Working on Wednesday: Joseph Baker, Jr. (1667 - 1735) Yoeman

It seems there were two men known as Joseph Baker, Jr. in late 17th century Pennsylvania only one of whom was the son of Joseph Baker Sr. who arrived in the colony in 1684 with his older brother John. And that Joseph Jr. isn't my direct ancestor.*

Of course, historically the appellation of Junior could be applied to the younger of two men with the same given name without it signifying a father-son relationship and that what happened here. My Joseph Baker is believed to be the nephew of Joseph Sr. and John, therefore he would have been a grandson of John Baker, Sr. of Edgmond in Shropshire (about 2 miles west of Newport). His father's name is unknown.

['Shropshire by John Seller' Seller, J. (c. 1703) Furneax Antique Maps]

It's unclear when Joseph Jr. left Shropshire for Pennsylvania--he may have traveled with his uncles but the reason they all left was because they were Quakers** and hoped to find greater religious freedom in the New World. The township they ended up living in was named Edgmont, originally in Chester County, now in Delaware County.

[From "Our Family Ancestors" by Thomas Maxwell Potts. Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, 1895.

Source: Internet Archive - original at Allen County Public Library, Ft. Wayne, Indiana ]

Thomas Maxwell included a "fac-simile" of the page of the Baker family bible.

[From "Our Family Ancestors" by Thomas Maxwell Potts. Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, 1895.

Source: Internet Archive - original at Allen County Public Library, Ft. Wayne, Indiana ]

And here's a reminder of how I'm descended from him:

[Ancestry.com]

*Joseph Sr.'s son Joseph had four children we know of: Robert, Sarah, Hannah and Joseph.
**There are numerous mentions of "Joseph Baker" in the Chester Monthly Meeting Minutes but I don't know which ones might refer to my ancestor.





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