★ Baker, Lafayette Curry

Lafayette Curry Baker
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Born: October 13, 1826

Birthplace: Stafford, New York

Father: Remember Baker 1786 – 1847

(Buried: Portland Cemetery, Portland, Michigan)​

Mother: Cyntha Stannard 1787 – 1840

(Buried: Portland Cemetery, Portland, Michigan)​

Occupation before War:

1839 – 1848: Mechanic in Michigan​

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1848 – 1853: Lived in New York​

1853: Moved to California​

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1856: Vigilante in San Francisco, California​

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1861: Moved to District of Columbia​

Civil War Career:

1861: Spy for Major General Winfield Scott in Virginia​

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1861 – 1862: Captain and Provost Marshal in Washington, D.C.​

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1862 – 1863: In Charge of National Detective Bureau​

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1863: Diagnosed with having cerebral congestion​

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1863 – 1865: Colonel of 1st​ D.C. Cavalry Regiment​

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Known to have used brutal interrogation techniques for information​

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Demoted for tapping telegraph lines and sent to New York​

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1865: Recalled to Washington, D.C. after Lincoln Assassination​

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In Charge of tracking down Lincoln's assassins​

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Some reports name him as the man who shot John Wilkes Booth.​

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1865 – 1866: Brigadier General of Union Army Volunteers​

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1865: Diagnosed with meningitis​

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1866: Mustered out of the union Army​

Occupation after War:

1867: Author of A History of the Secret Service ​

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1868: Retired to his home complaining of a gun wound from hunting trip​

Died: July 3, 1868

Place of Death: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Cause of Death: Meningitis

Age at time of Death: 41 years old

Original Burial Place: Mutual Family Cemetery

Burial Place: Forest Hills Cemetery, Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania

 

[Pollaco]

Those telegraph lines he tapped came from Edwin Stantons office,even though Stanton was largely responsible for Baker's career.Baker suspected Stanton of corruption and tapped his lines,for this he was demoted.

 

[Pollaco]

He claimed to have John Wilkes Booth's diary with the 18 missing pages in his possession. It was this diary that Stanton and the War Department supposedly suppressed during the trial.

 

[Pollaco]

His before-the-war activity as a Vigilante in California is said to include several lynchings.

 

[Pollaco]

Doing a little research on Baker last night and I saw where he was arrested several times as a Union spy. He escaped from Fredricksburg with a small knife he had hidden in his shoe when he became convinced he was to be executed. With the knife he loosened several bars.