Robert Baker

Robert Baker (April 1862 – June 15, 1943) was an American businessman and politician who served one term as a U.S. representative from New York from 1903 to 1905.

Biography Born at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, U.K. in April 1862, Baker attended the common schools. He immigrated to the United States in 1882, and settled in Albany, New York. In March 1902, he was appointed an auditor in the office of the New York City Comptroller, a position he reportedly received from Democratic Party leaders in exchange for withdrawing his candidacy for sheriff.

Congress

In 1902, Baker was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat.

A pacifist, he refused to nominate candidates from his district for appointment to the United States Military Academy and United States Naval Academy. In addition, he offered an unsuccessful resolution that would have condemned the "Bloody Sunday" massacre in St. Petersburg, Russia, in which the Tsar's imperial guard fired upon unarmed demonstrators who wanted to present a petition advocating for improved working conditions and higher wages. A figure of frequent ridicule in the Brooklyn press, he was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1904 to the 59th Congress and was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for election in 1906 to the 60th Congress. Baker was appointed secretary of the New York City Department of Docks and Ferries in February 1906. He resigned after three days because the department's commissioner indicated that as a condition of his employment, Baker would be prohibited from public speaking. He also began a successful business career, including serving as president of the Austin Rotary Engine Company and the DeLany Separator Company, as well as vice president of Brooklyn's Realty Redemption Company.