This collection contains Thomas Baker's three surveying books which document land and property ownership in southern Lancaster County, primarily Colerain Township from 1856-1902. Octorara Creek, Kirkwood, Christiana and Upper Oxford Twp. are among the place names.
Admin/Biographical History
Thomas Baker traces his ancestry back to Sir Richard Baker (1568), born in the county of Kent, England. In 1685, seven generations before Thomas Baker was born, Joseph Baker immigrated to Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Born in Chatham, Chester County to Lewis and Diana Baker, Thomas was well-educated; a teacher until 1840, when he commenced the study of surveying. Land surveying is the location of points on, above and below the surface of the earth and the relation of those points to a common reference system. Employed at Jonathon Goss, at Unionville Academy in Chester, he surveyed over 650 farms in Lancaster County's Colerain Township. He married in 1855; his family adhering to his Quaker faith. The Biographical Annals in Lancaster, published in 1903, describes Baker as "…a man esteemed by his neighbors for his many good qualities and excellent character, and in disposition he is a man of warm heart and kindly feeling."
The Walker & Brother (Christiana, Pa.) Records contain a receipt book of grain merchants, Walker & Brother of Christiana, Pennsylvania. The business correspondence pasted to the receipt stubs documents the firm's purchases and sales of grain, cigars, fertilizer, coal and lumber; banking; debt collection; and purchases of horses, cattle, and baling machinery.
Admin/Biographical History
Joseph Coates Walker was born in Sadsbury Twp., Lancaster County on 4 April 1832. He learned the science of agriculture in his youth and in 1853 became a clerk at a mercantile business in Gap, Pennsylvania. He moved to Christiana briefly, then returned to Gap in 1857 to begin his career in general transportation, grain, coal and lumber, with his brother, Asahel. In 1880, the business became Joseph C. Walker & Son, when E. Enfield Walker joined his father. Outside of the mercantile business, Joseph served as postmaster, revenue collector, justice of the peace and president of Gap National Bank.
Ellis, Franklin, and Samuel Evans. 1883. History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania… Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, pp. 1055-1058.
Biographical Annals of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania… Chicago: Beers, 1903, pp. 308-9.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Walker & Brother (Christiana, Pa.) Records (MG0558), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
This volume may be used by appointment. Please contact research@lancasterhistory.org prior to visit.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at research@lancasterhistory.org.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.