{{short description|American politician}} {{for|the Louisiana Supreme Court justice|Joshua G. Baker}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Joshua Baker.jpg | order = 22nd | office = Governor of Louisiana | term_start = January 8, 1868 | term_end = June 27, 1868 | lieutenant = [[Albert Voorhies]] | predecessor = [[Benjamin Flanders]] | successor = [[Henry C. Warmoth]] | birth_date = {{Birth date|1799|3|23|mf=y}} | birth_place = [[Mason County, Kentucky]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1885|4|16|1799|3|23|mf=y}} | death_place = [[Lyme, Connecticut]] | party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] | spouse = (1) Fanny Assherton<br />(2) Catherine Patton | alma_mater = [[United States Military Academy]] | children = 5 | allegiance = [[United States]] | branch = [[United States Army]]<br />[[Louisiana National Guard|Louisiana State Militia]] | rank = Second Lieutenant (Army)<br />Colonel (Militia) | service_years = 1819-1820 (Army) <br /> 1826-1861 (Militia) }}
'''Joshua Gabriel Baker''' (March 23, 1799 – April 16, 1885) was a lawyer, engineer, and [[Planter class|planter]] who served as the military governor of [[Louisiana]] during [[Reconstruction Era|Reconstruction]] from January to July 1868.<ref name="NYTObit1885" /> Baker opposed secession and remained loyal to The Union during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. He was appointed as military governor by General [[Winfield Scott Hancock]], head of the [[Fifth Military District]] which included Louisiana and Texas.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Adams |first=William H. |orig-date=July 11, 2011 |title=Joshua Baker |url=https://64parishes.org/entry/joshua-baker |website=64 Parishes |publication-date=December 8, 2016}}</ref>
==Early life== Joshua Baker was born March 23, 1799, in [[Mason County, Kentucky]] to [[Joshua Baker (Mississippi politician)|Colonel Joshua G. Baker]] and Susan Lewis. In 1803, the Baker family moved to the Mississippi Territory where his father was a member of the [[Mississippi Territory]]'s legislative council. In 1811, the family relocated to the vicinity of [[Bayou Teche]],<ref>Soniat du Fossat, E. (1885). ''Biographical sketches of Louisiana's governors: from d'Iberville to McEnery, by a Louisianaise, as a contribution to the exhibit of woman's work, in the Louisiana State Department, at the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition, New Orleans, La., 1884-85.'' New York: A. W. Hyatt, Printer. p. 43.</ref> settling at [[Oaklawn Manor|Oaklawn Plantation]] in [[St. Mary Parish, Louisiana]], in the [[Territory of Orleans]].<ref name=":0" />
Baker attended the [[United States Military Academy]] from 1817 to 1819. After graduating, he was commissioned a [[Second Lieutenant]] in the Army Artillery Corps and served as an assistant professor at West Point before resigning in October 1820. In 1821, he moved to [[Litchfield, Connecticut]] to study law, and was admitted to the bar in Kentucky and Louisiana in 1822.<ref name="nga">{{cite web |title=Louisiana Governor Joshua Baker |url=http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=497d224971c81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=4b18f074f0d9ff00VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD |website=www.nga.org |publisher=[[National Governors Association]] |accessdate=2 October 2020 |date=21 May 2011|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110521193603/http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=497d224971c81010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=4b18f074f0d9ff00VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD|archive-date = 2011-05-21}}</ref>
==Career== Baker moved back to Louisiana and remained active in public service in both St. Mary and [[Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana|Terrebonne Parishes]]. He served as a judge for St. Mary Parish from 1829 to 1832 and built the Parish courthouse in 1850. He served in state senate and was on the State Board of Public Works. In 1833, he was Assistant State Engineer for Louisiana until 1838. He was appointed Director of Public Works for the State of Louisiana 1840–1845.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Walter Greaves Cowan |first=Jack B. McGuire |title=Louisiana Governors: Rulers, Rascals, and Reformers |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |year=2008 |pages=101}}</ref>
From 1826 to 1829, Baker was a Colonel in the Louisiana State Militia. He also worked on Engineering projects in [[Plaquemines Parish]] until 1829, when he was appointed Judge in St. Mary Parish; a position he held until 1839.
