John Baker (representative)

John Baker ( * in Frederick County, Maryland; † August 18, 1823 in Shepherdstown, Virginia ) was an American politician. Between 1811 and 1813 he represented the state of Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

About the childhood and youth of John Baker nothing is handed down. He studied for three years at Washington College, later Washington and Lee University in Lexington. After a subsequent study of law and qualifying as a lawyer, he began to work in this profession in Berkeley County (present-day Jefferson County in West Virginia). Politically, Baker has been a member of the Federalist Party, founded by Alexander Hamilton. Between 1798 and 1799 he was a member of the House of Representatives from Virginia. Later, he was one of the defenders of former Vice President Aaron Burr in his treason trial.

In the congressional elections of 1810 Baker was in the second electoral district of Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of James Stephenson on March 4, 1811. Until March 3, 1813, he was able to complete a term in Congress. This was marked by the events of the British -American war since 1812. After the end of his time in the U.S. House of Representatives John Baker practiced as a lawyer again. At times he served as a prosecutor in Jefferson County. He died on 18 August 1823 in Shepherdstown in what is now West Virginia, where he was also buried.