Milton A. Baker

He is listed as “Real Estate Agent” in the 1900 census at 1718 Fannin St. (Third Ward) with his wife Mary (also known as Mollie). His birthdate is given as 1838 in North Carolina.

In 1881, final verdict (not guilty) was reached in a lawsuit that Baker and his wife filed against the Houston and Texas Central Railroad for racial discrimination in violation of the civil rights bill.1

At the time of his death in 1905, the Houston Post described Baker as “the wealthiest negro in Texas … He was an ex-slave and without an education had amassed a fortune estimated at $75,000.”2

Richard Allen, Frank Vance, Henry C. Hardy were all among his pallbearers. He also intersected with Samuel J. Leonard through the Central Blaine and Logan Club (a Republican political organization).3 He worshipped at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church.

He played a role in the founding of Olivewood Cemetery, where he is now buried.4

  1. “Acquitted,” Dallas Weekly Herald, June 30, 1881, link.↩

  2. “Milton Baker’s Funeral,” Houston Post, December 3, 1905, link. See also notice of a European tour he took with his wife in Galveston Tribune, September 8, 1894, link.↩

  3. See “Political Items,” Galveston Daily News, August 15, 1884, link↩

  4. See C. N. Love, “Man about Town,” Houston Informer, January 14, 1933, link.↩