who reached adulthood, she was born January 1, 1875 at Dow City, Crawford County, Iowa. She died March 15, 1984
at Kearney, Buffalo County, Nebraska. Shortly after the blizzard of 1888, the family relocated to homestead near
Gordon, Sheridan County, Nebraska, residing in a sod house, and learning to live in the presence of Native Americans
from the nearby Pine Ridge Reservation. At the age of 17, Nellie taught school at Gordon, and shortly afterward in
1894 married Martin Christensen, a shoemaker who had emigrated from Denmark to Nebraska. At first, the couple
returned with the Baber family to Iowa, but in 1910, they moved with their children back to Nebraska to take positions
with the Youth Development Center, then the State Industrial School at Kearney. Her husband taught shoe-making,
and Nellie worked in the kitchen.

After her husband retired in 1937, they moved to New Mexico, but soon returned to Buffalo County to live at
Miller. Upon her husband's death in 1942, she helped a friend run a restaurant in Miller, and then drove to Kearney to
provide companionship to older women alone. She moved to St. John's Care Center in Kearney at the age of 99 after a
car accident. A member of the United Methodist Church, she once headed the Women's Improvement Park Committee
in Miller. During an interview, she reported that "I taught my family what it is to live right, for that's the secret to
getting by in hard times." Her five children preceded her in death, yet all but two of her own brothers and sisters lived
to their nineties. Among Nellie’s surviving relatives were four grandchildren, three great grandchildren, and one sister.
The author verified her age by examining the 1920 Nebraska Soundex under Martin Christensen, Buffalo County,
State Industrial School. His wife Nellie was listed as age 45, born in Iowa. For history, see article in December 31,
1974 Kearney Daily Hub, and an obituary in the March 21, 1984 Elm Creek Beacon-Observer.

Note 161: Obit of Mable Baber Dawes

Mable Irene Dawes, 99, of Bremerton died July 13, 1999, at Belmont Terrace Convalescent Center of colon cancer.
She was born Dec. 18, 1899, in Moorehead, Iowa, to Eli and Nellie (Butterfield) Baber. She grew up in Iowa and Nebraska.
She married Courtney "Jack" Dawes on April 1, 1979, in Bremerton. He preceded her in death in 1980.
She served as a medical technician in the Women's Army Corps from 1943 to 1944. Later, she worked as a clerk at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for 12 years, retiring in 1965.
She was a life member of the Disabled American Veterans. She also was a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Survivors include a daughter, June Roof of Wheat Ridge, Colo.; a stepdaughter, Alice Board of Wenatchee; two foster daughters, Louise Ayers of Spokane and Ruth Deam of Bremerton; and three grandchildren, Brent Foley of Eagle River, Alaska, Earl "Bud" Bryant of Peoria, Ariz., and Jerry Dickey of Arvada, Colo. She was preceded in death by a son, James Andrews, by a daughter, Jean Foley, and by a sister, Velma Fowler.
A memorial service will be held at noon Sunday at the Odd Fellows Hall, 100 S. Dora in Bremerton. Arrangements are under the direction of Miller-Woodlawn Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Bremerton Foodline, 1318 Park Ave., Bremerton, WA 98337 or to the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, c/o Carol Lowrie, P.O. Box 1324, Port Orchard, WA 98366-0056.

Note 162: Obit of Asenath Baber Northcutt 

The Marietta Journal
July 26, 1906

Mrs. Asenath Northcutt, the widow of the late Jesse Northcutt, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Campbell Wallace, on last Thursday afternoon, aged
81 years.
She was one of the oldest citizens of Marietta, and identified with the early history of our town. She was a most estimable lady possessing those Christian virtues and gentle graces that adorn human character. She was a faithful member of the Baptist Church, and lived an exemplary life.
The deceased is survived by three sons and three daughters-Mr. Charles S. Northcutt, of Gilmer county; Mr. R. H. Northcutt, Mr. John D. Northcutt, Mrs.
J. H. Barnes, Mrs Campbell Wallace and Mrs. F. B. Wellons, and a number of grandchildren.

The funeral was conducted at the residence of Mrs. Wallace on Friday afternoon at 4:30, by Dr. C. E. W. Dobbs, pastor of the Baptist Church, and Dr.
J. H. Patton, pastor of the Presbyterian Church.  The interment was in city cemetery. Our sympathy is extended to the bereaved ones.

Additional Comments:
Asenath's parents were George Baber (1802-1848) and Nancy Ann Haynes (1809-1891). George Baber was the 1st Sheriff of Marietta, Cobb County Georgia.
Before the prison was built he kept the prisoners under an overturned wagon on the square.  Asenath and Jessie Jones Northcutt were married 12 Sep 1844, Marietta (Cobb) Georgia.

