Anise Delilah Becham Hudson

Lemuel Smith Baker was born in 1840. Orphaned at an early age, L.S., as he was known, lived by 1860 with his uncle Dr. William J. Smith and his family in Hickory Grove, Crawford County . At that time he was working as a clerk in Dr. Smith’s mercantile store. L.S. was listed by the Macon Daily Telegraph as being among the recent arrivals at the Brown House hotel in Macon on 28 February and 8 March 1860 .[1]

On 19 May of that same year L.S. married Miss L.P. Brown of Atlanta . The wedding took place at Hickory Grove, and was performed by the Rev. Dr. Nealy. Apparently, the new bride died a short time afterwards.

On 8 July 1861 L.S. enlisted at Griffin , Georgia , as a private in Company D ( Upson County ), 13^th Regiment Georgia Volunteer Infantry. His name appears on an undated election return for first and second lieutenants of Company D. On 27 August 1863 he was admitted at General Hospital No. 9 ( Henningsen Hospital ), Richmond , Virginia .

On 25 November 1863 L.S. married Catherine Joanna Sneed in Upson County , Georgia .[2] Joanna was born on 28 July 1842 as the daughter of Zachariah P. Sneed of Crawford and Upson Counties .

L.S. returned to his unit after his marriage. He was in General Jubal Early’s command when the latter made his famous attempt to capture Washington , D.C. Early actually fought his way to the outskirts of the enemy capital with about 8,000 troops, but was unable to get past the city’s hastily-called defenders.

General Early attributed his failure to his losses in fighting his way to the city. One of the troopers lost was L.S. Baker, captured during Early’s brilliant victory over the federals at Frederick , Maryland , the gateway to Washington , on 1 July 1864 . His captors took L.S. to Elmira , New York , where they paroled him on 11 October 1864 . They forwarded him to Venus Point on the Savannah River for exchange on 28 November 1864 .[3] It is known that he continued in the service until the end of the war.

L.S. Baker returned to farming in the years following the war. He was co-owner of a farm in Crawford County with his cousin Northrop Smith by 1867. A few years later, in 1874, L.S. was a distributee as an heir to the estate of his grandfather Lemuel Smith, who had resided near Musella.

L.S. and Joanna Baker lived near the county lines of Upson, Crawford, and Monroe Counties . Both were listed as early members of the Arnold Methodist Church in Upson County .[4] L.S. Baker died in Crawford County on 30 January 1891 .

About 1902 Mrs. C.J. Baker petitioned for a Confederate widow’s pension. She stated in her petition that she had resided (i.e., was born) in

Georgia

since (on) 28 July 1842 , and was the widow of L.S. Baker. She stated that she and Baker had married in 1863, and that he had enlisted as a soldier about July of 1861 in Company D, 13^th Regiment Georgia Volunteer Infantry, C.S.A., and had served to April of 1865. She further stated that he died on 30 January 1891 .

[1] The Brown House was located in 1860 opposite the Passenger Depot in Macon .

[2] Joanna was the sister of Mary Virginia Sneed, second wife of Dr. J. Northrop Smith. In turn, Dr. J. Northrop Smith was L.S. Baker’s first cousin.

[3] Venus Point was the site of one of the federal batteries that reduced nearby Fort Pulaski and effectively blocked off the riverport city of Savannah .

[4] The Arnold Methodist Church was founded about 1828 in the southeastern corner of Upson County . It burned in 1920.