Traveling Lincoln Assassination Museum

[historybuff22]

I haven't read this book yet - I tend to try to obtain primary source material. For my Baker's research so far I have amassed over 800 pages of documents. Lafayette Baker was sure a busy man. Hired by Stanton as a government detective from 1862 to 1865, his personal papers fill 137 MICROFILM reels!!! I have just started going through the index to names file.

A side point here: Lafayette Curry Baker purchased land from the state of Michigan located in downtown Lansing. He paid $285 for it. After about six months he sold the property to a man for $10,000. Two weeks later he sold the same property to another man for $30,900. A Month later sold the same property to a different man for $60,000.

So far I have copies of 34 different property transactions from the Baker family between 1843 and 1867!

Another unanswered question concerns Luther Baker. In July 1865 he purchased a farm outside the city limits of Lansing for $8,000. There was only a house and barn on the property - no livestock or crops - that was 5.6 acres in size. ALL other farms in the same area sold from $200-$500! In 1867 Luther decided he could not make a living by farming, so he sold the farm for $500. Go figure! Money laundering?

Rick Brown
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