Note 163:  Cleburne News:Issue of Thursday, May 28th, 1925

JUDGE BABER WRITES LETTER FROM TEXAS

Burkburnett, Texas, May 22nd

I promised a few lines to some of your readers when I reached Texas and looked around. Myself, my wife and Mrs. Mollie Burguess and Mrs. Cobb of Tallapoosa, left Heflin Saturday morning at 2 o'clock for Wichita, Texas, a railroad point 10 miles from where E.D. Owen and his wife, our daughter, reside and arrived Sunday at 1:30 p.m. We found four cars in waiting, our daughter and sons and Henry Carroll. We quickly made the 10 miles over the cement road most
all the way. We found all well.

Having plenty of rain, too wet to plow until Monday of this week. Enoch Owen will get his corn crop laid by today, which is from hip to shoulder high over
the 45 acres. Too much rain has caused many farmers to plant their cotton the second time. I am watching Enoch farm today, six mules drawing two row planter
putting down cotton seed with a Fordson tractor and double disc in the lead; and two boys with cultivators making the last stretch along corn rows half a mile long; another boy mounted on a slide, to which blades that run under just the surface, clipping everything it touches. A tractor and 12 mules all at work, with Enoch and boys to carry water. All plowing is done with the driver mounted on a spring seat.

I am sitting in the yard now and looking out over this level land half mile in one direction and a mile in another and can see these teams the entire day as
they move along the long corn and cotton rows. This farm lies three miles east of Burkburnett, the great oil town. Derricks almost as thick as pine trees
with pumping stations running day and night.

The farms on the Oklahoma side of Red River are just as nice as those on the Texas side, which are cut up into quarter sections, making the farms smaller.
Along every section line there is a public road and a house on each corner.

I am sitting in the fork of a peach tree on Fletcher Baber's farm among nice red fruit just beginning to ripen. On this farm the other day a rain fall of
more than 20 inches fell, breaking across these half rows. Wheat is no good this year; oats are fine. I have not reached Jas. Hale's settlement yet; hope
to do so on tomorrow and will write again in a week or so. D.S. Baber

Note 164: Lenore Adelaide "Lee" Griffith Baber

On Thursday, December 2, 2004 in Alexandria, VA. Mrs. Baber lived in Jacksonville Arkansas since 1969. She worked at the Community Bake Shop in Little Rock for over 27 years, where she affectionately known as the "Cookie Lady". During her career at Community Bake Shop two of her frequent customers were Bill and Chelsea Clinton. Before settling in Little Rock, Mrs. Baber and her late husband SMSGT Hay Baber, USAF and their sons lived in many states as well as Great Britain, the Azores and Japan. Mrs. Baber is survived by her sons Rodney O. Baber of Alexandria, VA and Gregory Baber of New Orleans, LA. Grandmother of Margaret Ann Baber, Zachary Baber and Haylee Baber. She was predeceased by her husband Hay Baber and sons Brian Baber and Jeffrey Wayne Baber. 

Note 165:  Wilbur Haygood Baber, Jr. Obit

Wilbur H. Baber, Jr. was born December 18, 1926, in Shelby, North Carolina, to Wilbur Haygood Baber, Sr. and Martha Corinne Allen Baber. He died on Tuesday, April 12, 2005, at the age of 78 years and is survived by his step-mother, Madge Baber, brother, Jack Baber, and sister, Martha Allen Baber Gandy, all of North Carolina, several nieces and nephews, and many cousins. He is also survived by his many faithful friends and clients. He was preceded in death by his parents, his aunt, Lydia Eloise Suttle, his uncles, Sam Moore Allen, Lewis B. Allen, Sr., Raymond B. Allen, Jr., Alton C. Allen and William W. Allen, and several cousins.

Mr. Baber attended public schools in Shelby, North Carolina, and Hallettsville, Texas, and graduated from Hallettsville High School in 1944. He enlisted in the United States Army in May of 1944, at age 17, entered active service in February of 1945, and was Honorably Discharged in December, 1946, having received the Asiatic Pacific Service Medal (serving in the Philippines and Korea), the Good Conduct Medal, the World War II Victory Medal and an Occupation Medal.

After World War II and his service in Korea, he continued his education at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1949; and at the University of North Carolina and the University of Houston where he completed post-graduate work in civil engineering. He worked as a Civil Engineer for several years for Conoco Oil Co. in Texas, Louisiana, in the Great Lakes region and offshore Louisiana and Texas.

At the urging of his uncles, Alton and William Allen, Mr. Baber decided to pursue a legal education while working for Conoco in Louisiana. He attended the Law School at Loyola University in New Orleans, where he received his Bachelor of Laws Degree in 1965. Afterwards, he was licensed to practice law in both Louisiana and Texas, and came to Texas in 1966 to begin practicing law with his uncles.

Mr. Baber was a Licensed Attorney and Surveyor in the States of Texas and Louisiana and has been recognized many times by the State Bar of Texas for his high standards of Legal Ethics and Professionalism and for his untold hours of providing free or reduced-fee legal services to those who needed help when they could not afford it. He took great pride in being a lawyer and in treating the legal profession as a 'profession' rather than as a 'business' or 'industry', as it is so commonly referred to today.

