B. 8 Jan 1696 in Concord, Massachusetts
M. 11 Dec 1716 in Concord, Massachusetts
Wife: Alice Jefts
D. 3 Sep 1761 in Littleton, Massachusetts
Joseph Baker not only appeared in the earliest records of Littleton, Massachusetts, he also wrote them. Joseph was born in Concord on January 8, 1696 to William Baker and Elizabeth Dutton, the youngest of their seven children. Joseph’s mother died when he was only two, and his father remarried to Abigail Ballard, then he died. After the age of 7, Joseph was raised by his step-mother with her new husband, Samuel Wheat.
On December 11, 1716, Joseph married Alice Jefts of Billerica, and the following year, they had a daughter, who is believed to have died young. Shortly after, Joseph and Alice moved to the neighboring settlement of Littleton. Between December 1719 and October 1732, they had seven more children.
When Joseph moved to Littleton, it had only recently been incorporated as a town. New England towns often took a few years to add the community services that they needed, and it wasn’t until 1729 that Littleton appointed Joseph to keep the town records. His first task was to create a book from the births, deaths and marriages that had occurred up until that time, so he extracted all such information from the minutes of town meetings starting with March 1715. Then Joseph began a new book to record events from 1729 on. He served as town clerk for the next 30 or so years.
Joseph also was one of 15 men who taught school in Littleton during its first 40 years. It was a struggle to get consensus among the people in town to pay for a proper schoolhouse, so classes were held in private homes in a somewhat informal way. It’s impossible to know which years Joseph took on the role of schoolteacher, but only that he did his part.
Joseph Baker died on September 3, 1761 in Littleton. His wife survived him, remarrying three years later. It isn’t known when and where she died.
Children:
1. Alice Baker — B. 14 Nov 1717, Concord, Massachusetts; D. (probably) young
2. William Baker — B. 12 Dec 1719, Littleton, Massachusetts; D. 13 Mar 1793, Concord, Massachusetts; M. Rebecca Conant (1723-1767), 14 Apr 1743, Concord, Massachusetts
3. Joseph Baker — B. 22 Jan 1721, Littleton, Massachusetts; D. 1776, Marlborough, Massachusetts; M. Sarah Hook Wheeler (1724-1803), 1742, Littleton, Massachusetts
4. Lydia Baker — B. 18 Mar 1724, Littleton, Massachusetts; D. 8 Jun 1809, Marlborough, Massachusetts; M. Simon Howe (1722-1806), 15 Mar 1745
5. John Baker — B. 21 Apr 1726, Littleton, Massachusetts
6. Charles Baker — B. 30 May 1728, Littleton, Massachusetts; D. 3 Apr 1813, Littleton, Massachusetts; M. Mary King (1726-1803), 30 May 1751, Littleton, Massachusetts
7. Timothy Baker — B. 4 Nov 1730, Littleton, Massachusetts; D. 14 Apr 1810, Lincoln, Massachusetts; M. Mary Dakin (?-1828), 15 Jan 1761, Sudbury, Massachusetts
8. Thomas Baker — B. 11 Oct 1732, Littleton, Massachusetts; M. Beulah Dakin, 6 Mar 1755, Concord, Massachusetts
Sources:
Records of Littleton, Massachusetts: Births and deaths from the Earliest Records in the Town Books Begun in 1715, 1900
Proceedings of the Littleton Historical Society, 1896
WikiTree
Find-a-Grave
