Frederick S. Baker, the highly efficient superintendent and general manager of the North Eastern Forestry Company at Cheshire, is fortunate in combining the enterprise and initiative of a young man with varied experience in the line of work to which he is devoting his energies. He was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, September 20, 1884, a son of Nathan and Laura (Colby) Baker, natives of Lynn, Massachusetts. For a long period the father engaged in the manufacture of shoes in Lynn but at length was obliged to retire from active business on account of poor health and removed to Amherst, where he passed away in 1886.
     Frederick S. Baker was educated in the public schools of Amherst but in 1900, when sixteen years old, became a clerk in the employ of the Springfield Gas Light Company. Within the next four years he worked up to the position of assistant to the general manager but in 1904 his health became so impaired that he was obliged to sever his connection with that company. During the following two years he was agent in the forestry department of the state of Massachusetts and gathered statistical data which appeared in a volume issued by that department, covering the subject of white pine in an exhaustive manner. Mr. Baker was also given charge of the state nursery, which was established under the direction of R. C. Howley, the assistant state forester of Massachusetts. Later our subject was associated with Professor Alfred Akerman of the University of Georgia in forestry and nursery work in that state. In the latter part of 1906 he entered the employ of the Munson-Whittaker Company of New York and was given charge of large gangs of men doing tree surgery all over New England. Since 1909, however, he has been connected with the North Eastern Forestry Company, which was at first located in East Haven but in 1910 removed to Cheshire. The company deals in forest nursery stock and has the largest business of its kind in the United States. In addition to their plant in Cheshire they have a large seed house in Willsboro, New York, on Lake Champlain, from which points seeds of forest trees indigenous to the northern climate are shipped all over the world. As the value of forestry has come to be more widely understood and effort is being made to repair in part the damage done by the thoughtless destruction of timber, such work as that which engages the attention of the North Eastern Forestry Company becomes of national importance. Under the management of Mr. Baker its affairs are   systematically and scientifically directed, and it is generally recognized that he has unusual qualifications for the office which he fills.
     On the 19th of November, 1913, at Centerville, Mr. Baker was married to Miss Rose Baechle, of New Haven, and they have a son, Richand Colby, who was born December 19, 1914. Although not interested in the political game Mr. Baker has always been more than willing to aid in any way possible the advancement of the civic interests of his community and has been a prime mover in many projects that have worked out to the advantage of his town. He is an enthusiastic Mason and belongs to Temple Lodge, No. 16, A. F. & A. M., at Cheshire; Triune Chapter, R. A. M.; and Temple Council, R. & S. M., of Southington. He is also connected with the Grange and believes firmly in the value of its work in bringing about better conditions of farmlife. He is a man of genuine worth and possesses the courage of his convictions, his position on any subject being clearcut and positive. Since removing to Cheshire he has gained a wide acquaintance here and is universally respected.