Age: 36
Served: 14 years
1904 to December 15, 1919

We know very little about the Merchant Police in Hamilton, Ohio at the beginning of the 20th Century.  We believe they were empowered to patrol the central business district that included High, Second, Third, Court, Ludlow, and Market Streets.

During 1904, twenty-one year old Harry Baker, the oldest of nine children, left the family farm in Reily Township and joined the Merchant Police.  Six years later, in 1910, he married Nellie May Davis. Their first child, James, died at birth in 1913 due to a difficult delivery.  They had a daughter, Dorothy Hina Baker, in 1915, but then in 1917 lost another son, John Francis due to a difficult delivery.  Their last child, Eva Mae Baker, was born in 1919.  The four of them lived at 648 Miner.

During the afternoon of December 14, 1919, Nelson J. Barger (22), Kimber Baker, Justus Bowling, and Hargis Callahan met on B Street in Hamilton and planned to hold up a crap game that was operated on Court Street.  About 11 p.m., the four men armed themselves with revolvers.  Barger had two, a .32 and a .38 caliber revolvers.  They met at the Grand Theater, agreed to split up and meet again at Fourth and Court Streets, and Bowling and Callahan left.  Before Barger and Baker left, two temporary private policemen hired by the merchants, Frank S. Brown and Charles Morton, found the two loitering and ordered them from the entrance to the theater.  They arrived first at Fourth and Court Streets at about 1 a.m. on December 15, 1919.

About 1:15 a.m., Patrolman Baker was in plain clothes and patrolling the area.  He found the two loitering and inquired as to their business there at that time of night.  Their answers provoked suspicion and Patrolman Baker tried to detain them.  They resisted and Kimber Baker drew his revolver.  Patrolman Baker scuffled with him.  Barger, watching for a time from some five feet away, drew from his pocket the .32 caliber revolver, pointed it at Patrolman Baker, and twice pulled the trigger.  The revolver did not fire.  He then drew the .38 caliber revolver, aimed, and fired twice.  The first round went into Patrolman Baker’s back.  The second shot missed and struck the Kimber Baker in the left shoulder.  Kimber Baker and Barger ran, leaving Patrolman Baker on the sidewalk.

Patrolman Baker almost certainly died within a few minutes.  The bullet entered his body about the left shoulder and passed through a lung and the pericardium of the heart.  He was found soon and in a pool of his own blood. 

In the span of six years, Nellie May Baker lost her two sons and her husband.  Besides his wife and daughters, Patrolman Baker was survived by his parents, Jonas and Sarah Baker, and eight siblings; David Baker, Homer Baker, Glenn Baker, Earl Baker, Mrs. Amanda McCormick, Mrs. Sadie Miller, Martha Baker, and Ethel Baker.  He was buried December 18, 1919, in Greenwood Cemetery.

There were no witnesses to the killing, but the private police officers and Herbert Stricker saw the two men before the incident and one was wearing a cap.  Mr. Stricker later saw the two running later and the one no longer had the cap.  Descriptions of the two were broadcast to all the departments in the region. 

That afternoon, Chief of Police Stricker and Director of Public Safety Henry B. Greevey announced they had a few clues.  Detective Peter Hetterich mentioned there was but one clue and it was later made public that a cap was left at the scene with a tuft of hair still in it.  From this starting point, police learned the names of all four men involved in the original conspiracy. 

Barger was arrested in Berea, Kentucky, with his .38 caliber revolver in his trouser pocket.  When returned to Hamilton, he provided a written confession.  At his trial on March 5, 1920, he took the stand and repeated the same story.  Barger was found guilty of first-degree murder; the first person found guilty of first-degree murder in Butler County in 15 years.  He was sentenced to die in the electric chair on July 30, 1920, in the Ohio Penitentiary.  Because of illness, his execution was postponed.  He died on April 18, 1921, of tuberculosis while in the prison. 

Kimber Baker was never found. It is not known whether he survived the shoulder wound.

If you have further information, artifacts, or pictures of this officer, please contact the Museum Director at Director@GCPHS.com.