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WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED: On April 20, 17%, prob-
ably in Oxford, Talbot County. PERSONAL PROP-
ERTY: TEV, at least £2,181.7.7 current money
(including 21 slaves, more than 20 oz. plate, and
books). Johns's creditors filed suit in the Chan-
cery Court, alleging that his personal estate would
not cover his debts. When the case was settled in
1816, the court had allowed claims of $12,504.07.
LAND: 623 acres in Talbot County (including
mortgaged land).
JOHNSON, BAKER (1747-1811). BORN: on Sep-
tember 30, 1747, in Calvert County; sixth of seven
surviving sons. NATIVE: third generation. RE-
SIDED: in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, by
1771; Frederick Town, Frederick County, by 1779.
FAMILY BACKGROUND. FATHER: Thomas Johnson
(1702-1777) of St. Leonard's Creek, Calvert
County. MOTHER: Dorcas (1705-1770), daughter
of Joshua Sedgwick. BROTHERS: Thomas (1725-
1725); Benjamin (1727-1786); Thomas Johnson
(1732-1819); James (1736-1809), who married
Margaret Skinner; Joshua (1742-1802), the Lon-
don partner of the Annapolis mercantile firms
Wallace, Davidson & Johnson, 1771-1776, and
Wallace, Johnson & Muir, 1781-1790, the Amer-
ican consul in Nantes, France, and agent for
Maryland in France during Revolution, Ameri-
can consul in London in the 1790s; John (1745-
1811), a physician in Frederick Town; and Roger
(1749-1831), who married Elizabeth Thomas.
SISTERS: Mary (1729-1801), who married Walter
Hellen, Esq., of Calvert County; Rebecca (1730-
1767), who married Thomas McKenzie, Esq.;
Dorcas (1734-1815), who married Josiah Clap-
ham of Virginia; and Elizabeth (1739-1806), who
married Capt. George Cook. FIRST COUSIN: Mar-
garet Gough (ca. 1742-?), who married John
Mackall (1738-1813). MARRIED on December 9,
1784, Catherine (1761-1814), daughter of Nicho-
las Worthington (1734-1793). Catherine was the
granddaughter of Thomas Worthington (ca. 1691-
1752/53). She was the niece of Brice T. B. Wor-
thington (1727- 1794). Her brothers were Thomas
(1754-1832); Charles (1756-1756); Nicholas
(1757-1782); Charles (1759-?); Brice John (1764-
1837); and John Griffith Worthington (1764-1797).
Her sisters were Elizabeth (1752-died young);
Elizabeth (1766-1820); Achsah (1768-?); and
Sarah (1770-?). Her first cousins were Thomas
Dorsey (?-1790); Eleanor Dorsey, who married
Upton Sheredine (1740-1800). CHILDREN. SONS:
Nicholas (1789-1790); Thomas (1790-1802);
Nicholas Worthington (1793-1798); Baker, who
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married Hannah Sophia Grundy of Baltimore;
William; Worthington; and Charles. DAUGH-
TERS: Catherine (1785-1864), who married Wil-
liam Ross, Esq.; Mathilda (?-1795); Juliana, who
married John Jones; Mathilda, who married
Alexander McPherson; and Caroline. PRIVATE
CAREER. EDUCATION: studied law with his brother,
Thomas Johnson (1732-1819). RELIGIOUS AFFIL-
IATION: Anglican, All Saints' Parish, Frederick
County. SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: Gent.,
by 1770; Esq., by 1788. OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE:
lawyer, admitted to the following courts: Charles
and Prince George's counties, 1771. Partner with
brothers James, Roger, and Thomas Johnson
(1732-1819) in an ironworks business that owned
furnaces, forges, and mills in Western Maryland.
In 1793 the family reorganized its holdings, and
Baker received one-third of the Catoctin Fur-
nace. In 1803 Baker purchased the remaining two-
thirds of this furnace. PUBLIC CAREER. LEGISLA-
TIVE SERVICE: Conventions, Frederick County,
1st, 1774, 2nd, 1774, 4th, 1775, 5th, 1775, 6th-
8th, 1775-1776. LOCAL OFFICES: Clerk of Indict-
ments, Charles County Court, 1773; Committee
of Observation, Middle District, Frederick County,
elected 1775; county lieutenant, Frederick County,
in office 1781; commissioner, Frederick Town,
appointed 1789, 1792, 1794, and 1802; Maryland
Senate elector, Frederick County, elected 1791;
justice, Orphans' Court, Frederick County, ap-
pointed 1793; visitor of Frederick County Acad-
emy, appointed 17%; All Saints' Parish Vestry,
Frederick County, elected 1804, 1807, and 1810.
MILITARY SERVICE: colonel, 4th Battalion, Fred-
erick County Militia, commissioned 1776; colo-
nel, 34th Battalion, Frederick County Militia, re-
commissioned 1777. STANDS ON PUBLIC/PRIVATE
ISSUES: Federalist. WEALTH DURING LIFETIME.
PERSON AL PROPERTY: assessed value in Frederick
Town Hundred £75.0.0, including 18 oz. plate,
1782; owned 38 slaves, 1790. LAND AT FIRST ELEC-
TION: in 1774 obtained a warrant and completed
the surveys on 6,000 acres in that part of Fred-
erick County that later became Allegany County,
but patents were not issued on these tracts until
1789 and 1793. No other evidence of independent
land ownership, although he may have been in-
volved in some of the initial land investments
made by his brothers. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN
LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH:
owned over 10,000 acres by 1798 (7,200 acres in
Allegany County obtained through patents; over
2,700 acres in Frederick County and 7 and one-
half lots in Frederick Town obtained through pur-
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