Nathaniel Bradley Baker (September 29, 1818 – September 11, 1876) was an American politician and military leader who served as the 24th governor of New Hampshire and Adjutant General of the Iowa Militia.
Baker was a co-owner of a Democratic newspaper, the New Hampshire Patriot. Originally a Democrat, he served as Clerk of the Merrimack County Court of Common Pleas in 1845. The following year he became Merrimack County Clerk.[2]
Baker was also active in the New Hampshire Militia, serving as Quartermaster and later Adjutant of the 11th Regiment. He subsequently served as Aide-de-Camp to Governor John H. Steele with the rank of colonel.[3]
In 1854 he was elected governor and served a single one-year term, June 6, 1854, to June 7, 1855.[9] During his term the legislature failed to pass resolutions condemning the Missouri Compromise and the Kansas–Nebraska Act, evidence that New Hampshire was trending away from the Democratic Pierce and Baker and becoming increasingly antislavery.[10] (In fact, after Baker left office, Republicans controlled the governorship for most of the next 100 years.) He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1855.[11]
Baker's work as chairman of the Iowa House's Military Affairs Committee at the start of the American Civil War led to his appointment as adjutant general of the Iowa Militia, and he served until his death.[15][16] By now a resident of Des Moines, during the war he was praised for his efforts to recruit, equip and train soldiers for front line regiments, and to keep track of their service records, including enlistments, promotions, wounds, deaths, and discharges.[17] In addition, at the end of the war, Baker was credited with acquiring from returning Iowa units captured Confederate regimental flags and other memorabilia, and arranging to have it preserved.[18][19]
Death and burial
In 1874 Baker took part in an effort to combat a massive grasshopper infestation in Northwestern Iowa, exposing himself out of doors in harsh weather including sleet, snow and high winds.[20] His health began to decline as a result, and Baker died in Des Moines on September 11, 1876.[21] He was buried at Woodland Cemetery in Des Moines.[22]