Born on February 28, 1832, in Parma, Monroe County, New York,[1] Baker moved with his parents to what is now Fulton County, Ohio, where he attended and later taught in the common schools.[2] He received an Artium Magister degree in 1879 from Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio.[3][1] He read law in Adrian, Michigan and was admitted to the bar in 1857.[2] He entered private practice in Goshen, Indiana from 1857 to 1875.[1] He unsuccessfully challenged the election of Charles Lefferts Murray to the Indiana Senate in 1863, but his challenge failed and he was never seated, although he was paid as if he had been a state senator.[4]
He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1880.[2] Baker resumed private practice in Goshen from 1881 to 1892.[1] He was a delegate to the 1888 Republican National Convention.[2]