Having spent a good bit of his youth in Hallettsville and then living here permanently since 1966, Mr. Baber had a great desire to carry on the family traditions of ranching and providing excellent legal services to the citizens of Lavaca and surrounding counties begun by his grandfather, Raymond Burroughs Allen in 1882 and carried on by his uncles. He also very much enjoyed being a part of an ongoing tradition in his family of making Lavaca County a better place to live. He followed in Alton and William Allen's footsteps in always promoting and helping fund worthwhile projects and activities in the area including hospitals, clinics, churches, public and parochial schools, libraries, fire departments, museums, cemeteries, parks, courthouse restoration, rodeo and livestock show facilities for the benefit of our youth, as well as untold numbers of occasions in which he helped individuals with everything from college educations to paying utility bills for someone down on their luck and, yes, waiving his attorney's fees in many instances. Wilbur H. Baber, Jr. was a Philanthropist in the truest sense of the word and was recognized by the Hallettsville Chamber of Commerce & Agriculture as "Citizen of the Year" in 2000 for all of his contributions to the community. We were all blessed in one way or another with his sense of fairness, kindness and compassion for humankind.

Service: 2pm, Saturday, April 16, 2005 at the First United Methodist Church of Hallettsville. Burial: Hallettsville City Cemetery.

Note 166  Joseph Biggerstaff Death Newspaper account reprinted about 1900

Shelby, NC Aurora about 1900 says, “Sometime the latter part of May 1865, a few cut throats from the Confederate Army pitched camp near Mr. Joe Biggerstaff, terrorizing the surrounding community by boldly taking what they wanted, pretending to be part of the Southern Army. Four members of the gang went to Samuel Biggerstaff, who was about 60 yrs. old at the time and forced him to hand over what money he had, about twenty dollars, and made a Mr. W.M. Waters, who was working for Samuel Biggerstaff to ride with them down the creek to Mr. Joe Biggerstaff’s. 

The gang made little Sam, (son of Joseph) hold on to their horses. They then demanded Mr. Joe Biggerstaff’s money. He handed them fourteen dollars. As the bad guys were splitting the money, Mr. Joe Biggerstaff looked at Mr. Waters and pointed to an axe nearby, snatched one himself and cut one man’s skull open and felling two more, when the fourth man opened fire with a revolver upon him, killing him. The robber then ran to the front yard where the horses were left and found them galloping in every direction, and little Sam running in the direction of the fence which he scaled just as a bullet whizzed past, which was intended for his head, but the boy had the presence of mind to fall off the fence on the opposite side and lie there. The bandit returned to the house and killed Mr. Waters. 

The bandit Mr. Biggerstaff slew was a McDaniel from Kentucky. The gang broke camp when they heard the Federal troops were coming.

Note 167:  James Madison Callicutt of the Andrew Jackson Babers family
Submitted by Helen Callicut Chapman

James Madison Callicutt was a farmer by profession and owned many farms in Navarro County, although he resided in Blooming Grove, Texas.  He and his wife, Melissa Babers Callicutt, raised four children, only two of whom lived to maturity. 

He provided a home for his wife's parents on his property in Blooming Grove, and later cared for his elderly parents there, also.  On April 28, 1898, he died from an attack of appendicitis, a disease which killed one of his younger sons and struck his son James Madison, Jr. when the latter was serving in the U.S. Army. Fortunately, James Madison Callicutt, Jr. was treated by Army surgeons and survived.

Note 168:  John Wesley Babers
Source: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana, 1890

John W. Babers is another honest, progressive and successful agriculturist, and although his plantation comprised only 366 acres, he has 220 acres under
cultivation, the yield from which, owing to its admirable management, is much larger than on many more extensive tracts.  It was purchased in 1888, and is 
situated on the right bank of the Cane River, and is a piece of land of which any one might well be proud to possess.

Mr. Babers was born near Meridian, Miss., October 31, 1853, to A. J. and Elizabeth (Stokes) Babers, she was born in Winn Parish, La., and Mississippi,
being sixty five and fifty eight years of age, respectively.

John W. Babers is the eldest in a family of eleven children, nine of whom are living, and his youthful days, in addition to being spent in the common
schools, were given to farm work.  He came with his parents to Louisiana in 1865, and settled in Bienville Parish, but removed to Winn Parish in 1873, but
has been a resident of his present farm since the fall of 1889, on which he expects to make his future home.  His marriage to Miss M. E. Watson took place
in 1876, she being a native of Claiborne Parish, La., born in 1858.

To their union seven children (so far) have been born: William A., Lula, Lee A., Nettie, Pearl, Ella Jack and Mary M.  Mr. Babers and his wife are earnest
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in his political views he is a Democrat, and socially belongs to Montgomery Lodge No. 168 of the A.F.&A.M.

