INDIANA GOVERNOR
CONRAD BAKER
January 23, 1867 - January 13, 1873
CONRAD BAKER was born in Pennsylvania, received his education at
Pennsylvania College, and studied law in Gettysburg. Baker moved to
Evansville, Indiana, in 1841, and served in the Indiana House of
Representatives from 1845 to 1846. In 1856 he was defeated for
lieutenant governor on the Republican ticket with Oliver P. Morton.
During the war he served three years as a colonel, and in 1864 he was
successful in his bid for lieutenant governor. He became governor in
1867 when Governor Morton was elected to the United States Senate, and
Baker was elected to his own term as governor in 1868.
Baker is responsible for initiating the project to collect portraits
of all Indiana governors. After his administration he entered the
prominent law firm of Hendricks, Hord, and Hendricks, replacing Thomas
A. Hendricks, his successor as governor.
The election of 1868 was marked by the absence of any declarations of
misconduct or accusations against Baker. As one writer notes: "His
administration had been characterized as an upright, honest and
conscientious one, so much so that his honorable opponent found nothing
to attack but the measures of the party of which Governor Baker was the
chosen representative." Baker was heavyset, with sandy hair and
whiskers and florid complexion.
