 Rev. Andrew W. Baker Jr. was born in 1749 to a large politically active family in the colonial Virginia frontier. In 1769, 20-year-old Andrew married 16-year-old Elizabeth Avent, who was the daughter of a wealthy, aristocratic family of French Huguenot heritage in Brunswick County, Virginia. Her parents were fiercely opposed to the match because they considered him a rugged, unpolished frontiersman unworthy of her hand. Elizabeth proclaimed her love for him and married him anyway. Angered by her choice, her parents formally disinherited Elizabeth and told her to never return home. Elizabeth fired back, vowing that she would never step foot on their property again unless her parents explicitly sent a request for both her and Andrew. Before his conversion to the ministry in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War, Andrew was a well-known fiddler who frequently played at parties and local events. According to family accounts, Andrew and Elizabeth left their young children at home to attend a local dance that lasted until dawn. When they returned in the morning, they discovered their log cabin had completely burned to the ground. All their children survived the fire, but Andrew felt this catastrophic event was a sign of divine judgment. He reportedly threw his fiddle into the dwindling fire, swore off secular dancing, and immediately converted to the ministry. In 1779, Andrew left his family in North Carolina and traveled to the Appalachian frontier to serve under Virginia Militia Capt. Isaac Ruddle as a private at Ruddle’s Station located near modern-day Cynthiana, Kentucky. On June 24, 1780, many British forces and Native American warriors overran the fort, capturing Ruddle and his soldiers, as well as civilians. Almost 500 soldiers and settlers were forced to march hundreds of miles to Detroit and Montreal, Canada, to be held as prisoners of war. They remained in captivity for two years. Under unknown circumstances, Andrew and his younger brother, George, avoided capture. Many genealogists theorize the Baker brothers were either away from the fort on a scouting trip or successfully slipped back into the relative safety of western North Carolina or southwest Virginia before the British finished containing the area during the siege. Others speculate they escaped during the trek north. To this day, how Andrew safely returned to Elizabeth and their children in Wilkes County, North Carolina, by 1781 remains a mystery. Over the course of the next few years, Andrew's life was defined by a growing family and a rapid transition into a respected magistrate, landowner, and religious leader. In total, the couple had 14 children, all of whom survived to adulthood. He and Elizabeth eventually reconciled with her parents after the war. Aside from his Revolutionary War service, Andrew is best known for his part in the Separate Baptist Movement. These preachers were not part of the rigid state churches of the era. Instead, they were best known for traveling around the Appalachian frontier giving charismatic sermons and baptizing parishioners in mountain rivers. By the time of his death in 1815, he had helped found multiple Baptist churches throughout Appalachia. His legacy is best summed up by Dr. George Paschal, who wrote Andrew “was the wisest, ablest, and most influential minister in Wilkes County and the adjoining section of country,” in “History of the North Carolina Baptists.” Pvt. Rev. Andrew W. Baker Jr. is my 5th great-grandfather through my maternal grandfather. This short biography is part of ongoing research into my ancestry that I've dubbed "Genealogy Chronicles" on X. DAR Ancestor ID: A004815
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