Note 169:  Story by D.S. Baber
NEWSPAPER Issue of Thursday, June 5, 1924

BABER TELLS OF EARLY SETTLERS OF CLEBURNE; Older Families of The Cane Creek Valley Recalled by D.S. Baber

A short history of some of the oldest families who lived years ago on the waters of Cane Creek will not be out of place.  Beginning with our own 
family:  I was born in an old log cabin in 1857 where Edwardsville now stands, being the seventh and youngest son of my parents.  Old Doctor Shepard
was our physician and that is where I get the name I bear, the Shepard part having been added by me after I was seven years old.  The writer was eight 
years old at the close of the civil war.  Three of my oldest brothers were in this bloody conflict, one of them giving his life to the Confederacy.  One 
brother, Jack Baber, and myself are the only brothers living, a sister, Mrs. J.M. Tyler, living now in the Choccolocco Valley.

On the headwaters of the Cane Creek back in those days lived "Uncle" Billy Cheatwood and Bobby Cheatwood, descendants of whom still populate this section 
of the state. 

The Patty family was also a large and well known one at that time and were known far and near as potato farmers of the efficient kind.

Shady Owen had four sons, Bartlett, Oliver, Irvin and W.K. Owen.  Bartlett Owen was elected twice as probate judge of Cleburne county.  Irvin went west 
and W.K. Owen still lives in this county.  He served with distinction through the civil war.

The Harper family was then and now one of the best families in the county.  William Harper was several times elected tax assessor of the county.  He 
performed the duties of that office for many years despite the fact that he was bedridden from rheumatism. He performed the duties lying on a cot.  He is 
still living but is still a cripple and confined to his bed day and night.

The Bennett family was a large and influential one.  "Grandpa" Bennett built the Bennett Bridge.  He had four sons, Willis, John, Green and Roland, two of 
whom went through the civil war.  Three of them reared larged families, several of the girls becoming wives of leading Alabama people.

Another of the good old families was the Coker family.  Jim Coker and his sister, Martha, I remember distinctly. They lived where John F. Bennett lived 
at the time of his death.

Written by D.S. Baber

Note 170:  FOUR KILLED ONE INJURED
Noon Passenger Strikes Car and Kills Occupants Tuesday Oct 03, 1916

Cory Baber, Mrs. Lena Baber, his wife and Miss Exia Baber, daughter of Mrs. Edith Baber, were killed outright  Mrs. Edith Baber, widow
of the last George Baber, died of injuries and Ralph Baber, her son, was seriously hurt when the southbound Big Four passenger train
struck the automobile in which they were driving Tuesday about noon.

The accident happened at a crossing  a mile above West Union. Ralph Baber, who was driving the car, said his view was obstructed by
cornfield on either side of the road and the train was not expected as it was running behind time. After the collision the train ran on
into West Union where it picked up doctors and others who hurried back to the scene of the accident. Mrs. Baber died later in the
afternoon at a Paris hospital, her injury consisting of a fractured skull. Cory Baber was thrown about fifty feet, while the body of his
wife was found about twenty-five feet from the tracks.

The automobile was dragged about 100 feet along the track and the other three occupants were taken from the wreckage. The Baber
families were wealthy residents of Edgar county owning about 700 acres of valuable farm lands.  Mrs. Lena Baber, nee Ormiston, daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Jams Ormiston of northwest of town, was born and grew to womanhood near here and all the other parties  in the fatal accident
are well known. 

The remains of Mrs. Lena Baber were brought to heold home Wednesday. Funeral services will be conducted there this
afternoon at 1 o'clock by Rev. Edw. Minor. 

Note 171: Catching up with Alonzo Babers Flying on track, in jet, Olympic gold medalist finds career in cockpit By Irv Moss; Denver Post Staff Writer

