Elizabeth++Baker

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 * What I Know About My Family History:**

-I am 1/4 Irish (from my dad's side) -I am 1/4 Portuguese (dad's side) -I am 1/8 Scottish (mom's side) -I am 1/8 English (mom's side)

Since this only adds up to 3/4 of a person, this is **What I //Think// I Know About My Family History:** -I am 1/16 French (mom's side) -I am 1/16 Swedish (mom's side) -I am 1/16 German (mom's side) -I am 1/16 Dutch (mom's side)  Since my Grandpa on my dad's side is both living and full Irish, I am going more in depth to his, and my, history. Although there is a lot of information about my great-great grandpa, Thomas Baker, there are a couple of uncertain dates. There is a certificate for his baptism on June 29th, 1841, but there is also a marrige certificate in 1875. My grandpa says that he knows for certain that Thomas Baker was at least 30 when he married, making his birth date impossible. So there are two D.O.B.'s on him: the first being around 1845, for the marrige certificate to make sense and the second being around 1841, for the baptism certificate to make sense. Please remember that no dates are certain and most are an estimate. Some may be completely wrong, but since nobody wrote it down, these stories are passed down orally and through memory. :)

Thomas Baker was born in Kilworth, Ireland in 1841. I do not know the exact date of birth because the census records were destroyed for his time of birth. However, my grampa believes that Thomas was born the same year that he was baptised (June 29th, 1841). Thomas lived in Kilworth, Ireland (see below map) with his family until he was 12 years old. When he turned 12, Thomas Baker walked the almost 200 miles to Sligo, Ireland (see map below) where he boarded a so-called "Famine Ship". My dad said that Thomas' mother, Kate Keily, and his father, James Baker were said to be traveling to America with him, but maybe on a different ship. I don't know what happened to Kate and James once they got to the US, but I don't have any more information on them. However, I do know that Thomas Baker arrived in Boston, Massachusetts around July 6th, 1864 and then walked the 130 miles to Lenox, Massachusetts. He got a job as a groundskeeper on a large estate. Thomas Baker then married Alice Ellen Knight (October 4th, 1875?) in West Stockbridge, MA. Alice Knight was born January 18th, 1855 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, but her parents immigrated from Ireland. They had 9 children (John, Catherine, Mary, Alice, Thomas Junior, Maude, Helen, Frances, and William Rodger, who was my great-grandpa. By hard work Thomas and Alice were able to save up enough money for all nine of their kids to go to college. All of them graduated, except for William, who left to join the Marines and fight in World War I. At least (I'm pretty sure more though) William R. Baker Sr. went to Notre Dame and this was the start of an almost 100 year long legacy at Notre Dame). media type="youtube" key="7csGhMQoQms" height="344" width="425" ß  **Click For Audio of Notre Dame's Fight Song** Catherine, Mary, Alice, Maude, Helen, and Frances (all of the girls) went on and recieved degrees in eduaction and taught. Only Helen married, and she had one child. Both John and William married and John and his wife, Margaret, had three children, one of whom got married but had no children. William R. got married and had kids, one of which was my grandpa. My grandpa was full Irish but married a woman who was full Portuguese, making my dad 1/2 Irish. This makes me 1/4 Irish.

Sources: I got all of my information from my dad (William R. Baker III) and my grampa (Thomas Edgar Baker)

Baker, Thomas. Telephone interview. 5/1/09. Baker, William R. . Personal interview. 5/3/09. 