Planning to move to California, Minerva Ann, her husband, George Washington Baker, and their four young children, prepared for their journey, with the other family members that comprised "The Baker Train". The group gathered, and made their preparations, in the area of Milum Spring (Caravan Spring) near Minerva Ann's late father's store, Beller's Stand. Minerva Ann and her husband had approximately $500 in cash, 2 ox wagons and chains, a rifle, a double-barreled shotgun, 8 oxen, 3 young mares, 136 head of cattle, and beds, bedding, provisions, clothing and other possessions. The family then departed from Carroll County in April of 1857, under the leadership of her father-in-law, Captain John Twitty Baker.
Minerva Ann was one of
15 children. Her mother had died on 7 December 1849, and her father died
two months later on 26 February 1850 of smallpox, leaving the youngest of the orphaned
children to be cared for by members of the Beller family. Minerva Ann, and
her husband, George Washington Baker, became the legal guardians of
Minerva Ann's sister, Melissa Ann Beller, and her brother, David W.
Beller. The two Beller children accompanied the Baker family on their trip
Minerva Ann (Beller) Baker's husband appears to have been killed in the initial surprise attack on 7 September 1857. According to the account of their daughter, Sarah Frances, her sister Martha Elizabeth told her she had been sitting on her father's lap, and the bullet that killed him nicked Sarah's ear. Minerva Ann, and their oldest child, Mary Lovina ("Vina") Baker, died in the Mountain Meadows Massacre on 11 September 1857. During the Massacre, Vina's sister, Martha Elizabeth, said she saw her 7 year old sister being led over a ridge by some men.
(Beller) Baker was 25 years old when she died. Along with her
husband and daughter, her siblings, Melissa Ann Beller, and
Beller, her brother-in-law Abel Baker, and her
father-in-law John Twitty Baker, also
died in the Massacre. Minerva Ann's three youngest children, Martha
Elizabeth "Betty" Baker, born 7 March 1852, Sarah Frances "Sally" Baker, born 20 November
1854, and William Twitty "Billy" Baker, born 15 November 1856, survived
the Massacre and were returned to their paternal grandmother, Mary A.
(Ashby) Baker, in Arkansas in 1859.
MANERVA A. BELLER BAKER, 25
*Please note that the names of the victims of the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre that appear here are those who we have personally researched and verified as actual victims. In some cases this list will differ from the names that were inscribed on the 1990 Monument on Dan Sill Hill.
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