The Baker-Marshall papers contain 19 personal letters, 100 financial papers and documents, 3 maps and diagrams, 8 printed items, 1 photograph, 3 additional manuscripts related to Timothy Baker and Ichabod Marshall, two early settlers of, and prominent merchants in, Norwalk, Ohio.
The Correspondence series contains personal letters written between members of the Baker family, including letters written by William Baker and Timothy Baker, Jr., to their parents during their time at college. The series also includes letters written between the siblings, providing news of their families, and a memorial poem written upon the death of Timothy Baker, Jr., in 1845. The collection also includes a 1926 letter inviting Willard H. Bennett, of Norwalk, Ohio, to purchase tickets for the University of Wisconsin's football games, along with two order forms.
The Financial papers and documents series regards Ichabod Marshall's land and business interests in Norwalk, Ohio, in the early 19th century. The series is comprised of 100 receipts, indentures, and accounts, including deeds and tax receipts for land in Trumbull and Huron counties. Several of the items are signed by Moses Kimball, an auditor in Huron County.
Three undated manuscript Writings include a draft of a petition "To the Mayor and Village Council of Fredericktown Ohio," requesting the removal of a local saloon; a 1-page religious essay; and instructions for making bricks.
The collection's single Photograph is a carte-de-visite of an unidentified man.
The three undated manuscript Maps and diagrams include a surveyor's map of Norwalk, Ohio; a floor plan for a house; and a seating arrangement for a Masonic lodge.
The Printed items series consists of 2 items related to Baldwin University; Mrs. Lewis C. Laylin's calling card; and newspaper clippings. The Baldwin University items are a program for the annual exhibition of the junior class, March 25, 1874, and a printed version of the "Alumni Song," June 7, 1876. The newspaper clippings include one regarding a lawsuit between Ichabod Marshall and several owners of the Norwalk Manufacturing Company.
Timothy Baker was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, on August 5, 1787. Baker established a tannery in New York and moved to Norwalk, Ohio, in 1819. There, he became prominent as associate justice of the peace and leader of a local Masonic lodge. Baker married Eliza Remington, and the couple had six children, including William and Timothy, Jr. Baker died on January 27, 1878.
Ichabod Marshall was born in 1769 in Hanover, New Hampshire, and became a prosperous merchant in Norwalk, Ohio, in the early 1800s. Marshall graduated from Dartmouth College in 1790, and moved to Ohio around 1817, where he established the Norwalk Manufacturing Company and served as county surveyor and recorder. A lifelong bachelor, Marshall died on March 4, 1849.
