Charles S.L. Baker

Charles S. Lewis Baker (August 3, 1859 – May 5, 1926) was an American inventor who patented the friction heater.

Biography Early life Baker was born into slavery on August 3, 1859, in Savannah, Missouri. His mother, Betsy Mackay, died when he was three months old, leaving him to be brought up by the wife of his owner, Sallie Mackay, and his father, Abraham Baker. He was the youngest of five children, Susie, Peter, Annie, and Ellen, all of whom were freed after the Civil War. Baker later received an education at Franklin College. His father was employed as an express agent, and once Baker turned fifteen, he became his assistant. The company worked up to $136,000 in capital, equal to nearly $4 million in 2018.

Death Baker died of pneumonia on May 5, 1926, in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Personal life

At 21, Baker married 19-year-old Carrie Carriger on December 12, 1880, in Adams County, Iowa. They had one child, born on January 3, 1882, named Lulu Belle Baker.