Baker was born into slavery in Shippensburg on March 27, 1797, son of Nell, a slave owned by
Shippensburg’s richest resident David Mahan. According to his obituary, Baker was “of Spanish or Creole descent” and he was described as a “respected colored citizen” who was “upright in his dealings, a consistent Christian, and respected by all.” Baker gained his freedom sometime before his twenty-eighth birthday in 1825, and he chose to stay in Shippensburg where he practiced as a barber. Upon gaining his freedom, he enjoyed the right to vote for thirteen years until the state constitutional convention of 1838 stripped him of the franchise. More than thirty years later, the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution restored his right to vote. Baker also led the African-American church that once stood at the cemetery’s front along North Queen Street. When he died, he was buried along the east wall of his beloved congregation’s home. The church underwent renovations in the 1880s, and then it was rededicated in 1886 as the Richard Baker A.M. E. Church in his honor. Baker’s life serves as a testament to both the cruel history of slavery, but also the resilience and achievements of the men and women born in bondage who then chose to build new lives of freedom in Cumberland County.