Even the most exacting connoisseur of travel would think Alonzo Babers has the best of all worlds. As a Boeing 777 commercial airline pilot, his destinations include some of the favorite stops in Europe and Great Britain. His trips take him to Amsterdam, Netherlands; Frankfurt, Germany; Paris; and London. Even before the 2012 Summer Olympics were awarded to London, Babers ranked the British capital as his No. 1 stop. But with the 2012 Summer Games set, it's London hands down because the Olympics are close to his heart. As a relative unknown in track and field and a year after graduating from the Air Force Academy, where his major was aerospace science, Babers gained a place in the folklore of Olympic competition. He wasn't considered a favorite on the list of potential medalists at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, but he won gold medals in the 400 meters and the 4x400-meter relay. "I finished second in the Olympic trials, but I came out with a confident feeling that I could get a medal in the Olympics," Babers said. "I believed at the time that I could do well against any of the runners in the world." And he did, although his path to the top step on the Olympic podium was a test of tenacity and personal determination. "He was a reject from football when I first met him," said Ernie Cunliffe, a former Air Force track coach. "I didn't know who he was. I remember that he was so skinny." Babers attended high school in Germany, where his father was stationed in the military. While in high school, he turned in some pretty good times in the 400 meters, but was well out of sight of college recruiters in the United States. Babers first tried football as a walk-on in 1979, but broke his arm against Wisconsin in Air Force's second game. The mishap turned his attention to track and field, and he competed in the indoor season that winter with his arm in a cast. "I saw a lot of potential, but he never won a conference championship," Alonzo Babers, 44, relaxing at his home in Potomac, Md., was an Air Force Academy graduate and 400-meter runner when he won two gold medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The former Air Force pilot now flies a Boeing 777. (Special)   Cunliffe said. But Babers did qualify for the 1983 world championships in Helsinki, Finland, beginning his trip to the Olympics. The first step was a special assignment from the Air Force that allowed him to train for the Olympics half a day and work half a day in the AFA sports information office. "It was a sweetheart deal," said Hal Bateman, Air Force's sports information director at the time. "It was an Olympic gold medal made in heaven. He was very good in our department. He did more in a half day than some of our regulars in a full day." After the 1984 Olympics, Babers did his time in the Air Force and flew missions in Desert Storm. Babers, 44, hasn't forgotten his roots at the Air Force Academy. He visits high schools in the Baltimore and Washington areas and stresses the value of good academics, a requirement to gain appointment to the academy. His 16-year-old daughter, Alana Babers, competes in track and field. His son Cameron, 8, competes in soccer and basketball, and Zachary, 3, isn't far behind. "I'm doing the dad thing," Babers said. "I've helped coach my kids in soccer and basketball. We go to some Washington Redskins games and occasionally to see the (Washington) Wizards and the (Washington) Nationals. I still run 15 to 20 miles a week to stay in shape." He's modest about his Olympic gold medals. He gave one to his parents, and his wife, Beverly, helps him keep track of the one he has at the family's home in Potomac, Md. Babers ranks the gold medals third in importance, behind his family and his career.

Note 172  Randal Gordon Baber, Jr.

A skilful and prosperous agriculturist of Santa Barbara County, California, Randal Gordon Baber is busily and profitably engaged in the growing of walnuts on his well improved ranch, which is pleasantly located not far from the village of Goleta. A son of the late Randal Baber, he was born May 19, 1858, in Missouri.

Randal Baber, Sr. was born in Kentucky and spent his early life in the Middle West. About 1859 he came with his family to California in search of a favorable opportunity of increasing his financial resources, and having purchased a tract of land in the Santa Rosa Valley was there managed in agricultural pursuits until his death, in 1882. He was of Revolutionary stock, and while in California was quite active in public affairs, serving for several years as justice of the peace. His wife, whose maiden name was Louise E. Hampton, died when her son Randal was a small child. She was born in South Carolina, and belonged to a family of considerable importance, having been a niece of Wade Hampton who served as an officer in both the Revolutionary war and the War of 1812.

Randal Gordon Baber, Jr. was educated in the public schools of Sonoma County, living there until eighteen years of age. Migrating then to Nevada, he settled in Humboldt County, where for fifteen years he was successfully engaged in the cattle business. In 1891 Mr. Baber came back to California, and having secured his present ranch of ten and a half acres near Goleta has since devoted his time and labor to the raising of walnuts, as above mentioned. Mr. Baber married Miss Ella M. Kellogg, a daughter of Philander Kellogg, and a niece of Frank E. Kellogg, who for many years served as secretary of the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce, and was an active member of the Walnut Growers' Association. Mrs. Baber died at the birth of their only child, a daughter who was named Ella May in memory of her mother.  Mr. Baber is a democrat in politics, and as a man and a citizen stands high in the esteem of the community.

Source: History of Santa Barbara

Note 173: Arthur & Ethel Munday Baber's Trip across Australia.

Arthur & Ethel with their 2 daughters (12 and 10 yrs) and the other man was Ethel's brother Edward (Ted) Theodore MUNDY who came out to South Australia in 1926 (age 25 yrs) he never married.  Arthur had been working on a farm for another man and then purchased their own property of 1,144 acres called "Fairview Farm". It was 1928 they left Mukinbudin for Bonnie Rock, Western Australia for a 42 mile or (about 68 km) trek on a dirt road. They packed up all there few personal possessions, Ethel's pine chest (glory box) she had brought out from Eng. etc. With the T. Model Ford (vehicle), tractor (Fordson kerosene Spud-Lug tractor), pulling a wagon which was pulling a Drill, with spring cart at the back loaded with the 5 lambs. All loaded up with their 2 x 4 gallon drums of kerosene, seed wheat and superphosphate in bags (fertilizer), hen and chickens, a pup, and moved the 42 miles. At Bonnie Rock they purchased a team of 8 Clydesdale horses to help put the crop in I guess to save buying kerosene. It was a very isolated place in those days and still is. The girls did a lot of schooling by correspondence as the closest school was too far away, my mother tells me that later they went to school on horse back.

