William Thatcher Baker

Duane's take

The official marker tells this one, and I'm just along for the ride. William Thatcher Baker. Now there's a name that carries some weight, and a life that zigzagged across Texas in ways that'll make you think.

Baker was born in Ohio, and in 1850 he packed up and headed to Pleasant Run, out in Dallas County. Texas was calling, and he answered. He married Miss Emily Beeman, daughter of James J.

Beeman, a Dallas pioneer, and settled into the kind of life that demanded a man wear many hats. Farmer. Rancher.

Merchant. Ginner. Baker wore them all, sometimes probably all at once.

Now here's the part that'll make you sit with it a moment. When the Civil War came, 1861 to 1865, Baker was a Unionist. That was his conviction.

But he was also a Texan, and he felt that loyalty too. So he made shoes for the Confederacy. Both things true at the same time, pulling in different directions, and the man found a way to stand in the middle of that.

That's not a small thing. After the war, Baker ran a ferry on the Trinity River, a mile and a half below Dowdy's Ferry. You can almost hear that river moving, the creak of the rope, the slow crossing from one bank to the other.

Then in 1879 he moved on again, out to Hamilton County, to a place he called Plum Creek Farm. And on May 4, 1882, he established a post office there. He named it Ohio.

The boy from Ohio, deep in the Texas Hill Country, putting Ohio on the map one more time. That's William Thatcher Baker for you.

What the marker says

Farmer, rancher, merchant, and ginner. Born in Ohio, in 1850 he moved to Pleasant Run, Dallas County, Texas. Married Miss Emily Beeman, the daughter of James J. Beeman, Dallas pioneer. Although a Unionist, as a loyal Texan he made shoes for Confederacy in Civil War, 1861-65. Later he ran ferry 1-1/2 miles below Dowdy's Ferry on Trinity River. Moved (1879) to Plum Creek Farm, Hamilton County. Established post office named "Ohio" there on May 4, 1882.