Elijah Baker was born in Lunenburg County, Virginia in 1742. He was converted to Christ under the ministry of Jeremiah Walker and was baptized by Samuel Harriss in 1769. Soon after that, Brother Baker became an itinerant evangelist with God greatly blessing his ministry.
For some time Baker escaped the Virginia law, but finally in 1778 he was caught and jailed for fifty-six days. Ironically, this was during the Revolutionary War, which was supposedly being fought for “life, liberty and justice for all.” Often during his incarceration, Brother Baker witnesses to people who were passing along outside the jail. One such man was Thomas Batston, Esq. Batston stopped, listened, appreciated the message and then invited the preacher to visit him whenever he was in Delaware. That didn’t look very likely at the time.
Baker and his preaching was such a headache to his jailors that it was decided to get rid of him. But how? It was decided that he should be placed on board a privateer, with the captain being ordered to drop him off anywhere outside of American shores. Things didn’t work out Satan’s way. After some time at sea, Baker was transferred to another ship, which eventually placed him on yet a third privateer. Finally he was tossed ashore. But the preacher discovered that his landfall was Delaware. Remembering his invitation from Squire Batston, he made his way to the man’s house where he was received hospitably. During the following year, Brother Baker was joined by another Virginia preacher, named Philip Hughes, and they labored together as a team for the rest of their lives. During that time they established twenty-two churches in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware.
On a couple of occasions, Baker and Hughes were challenged by paedobaptists to debate the question of immersion. In 1782 at Fowling Creek, Maryland, after one such debate, three Methodist preachers were scripturally baptized. Three years later (1785), while in Virginia, there was another debate after which twenty-two people who had been in the audience were baptized. Needless to say, Baker and Hughes were not often called to debate after that.
It came to pass on this day (November 6) 1798, during his fifty-sixth year, that Elijah Baker passed into the presence of his Saviour – after a full and fully-blessed ministry.