Ethel died in 1933 (age 39 yrs) from breast cancer she had been sick for about 2 and a half years in a hospital in Perth for the last 12 months. My mother was only 14 years old when her mother died. It must have been tragic for the family being torn apart like this so far from medical attention. Bonnie Rock was 350 miles away from Perth by train so they did not visit her.

Olga Utting

Note 174: Charles William Baber - U.S. Secret Service.

While in the U. S. Secret Service, he was involved with the protection of the "Mona Lisa" while it was on loan to the United States; assigned to the Warren Commission for nine months investigating the assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy; involved in the investigation of numerous major U. S. Treasury check forgeries; a number of major U. S. and foreign counterfeit currency cases; assigned to protect the following Presidents, Vice Presidents or Ex-Presidents: Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, G.H. W. Bush, Humphrey, Agnew, Rockefeller, Mondale and Quayle and such notables as Henry Kissenger, George Wallace, Prince Charles and numerous foreign dignitaries. He did over 19 foreign protective advances and traveled to a number of foreign countries. He opened the West Palm Beach Secret Service Resident Agency in 1974. He retired in 1981.

Note 175: John Baber on Trial

Apr 3, 1895 - Special to the Washington Post:

The jury in the case of the Commonwealth vs. John Baber, indicated for seducing Miss Eliza J. Young, a beautiful young girl of this county, 
under promise to marry, which has been on trial in the county court since last Wednesday, to-day reported that it was unable to reach a verdict, 
the jurors being equally divided, standing six for and six against acquittal. 

Note 176:  Baber Village Low Income Housing

Jun 5, 1970 - Washington Post 

When Robert C. Weaver, then Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, broke ground in March, 1968, for Baber Village, 
there was widespread enthusiasm for the 200-unit rent-subsidized apartment project in Prince George's County, Maryland. 

Apr 8, 1972  - Washington Post 

Prince George's County and U.S. housing officials are seeking to evict 40 families from the financially failing Baber Village
low-income housing project because the families are too large for the apartments they live in. 

Dec 5, 1974  - Washington Post

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development will spend $2.7 million in an effort to revive the troubled Baber Village 
public housing project in Prince George's County, Rep. Lawrence J. Hogan (R-Md.) announced yesterday.

Mar 15, 1978 - Washington Post

Patricia Roberts Harris, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, yesterday announced her decision to renovate and restore
the boarded up Baber Village low income apartment project in Prince George's County.

Mar 25, 1978 - Washington Post

A federal judge yesterday blocked Prince George's County from demolishing the blighted and abandoned Baber Village low income
apartment project that has become a symbol of county opposition to concentrated housing for the poor. 

Mar 27, 1978 - Washington Post

A FEDERAL JUDGE HAS just granted a reprieve for Baber Village, the vacant, vandalized low-income apartment complex that Prince 
George's County wants to demolish and the federal Housing and Urban Development Department wants to save. More than this project 
is at stake. The basic issue is what should be done about many Baber Villages here and elsewhere -- federally subsidized projects, 
often less than a decade old, that were so poorly designed, hastily built and badly run that they have become financial and social disasters.

November 13, 1980 - Washington Post

Demolition of the long-abandoned Baber Village public housing project began yesterday, ending a two-year battle by Prince George's
County to eliminate the buildings to make way for new housing development on the Capitol Heights site. 

Note 177: UFOs SIGHTED TWICE OVER BLUFF DALE, TEXAS

On Tuesday night, November 18, 1997, residents of Bluff Dale, Texas (population 200), located on Highway 377 about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Fort Worth, spotted two unusual UFOs flying and hovering over the Paluxy River valley.

Two objects appeared over the farm owned by Billy and Marionell Frizzell and were seen by their farmhand.

"I think he saw something," Billy Frizzell told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "When we got home, he was really excited."

"Yeah, and he is not the kind that would make up a story about this kind of thing. You can bet on what he tells you," Marionell Frizzell said.

According to the Star-Telegram, the farmhand "told Billy that he looked north and two of the objects the size of round hay bales were right out at the edge of the field. Then one zipped down the fence row to a railroad bridge, followed the railroad along to the Paluxy River, (and) which looked like a dried brown bolt of lightning."

"'He said one kind of hovered, and the other went around the field and over the hill and then came back. Then they both just disappeared in a flash,' Billy said, 'He said it scared his dog so bad that he put up a howl the rest of the night. I told Ray Baber about it, and he said he saw them, too.'"

The Star-Telegram then interviewed Baber, "a retired truck driver, a lean, cowboy-looking man" who lives in a trailer near the center of Bluff Dale.

