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View Tree for John Renta BakerJohn Renta Baker (b. 17 Oct 1735, d. 1820)

John Renta Baker (son of Dan Andrew Baker and Mary Molly Bolling) was born 17 Oct 1735 in Wilkes, Ashe Co, NC, and died 1820 in Clay Co, Ky. He married Elizabeth Terrell on 05 Sep 1754 in Chowan, NC, daughter of James Terrill and Margaret Watkins.

 Includes NotesNotes for John Renta Baker:
John Renta Baker was born in North Carolina, but after he married Elizabeth, they moved to Madison, Kentucky, and lived in forts there. Most settlers in Kentucky lived in or near forts from 1775 until around 1782, as this was during the Revolutionary War with England. Kentucky settlers suffered much from
Indian raids from north of the Ohio River, and some from the Cherokees in North Carolina.

John "Renta" Baker, Elisha Harrison, David Robertson, William Morris, Jack Harris and four sons of Renta...Robert "Julius" Baker, James"Claybrook"Baker, and George Baker came into the mountains of
Southeastern Kentucky on a hunting trip when the game got scarce in the Bluegrass section of the
state. At that time, Little Goose Creek was a line between the settlers and the Indians, as this was
before a treaty was made.

John was a Long Hunter and in 1763 was living on the Green River, in what is now Kentucky, with the Cherokees. He made trips down the Cumberland River to Spanish Natchez, to sell his furs.

John served as a Captain in Col Ben Cleveland's Regiment during the American Revolution. John came to Kentrucky after the war, and lived in Fayette, Boyle, Madison, Rockcastle and Clay Counties.

Most of these 8 early hunters eventually settled in the hills, and some records of them are found in early Estill and Clay County records.

The early settlers depended on wild game for much of their food. Very soon the amount of game to be found around the settlements became scarce.

The winter of 1779-1780 was the most severe season of cold ever known to Kentucky. From the middle of November, to the middle of February, snow and ice continued on the ground without a thaw. Most domestic and wild animals died from exposure and lack of food.

This is probably why these hunters came into the area of now Estill, Owsley, Lee , Clay and Jackson counties about 1780.

Late in life he had a 2nd marriage to Aza Williams. Aflter Aza died, John lived in a rock house near the
mouth of Buffalo Creek in NW Owesley Co, Ky. He died in 1820 - It is said that he fathered several 1/2 Indian children.

Allan Wilson Baker, who was a lawyer in McKee in the 1920's, wrote that his great, great grandfather John "Renta" Baker came into the hills in 1780.



More About John Renta Baker and Elizabeth Terrell:
Marriage: 05 Sep 1754, Chowan, NC.

Children of John Renta Baker and Elizabeth Terrell are:
  1. +Isaac Baker, b. 1757, Chowan Co, NC, d. Jan 1818, Greene Co, TN.
  2. +Margaret Patricia (Pattie) Baker, b. 1760, Wilkes, NC, d. date unknown.
  3. +Bolling Baker, b. 1764, Buncombe, NC, d. 1834, Clay, KY.
  4. +Andrew Baker, b. 1765, Buncombe Co, NC, d. 1841, Laurel Co, Ky.
  5. +John Durkham Baker, b. 1770, Buncombe, NC, d. date unknown.
  6. Robert Julius Baker, b. 01 Mar 1774, Buncombe, NC, d. 1859, Owsley Co, Ky.
  7. +Igha Iffa "Sookatooch" Baker, b. 08 Aug 1790, Buncombe County, NC, d. 12 Sep 1866, Jackson, KY.
  8. +George Washington Baker, b. 29 Mar 1779, Wilkesboro, NC, d. 03 Sep 1846, Linn, MO.
  9. James Claybrook Baker, b. 1767, Buncombe Co, NC, d. date unknown.
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