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Orville D. Baker

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Orville D. Baker
24th Attorney General of Maine
In office
January 8, 1885 – 1888
GovernorFrederick Robie
Joseph R. Bodwell
Sebastian Streeter Marble
Preceded byHenry B. Cleaves
Succeeded byCharles E. Littlefield
Personal details
Born(1847-12-23)December 23, 1847
Died1908 (1909)
Political partyRepublican Party
Alma materBowdoin College
Harvard Law School
Signature

Orville Dewey Baker (23 December 1847 – 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 24th attorney general of Maine between 1885 and 1888.[1]

Baker was the nephew of Maine's second attorney general, Jonathan P. Rogers, who was Baker's maternal uncle.[2]

Early life and education

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Orville Baker was born to Joseph Baker and Frances Baker (née Gilman) on 23 December 1847 in Augusta, Maine. He attended Bowdoin College when he was aged 16 through 20, from 1864 to 1868. He was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and Phi Beta Kappa honor society.[3] He was valedictorian of his graduating class. He spent two years thereafter traveling Europe before returning to the United States to read law in his father's firm.[4]

In 1871 he completed a Master of Arts program at Bowdoin College. In 1872, he graduated from Harvard Law School. Despite receiving offers to teach at Southern University and his alma mater, Harvard Law School, Baker decided to immediately enter the legal profession. He was admitted to the Kennebec County bar in 1872.[4][3]

Baker never married and had no known children.[3]

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Baker was admitted to the bar of the US Supreme Court in 1883, just a decade after his admittance to the bar in Maine.[4][5] During this time, he represented clients such as Western Union Telegraph and Edwards Manufacturing.[3][6]

He was elected by the Maine Legislature to serve as the state's attorney general on January 8, 1885.[4][7] His term ended in January 1885.[8]

Baker died in 1908. At the time of his death he was president of the Maine Bar Association.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Blaine, Mrs James G. (1908). Letters of Mrs. James G. Blaine. Duffield.
  2. ^ Madore, Roger A. Augusta. Charleston, South Carolina. ISBN 978-1-4396-5031-8. OCLC 936620837.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Addresses and memorials of Orville Dewey Baker". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  4. ^ a b c d Biographical Encyclopedia of Maine of the Nineteenth Century. Metropolitan Publishing and Engraving Company. 1882.
  5. ^ "Dingley v. Oler, 117 U.S. 490, 6 S. Ct. 850, 29 L. Ed. 984, 1886 U.S. LEXIS 1865 – CourtListener.com". CourtListener. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  6. ^ "Founding Members". SPC Preservation Fund. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  7. ^ General, Maine Department of Attorney (1887). Report of the Attorney General of the State of Maine. Steves & Sayward.
  8. ^ "Maine Attorneys General, 1820- | Maine State Legislature". legislature.maine.gov. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
Legal offices
Preceded by Maine Attorney General
1885–1888
Succeeded by