"'I was in the trailer, and I know Dateline had come on when I saw the light outside,'" Baber told the Star-Telegram. "'At first I thought it must be the 8:30 Southern Orient (express train--J.T.) that comes by any time from 7:30 to 8:30. But I didn't hear a whistle or any noise, so I thought I'd go inspect and see what it was,' he said."

"'Well, I saw the light coming again, and I thought it might be somebody headlighting (poaching--J.T.) deer in that pasture. Then it just leaped up and was gone,' Baber said, 'I wasn't going to tell anybody about it until Billy told me about what he had heard.'" (See the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for November 22, 1997, "Is UFO Tale the Biggest Bluff in Bluff Dale?" Many thanks to Mark Harman for this report.)

Note 178:  Richard Plantaganet Llewellyn Baber

Born August 3, 1823, and died July 25, 1885. His remains are interred in Green Lawn Cemetery at Columbus, Ohio.  Mr. Baber never held but two offices. First, paymaster in the army, appointed by Lincoln; second, he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention of Ohio in 1872 as a Democrat, and was a useful, hard-working member. From the time he came to Columbus, which was early in 1850's, he was an intense Republican. In 1860, Mr. Baber was a delegate to the State Republican convention and was very active in creating a Lincoln sentiment in the convention. He was also a delegate to the National convention at Chicago, and perhaps more than any other, influenced the Ohio delegation for Mr. Lincoln, who received the nomination.  LETTERS OF MR. BABER: The letters of R P L Baber to the Honorable James R Doolittle, at the time of their writing, a United States senator from Wisconsin, were found among the private papers and correspondence of Judge Doolittle. They have never been published.

Note 179: Baber donates $750,000 to Hospice House

A longtime Fort Dodge resident who succumbed to breast cancer eight years ago will lend her name to the hospice house planned by Trinity Regional Medical Center.

The Paula J. Baber Hospice Home is scheduled to open in the spring of 2008. The facility, to be located at the corner of Ninth Avenue South and South 25th Street in Fort Dodge, will expand upon the end of life care currently provided by Trinity Hospice.   William Baber, Paula’s husband, has donated $750,000 toward the project, slated to cost $2.5 million.   Approximately 150 people gathered in the main lobby of Trinity Regional Medical Center Monday as leaders of the hospice capital campaign announced Baber’s ‘‘naming donation.’’

‘‘I’ve always wanted to do something for Fort Dodge,’’ said Baber, a retired orthodontist and World War II veteran. ‘‘I hope to spark the example for others to do things for Fort Dodge.’’   Paula Baber, who volunteered hundreds of hours at Trinity during her life, received in-home hospice care from Trinity in 1998 and 1999, Baber said.   ‘‘They were wonderful people,’’ said Baber.  Last September, a campaign was launched to raise funds for the hospice house facility.

In two separate fund-raising phases, employees of TRMC and Trimark Physicians Group and physicians practicing therein were targeted for donations.

Dr. Mark Marner, one of three co-chairs of the campaign, reported during Monday’s program that $380,000 was raised among employees and $255,000 was raised among physicians.  At present, Marner said, totals raised by the ‘‘Trinity House — House of Comfort, House of Care Capital Campaign’’ stand at $2,552,348.  In honoring Baber, campaign co-chair RaeAnne Frey Marner spoke of Trinity’s ongoing commitment to providing ‘‘compassion-filled end of life care.’’   ‘‘(Baber’s) generosity will touch the lives of these patients,’’ she said.

Family, including Baber’s sons and grandchildren, along with friends and fellow veterans from throughout the country, were on hand during a reception held in honor of Baber’s donation at TRMC.   ‘‘I think we have a renaissance here, a beginning,’’ said Baber, a native of Lamoni who came to Fort Dodge in 1954. ‘‘We need to keep good things going.’’   When completed, the Paula J. Baber Hospice Home will be the only facility of its kind within a 60-mile radius of Fort Dodge.  The facility will provide eight beds in a home-like setting that will allow for medical care for those in the final stages of terminal illness.

Note 180: William Baber killed by Train

From the Archives of the New York Times. Published April 7, 1889

William Baber, aged 84, of New Rochelle, met with a violent death shortly after 8 o'clock yesterday morning.  He had started from the tracks of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad toward Pelhamville.  A train came along behind him, and he did not get off the track, in spite of the repeated whistling of the locomotive, the train was stopped and the engineer told him to get off the track and stay off.  The old man acted in a dazed and very peculiar manner.  After the train passed him he got on the track behind it and continued his walk.  Another train came along and the same thing was gone through with, the engineer stopping the train just in time to avoid hitting the old man.  After the train had passed him he resumed his place on the track and continued his walk.

Presently a Stamford Special approached rapidly, and Mr. Baber deliberately walked in front of the locomotive, and before the engineer could stop, the man was struck and thrown a considerable distance.  He was taken on the train and conveyed to Mount Vernon where he died.  His skull was crushed, both legs broken, several ribs snapped in two, and other injuries inflicted.

