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Note: Excerpts from the History of Halifax by Guy Baker:
The servicing of the animals and vehicles rested with the blacksmith and wheelwright. In the early days of the township the citizens engaged a blacksmith to come to the community to render his much needed services. He was sometimes called affectionately "smitty." In the 1800's many different men served as blacksmiths in this town. Survival was the rule and those capable and dependable finally established permanent stands. Usually it came to be that one shop would serve a town and sometimes the trade from outlying districts. In the last days of the blacksmith business in our surrounding towns, horse and oxen were brought from miles around, usually on trucks, to be shod. Morris Robbins came from Carver with his oxen to my father's shop. Today oxen are gone from the scene and horses are shod at home by the farrier who comes with his supply of shoes, his forge and anvil to take care of "Dobbins'" personal needs. No longer do the boys and girls coming home from school peer in the open shop door to see the sparks that fly like chaff off the floor. The switch from the burning horse's hoof to the burning odor of gasoline was no improvement on the scale of pleasant fragrances. Young hands turned to cotterpins and shims and coils and sparkplugs with little trouble. The old village blacksmith seldom turned with enthusiasm to the new and strange vocational pursuits. Machinists were converted to auto mechanics and younger men turned to this new field. The change at our shop included automobile service and repair which brought in Bill Rountry as a mechanic. We had Ernest Sturtevant, another mechanic, who was the first professional chauffeur in our Town. He came into father's employ to begin the service that the townspeople began to need to keep the "Old Jallopy" running. I came home and an addition was built on the east side of the old building and all seemed well for "the Farmer's Garage" that would one day become J. B. Baker and Sons Auto Service. But I left to teach and neither of my two brothers chose this vocation. So the years brought a sort of peaceful tapering off of activity at the "Old Stand."
Turning back, when I was about ten years old, an important event occurred in my life. Mr. Robert Edwards, the renowned technician in the field of electronics and electrician for the Colonial Theater in Boston, bought the John Watson place next to the Blacksmith Shop. He grew to be a lifelong friend and was like a foster parent to the Baker children. The Edwards used their place as a summer residence but, after retirement, spent many years as our neighbors in Halifax. He and his wife were childless and adopted us Bakers into their lives and shared many of their activities with us. When I was old enough to appreciate it, I would go to Boston via train to be met at South Station by the Edwards and taken to concerts and the theater, etc. I attended the 1912 World Series in Boston as their guest. Brother James and sister Zillah followed suit when their turns came. Our association with these wonderful people spanned almost sixty years.
Descendants of George Baker as recorded by Susan Basile in her "Baker/Bosworth Family History"
55. JARED BAKER {REUBENS, GEORGE4, JOHN ANDREW 3, GEORGE2, GEORGE 1) (Source: Family History Chart that belonged to Avis G. [Little] Baker./ Jared Baker of Riversdale, Nova Scotia. Family History Riversdale now called Pinehurst, Nova Scotia, Canada. (Note) under Jared Baker: My grandfather, Jared Baker, was born in Riverdale (now Pinehurst) Nova Scotia, Canada son of Reuben and Anna Fancy Baker, on Feb 18, 1873. When he was about 18 years of age, probably 1891, he moved to his sister Ada Eisenhaurer's in North Reading, Mass. For a while he worked at the MacLane Wagon Manufacturing Company in North Reading: later he worked in Peabody, Mass. Soon, in answer to an advertisement, he moved to East Bridgewater, Mass. to work as a Blacksmith for William Sturtevant. Following his marriage to Mr. Sturtevant's niece, Ella Florence Sturtevant, on July 4, 1894, they took up residence in Halifax, Mass. where they raised their children and lived the remainder of their lives. Over the years, in addition to his blacksmith trade, Grandfather was very active in town offices. He was born 12 Feb 1873 in Riversdale, Lunenburg Co., Nova Scotia, Canada, and died 15 Oct 1946 in Halifax, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA. He married ELLA FLORANCE STURTEVANT
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