Robert Baker | |
|---|---|
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's6th district | |
| In office March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1905 | |
| Preceded by | George H. Lindsay |
| Succeeded by | William M. Calder |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 1862 (1862-04) Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England,U.K. |
| Died | June 15, 1943 (1943-06-16) (aged 81) Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Resting place | Cemetery of the Evergreens, Brooklyn, New York |
| Citizenship |  United States |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Gertrude A. Zoller (m. 1887) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
Robert Baker (April 1862 – June 15, 1943) was an American businessman and politician who served one term as aU.S. Representative fromNew York from 1903 to 1905.
Born atBury St. Edmunds,Suffolk,England,U.K. in April 1862, Baker attended the common schools.[1] He immigrated to the United States in 1882, and settled inAlbany, New York.[1] He married Gertrude A. Zoller of Albany in October 1887.[1] In 1887, he was elected secretary of the AlbanySingle Tax Club.[1]
Baker moved toBrooklyn, in 1889. A prominent reformer and follower of the single tax theories ofHenry George, in 1891 he was elected president of the Brooklyn Single Tax League.[1] Also in 1891, Baker was elected secretary of the Brooklyn Ballot Reform League.[1] From 1893 to 1898, he was a national committee member of the Single Tax League of the United States.[1]
In 1894, Baker was an unsuccessful candidate for theNew York State Assembly.[1]In 1896, he was an active supporter ofWilliam Jennings Bryan and gave several campaign speeches on his behalf.[1]In 1897, he was a campaign speaker forHenry George during George's second campaign formayor of New York City.[1] He was a founding member of theCitizens Union in 1897, and served as its secretary.[2] In March 1902, he was appointed an auditor in the office of theNew York City Comptroller, a position he reportedly received from Democratic Party leaders in exchange for withdrawing his candidacy for sheriff.[3]
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In 1902, Baker was elected to theUnited States House of Representatives as aDemocrat.[1] He represented New York's 6th district in the58th Congress, March 4, 1903 to March 3, 1905.[1] He was an unsuccessful candidate for a second term in 1904, and his single term was marked with controversy as Baker stayed true to his reformist philosophy. He quickly earned the nicknames "No Pass" and "Anti-Pass" for declining the free railroad passes that were then regularly handed out to legislators by theB & O Railroad.[4][5]
Apacifist, he refused to nominate candidates from his district for appointment to theUnited States Military Academy andUnited States Naval Academy.[6] In addition, he offered an unsuccessful resolution that would have condemned the"Bloody Sunday" massacre in St. Petersburg, Russia, in which the Tsar's imperial guard fired upon unarmed demonstrators who wanted to present a petition advocating for improved working conditions and higher wages.[7] A figure of frequent ridicule in the Brooklyn press, he was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1904 to the59th Congress and was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for election in 1906 to the60th Congress.[1]
In 1905, an extended illness that resisted treatment caused Baker to became an adherent ofChristian Science.[8] Baker was appointed secretary of the New York City Department of Docks and Ferries in February 1906.[9] He resigned after three days because the department's commissioner indicated that as a condition of his employment, Baker would be prohibited from public speaking.[9] Later in life he reversed his pacifist philosophy, and became a strong proponent of war withNazi Germany, writing poems and letters to theBrooklyn Eagle in support of the cause.[10] He also began a successful business career, including serving as president of the Austin Rotary Engine Company and the DeLany Separator Company, as well as vice president of Brooklyn's Realty Redemption Company.[1]
Baker died in Brooklyn on June 15, 1943.[8] He was buried atCemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn, Nazareth Section, Lot 936.[11]
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew York's 6th congressional district March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1905 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
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