My Genealogy Hound

BAKER VALENTINE, retired farmer; P. O. Arcanum. A “Buckeye” by birth; was born in Butler Co. and grew up in Warren Co.; after he was grown, he went to Cincinnati, and, being disappointed in finding employment, made an engagement to boat on the Ohio River; after about one year’s river experience, he engaged with his brother Aaron, who then had a grocery in Cincinnati, and remained in that city about nine years; in 1834, he came to Darke Co. and entered five 80 acre tracts a little north of Arcanum, and commenced clearing, built a cabin, and in the year following, having got the cage ready, was married to Miss Matilda, daughter of Clarke Baker, a native of Warren Co., and an early settler of Twin Township, Darke Co. After his marriage, he concluded his neighbors were too scarce and far between, and sold in part and traded for a quarter of Sec. 13, Butler Township; afterward bought 80 acres of the southeast quarter of Sec. 12, upon which his present residence is located; Mr. Valentine is emphatically a self-made man, being thrown out upon the world when so young that he has no recollection of his parents; he had to depend upon the kindness of friends until he was old enough to earn a living, which he commenced doing while a youth; he started out for Cincinnati before he was of age, and has battled his way until he has become one of the substantial citizens of Darke Co. and a leading man of his neighborhood, and is now living a retired life, enjoying, in his later years, the fruits of the sacrifices and toils of his earlier years; both he and his wife are now quite advanced in years, being the oldest couple of early settlers now living in their neighborhood, but are still in full possession of all their faculties, and remarkably vigorous and active; they have three children living, all of whom are married and reside near them.