Items include the 1841 assessment roll, district number two, Walworth County, and (in the same volume) a daybook of Baker for his law practice (1845-1847); two volumes of court records, 1831-1853; a draft of the report of the committee on organization and functions of the judiciary for the 1846 state constitutional convention; the manuscript of the 1849 Revised Statutes of the State of Wisconsin and letters from C. L. Sholes concerning its publication; letters in 1853 relating to the incorporation of and efforts to finance the Kenosha & Beloit Railroad; several items (1870) relating to the proposed State Line & Union Railroad Company; routing letters in regard to administrative work of the local soldier enrollment board (1864); the manuscript of “Early Settlers in Walworth County” (Wisconsin Historical Collections, 6:441) and several autobiographical sketches, one of which (1867) contains a description of the Baker family journey from Hortonville, Vermont, to Wisconsin in 1838. There also are diaries, 1859-1868, kept by Eliza Baker, Charles' wife.
Especially informative letters include one by Marshall M. Strong, written from Racine in 1838, describing Wisconsin to Baker as a prospective immigrant; another by Josiah A. Noonan, 1845, in regard to the controversy about the Milwaukee Bank charter; and a letter of Edward G. Ryan, 1846, concerning prospects for adoption of the new constitution. Other correspondents include Edward Elderkin, Henry Dodge, and H. S. Winsor.
Intermingled with the other papers is a group of business papers, 1845-1849, of the [Lake] Geneva general mercantile firm of Joseph Griffin and C. R. Merrill. These papers consist of wheat contracts with farmers; invoices of purchases; letters from eastern firms concerning collections of accounts against the firm; and letters from Henry K. Elkins, a dealer in wheat at Southport, quoting wheat prices in eastern markets.
