JOHN R. BAER, b. 11Mar1839, d. 23May1911
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from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge
The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
John R. Baer, who has been an active factor
in business and official circles but is now living
retired in Oskaloosa, is a native son of Indiana,
having been born in Rockville, Parke county,
on the 11th of March, 1839. His father, George
W. Baer, was a native of Virginia and when a
young man went to Ohio, where he remained
until after his marriage to Elizabeth Lundy, a
native of that state. Soon, however, they removed to Parke county, Indiana,
and in 1843
went to Sarcoxie, Missouri. In the fall of 1845
they came to Oskaloosa, which was then a
small village, having few business enterprises
and but a small number of houses. The father
followed the tailor's trade for a short time
and then engaged in general mercliandising,
while later he bought, sold and shipped stock
for many years. In this way he accumulated
a handsome competency, but he lost his capital
by financially accommodating a friend. In
early life he was an old-line whig, and under
the laws of Iowa filled the office of collector
and treasurer of the county for one term, acting in the latter
capacity in 1847-8. He was
a member of the Methodist Episcopal church
and died in that faith in 1892, at the age of seventy-eight years. His wife, an earnest
Christian woman, passed away in May, 1855, when
thirty-five years of age, dying of cholera. In
their family were seven children, of whom three
are yet living, namely: John R.; Amelia, who
is the widow of Reason Wilson, of Oskaloosa;
and George W., of the Indian Territory. Those
deceased are: Rebecca, wife of John W. Murphy; Mary; Martha Henrietta; and Lloyd. By
phy; Mary; Martha Henrietta; and Lloyd. By
Clark county, Iowa, George W. Baer had two
children: Elizabeth, the wife of L. D. Fowler,
of Washington, D. C.; and Byron, of Nebraska.
John R. Baer was educated in the public
schools and when a boy began clerking for the
firm of Hardy, Searle & Young, with whom he
remained for three years. He afterward spent
two years on his father's farm in Oskaloosa
township and was next employed by Benjamin
Roop until the spring of 186o, when he drove
across the country with ox-teams to a town
seventy-five miles west of Denver, Colorado,
there prospecting for gold. In the fall, however, he returned in the same manner to
Oskaloon, being fifty-two days on the outgoing trip
and thirty-one days on the return trip. He
then became a clerk for George M. Downs, of
this city, the store being on the present site of
the courthouse. In the previous fall he cast
a vote for Abraham Lincoln, which was his
first ballot. He continued clerking until the
15th of July, 1861.
On that date Mr. Baer, responding to his
country's call for troops, became a member of
Company C, Seventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry,
which was the second company raised in Mahaska county. He was present with his
regiment at the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, in the battle of Shiloh and the siege and
battle of Corinth. He also participated in the
battle at Pulaski, Tennessee, where he was detailed for service in the commissary department
under Captain Palmer and Hon. C. C. Carpenter, ex-governor of Iowa, and thus acted until
mustered out on the 10th of August, 1864, at
Chattanooga, Tennessee.
When the war was over Mr. Bier returned
to Oskaloosa and clerked for the firm of Jones
& Tullis in a general store for two years. In
the meantime Mr. Tullis purchased his partner's interest, and Mr. Baer bought the interest
of John W. Tullis, and the firm of Tullis &
Baer was formed and so continued for a year.
At the end of that time our subject sold his interest to his partner and began dealing in
stock, which he bought and shipped for three
years. He next removed to Beacon, this county,
where he became a clerk in the coal company's
store, owned by the firm of Evans, Jones &
Bacr, the last named being his father. After
three years the father sold out and John R.
Baer withdrew from the store and joined his father in the partnership under the firm name of
Baer & Son. Two years later the father sold
his interest to J. P. Davis and the firm of Davis
& Baer existed for one and a half years. The
junior partner then returned to Oskaloosa and
became a bookkeeper in the hardware store of
C. Cooper, by whom he was employed for two
years. He was next deputy sheriff of Mahaska
county for a year and a half under Sheriff Barr,
and when his former employer sold his hardware store to W. H. Todd, Mr. Baer returned
to the store, where he acted as bookkeeper for
a year, when the business was sold to Knapp &
Spaulding. Mr. Baer then went upon the road
as a traveling salesman until the fall of 1885,
when he was elected on the republican ticket
to the position of county auditor, which he filled
for four years, proving a capable official and
retired from the office as he had entered it-
with the confidence and good will of all concerned. Re-entering commercial life, he went
upon the road for George Hall & Company,
wholesale hardware dealers, with whom he continued for two years and later he was on the
road for Huber & Kalbach Company, hardware
dealers, for two years. He afterward served
as deputy county auditor under J. B. Cruzen
and W. T. Martin, filling the office for eight
years, or until January, 1905 since which time
he has lived retired.
On the 8th of November, 1866, Mr. Baer
was married to Miss Frances Carnahan, a native of Ohio, who died in 1900, at the age of
fifty-two years. Their children are: Nellie
A., the wife of C. C. Pike, of Oskaloosa; Grace
L., wife of C. W. Carr, of the same city; and
Bernice L. Mr. Baer belongs to Triluminar
lodge, No. 18, A. F. & A. M., having been
made a Mason in 1866. He also holds membership relations with Phil Kearney post, G. A. R.,
and in politics is a stalwart republican, having
stood loyally by the party which was the chief
defense of the Union and of the administration
during the dark days of the Civil war. He is a
representative citizen of the town and county,
interested in all movements which are a matter
of civic pride, and his efforts in behalf of general improvement and progress have been
effective and far-reaching.
Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy
Iowa Genealogy
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