He was made Captain of Cavalry, Louisiana State Militia 1846 until 1851 and in 1853, he was appointed to the Board of Visitors United States Military Academy, serving until 1861. Throughout this time, Baker owned three plantations: Black Bayou in [[Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana|Terrebonne Parish]], Grand River in [[St. Martin Parish]], and Fairfax Plantation in St. Mary Parish. He also was enthusiastic investor in steamboat properties.<ref>Dawson III, Joseph G. ''The Louisiana Governors: From Iberville to Edwards''. Baton Rouge: [[Louisiana State University Press]], 1990.</ref>
===Civil War and Governorship=== Baker opposed Louisiana's succession from the Union and retired to his plantation in [[Franklin, Louisiana|Franklin]] in 1861 after the outbreak of the Civil War. A [[Unionist politician (American Civil War)|Union Democrat]], he chose to cooperate with the Union Army and was elected to Congress in November 1863 from Union occupied Louisiana but refused to travel to Washington D.C. to take his seat. On January 8, 1868, Baker took the Oath of Loyalty to the Union.<ref>Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. ''Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 2'', [[Westport, Conn.]]; Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.</ref><ref name=":0" />
He was Appointed Military Governor by General [[Winfield Scott Hancock]] upon the resignation of Governor [[Benjamin Flanders]]. As Governor, Baker supported the lenient reconstruction plan of President [[Andrew Johnson]]. His administration had little influence on the course of the Louisiana government, as its orders were liable to be countermanded by the military due to the reconstruction acts. Baker sought to fix the state treasury which was virtually insolvent. With the state bankrupt, he authorized a directive to accrue all outstanding state fees, taxes, and revenues, which were to be used in the payment of state salaries and to supplement educational institutions and state programs.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-13 |title=Joshua Baker |url=https://www.nga.org/governor/joshua-baker/ |access-date=2025-07-16 |website=National Governors Association}}</ref>
Baker removed nine New Orleans City Councilmen which resulted in President [[Ulysses S. Grant]]'s reversing his order, despite Hancock's support. For this, Governor Baker resigned and retired from public life. In a special election Republican [[Henry C. Warmoth]] was elected Governor to replace him.<ref name="sos.louisiana">{{cite web |title=Joshua Baker |url=http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/380/Default.aspx |website=www.sos.louisiana.gov |publisher=[[Louisiana Secretary of State]] |accessdate=2 October 2020 |date=21 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221035336/http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/380/Default.aspx |archive-date=2008-02-21 }}</ref>
==Personal life== In 1825, Baker married Fanny Assheton Stelle in Opelousas. Before her death on August 17, 1831, they were the parents of three children, including:
* Margaret Baker (1828–1893), who married John Peck Van Bergen, a brother of [[Anthony T. Van Bergen]], a son of [[New York Assembly]]man [[Anthony Van Bergen]], and grandson of [[New York State Senate|New York State Senator]] [[Peter A. Van Bergen]].<ref name="Genealogical2000">{{cite book |title=Genealogical Notes of New York and New England Families |date=2000 |publisher=Heritage Books |isbn=978-0-7884-1956-0 |pages=218–219, 300–304 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WdwNExWb7_QC&dq=Rachel+Ten+Broeck+Salisbury&pg=PA219 |accessdate=1 October 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
He married a second time to Catherine Patton from Fairfax, Virginia in 1832. They had two children.
Baker died in Lyme, Connecticut, on April 16, 1885, at "Cricket Lawn" the home of his daughter Margaret Van Bergen.<ref name="NYTObit1885">{{cite news |title=Obituary -- EX-GOV. JOSHUA BAKER |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1885/04/17/archives/obituary-1-no-title.html |accessdate=2 October 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=17 April 1885}}</ref> He was interred at [[Green-Wood Cemetery]] in [[Brooklyn, New York]].
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |title=[[List of Governors of Louisiana|Governor of Louisiana]] | before=[[Benjamin Flanders]]| after=[[Henry C. Warmoth]] | years=1868}} {{s-end}}
{{Governors of Louisiana}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Joshua}} [[Category:Democratic Party governors of Louisiana]] [[Category:1799 births]] [[Category:1885 deaths]] [[Category:Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery]] [[Category:People from Mason County, Kentucky]] [[Category:Louisiana Unionists]] [[Category:Unionist Party state governors of the United States]] [[Category:People from Franklin, Louisiana]] [[Category:Litchfield Law School alumni]] [[Category:United States Military Academy alumni]]