Charles Baker was born between 1859-1861 in Andrew County, Missouri to slaves, Abraham Baker and Bessie MacKey. Bessie passed away in 1863, so Charles was raised by her owner, Sarah “Sally” MacKey. Abram remarried and the family remained in Andrew County.

Abram worked as a mail deliverer across Northwest Missouri. It was in this work that Charles and his brother Peter first discovered the prospect of friction heat. While traveling from Savannah to St. Joseph by wagon, the brothers forgot to grease the wheel, resulting in an immense amount of heat being produced. As the rain fell upon the heated linchpin, it produced steam.

In 1880, Charles married Caroline Carriger, also of Andrew County, in Corning, Iowa. In 1882 they had their only child, Lulu Belle Baker. Throughout the 1800’s, Charles worked as a mail carrier in St. Joseph. During that time, he began promoting the development of the Home for Aged and Dependent Ex-Slaves. The first building was destroyed by a cyclone in 1897, but after financial strife, the home was completed the following year at 24th street and Mitchell Avenue.

Baker’s next contribution was to develop the idea of friction heat founded in his youth. With scrap parts collected in Kansas, Charles and Peter created a friction heater which used propulsion to generate steam. In 1904 they founded the Friction Heater Company with an office at 611 Francis Street in St. Joseph. The patented device was tested on a train from St. Joseph to Savannah in 1906 and was soon installed onto the Santa Fe and Rock Island railroads. In 1907 Baker demonstrated the device at the Jamestown Exposition, using it to brew coffee.

Baker spent the next several years attempting to sell his device to homes and businesses. He had offices in Chicago, Des Moines, Detroit and New Jersey with the search for salesmen reaching to Utah and California. He expanded the business into Canada and patented the devise there as well. Charles passed away in 1926 at the home of his daughter at 1712 Messanie Street and was buried in his family plot in Savannah, Missouri.

Biography written by, Trevor Tutt, Curator of the St. Joseph Museum.