Mr. Baber was a retired shoe merchant, and was reputed to be worth about $200,000, most of which had been left him by his brother.  Mr. Baber was born in New Rochelle, New York, and had lived there most of his life.  As he was known to be dissipated, it is believed he was under the influence of liquor when he took his fatal walk down the tracks.

Note 181: Thaddeus Baber Hanged in St. Louis
From the Archives of the New York Times - January 13, 1882 - Two put to death for murder.

Thaddeus Baber and William Ward, the latter colored, were hanged the jail-yard this morning.  Both men retired about 11 o'clock last night.  Ward desiring to be called at 4 o'clock.  At that hour he arose, and soon afterward Baber awoke and dressed.  They then walked up and down the jail courtyard for a time, after which they retired to a cell together and alternately read aloud from the Bible.  Ward occasionally singing hymns.  They ate a fairly hearty breakfast and declared they were ready to die.  The Rev. Drs. Gonz, Boyd, and Clagget visited the men soon after 6 o'clock, and remained in the cells praying and exhorting them.  Ward was buoyed up with religious fervor, and believed the would go direct to heaven.  Baber was more apathetic, but professed to believe also.  He told one of the guards, who rendered him some little kindness:  "I'll give you a lift on the other end of Heaven."

The death warrant was read to Ward as he sat in front of his cell by Sheriff Mason.  During the reading Ward paid no attention, but read from a Bible held in front of him by the Rev. Dr. Boyd.  He was reading the account of crucifixion from St. Matthew.  Baber also fixed his eyes on a Bible held by the Rev. Mr. Clagget while the Deputy Sheriff read the warrant.  The arms of the men where then pinioned and the procession to the scaffold began.  When the procession had reached the gallows the Rev. Dr. Boyd offered prayer on their behalf.  The men were then asked if the had anything to say.  Ward shook his head.  Baber responded. "No, Sir; I have nothing to say."  Up to the last moment both men kept their eyes on the Bible.  The black caps were put on them, the nooses adjusted, and at 8:21 the bolt was drawn.  Ward died in 6 minutes and Baber in 11.  in 15 minutes the bodies were cut down and taken to the Morgue.

Thaddeus Baber shot and killed Lizzie Schuenler, his mistress, and Frederica Schuenler, her mother on August 18, 1878.  Baber went to their rooms on the evening of that date, shot the old woman as she sat in a chair and Lizzie as she came our of the room.  Lizzie survived two days, but her mother died immediately.  Baber was arrested as he was leaving the house.  He admitted the shooting saying; "I am ready to hang tomorrow if the old woman is dead, but I'm sorry I hurt Lizzie."  Baber was a plumber and he lived with Lizzie for six years.  She had left him at the solicitation of her mother and had led a disreputable life, her mother living off her earnings.  This specially embittered Baber against the old woman, whom he blamed for Lizzie's course.  As the latter refused to return to live with him he shot them both.

William Ward was a river man that shot and killed his sweetheart Annie Lewis, a pretty colored girl on August 31, 1878.  Annie had refused to marry Ward, having bestowed he affections on another.  This made Ward jealous and late on Saturday night he went to her house.  He called for here, when she came out, and he asked her to walk with him.  She refused, and he said: "If you don't go you will never see daylight again."  Immediately he drew a revolver and fired, the wound proving fatal.  The girl died the next day.  Ward was arrested while walking from the scene of the shooting.

Note 183:  Deputy Inspector James W. Baber - Alexandria Virginia - Obit

James W. Baber was born on June 12, 1911, in Alexandria. The son of Ashley and Bertie Baber, he attended Alexandria High School and later served for three years with the Alexandria Fire Department. He married Virginia Pitts and, living in Alexandria, they began a family. On October 1, 1935, he became an Alexandria police officer.

The young patrol officer, called “Bootie” by his friends and colleagues, was known for his good nature. Over the next 27 years, Bootie Baber enjoyed great success at the Alexandria Police Department, serving as a detective and then detective sergeant. In 1947, he was promoted to lieutenant and five years later, to captain. In 1960, he was named deputy inspector and oversaw traffic enforcement and operations.

On October 19, 1962, Deputy Inspector Baber had just finished working at a high school football game. It was a busy Friday night, and Deputy Inspector Baber and another officer were looking for a man who had shot and killed someone at a Queen Street restaurant. While searching, Deputy Inspector Baber answered a call for an officer in trouble at Queen and North Fayette streets.

Private George A. Sellers had detained two subjects who were fighting and Deputy Inspector Baber seized one of them, a 17-year-old youth. The young man tried to break away and after a struggle, he was subdued. But Deputy Inspector Baber had a heart attack and collapsed.

Deputy Inspector Baber, age 51, was survived by his wife and their sons, Patrick and Robert. He is buried at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Alexandria.

Note 184:  Obit of James Randall Baber - Gastonia, North Carolina

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