G. Carson Baker's Cunningham Catalog — The Baker Family
George Carson Baker
Born: May 27, 1881
Married: November 16, 1904, Bertha Eunice Odell (1880)
Children: Margaret Elizabeth (1907) and Dorothy Francis (1911)
Died: November 26, 1950George Carson Baker (professionally listed as G. Carson, but always referred to as Carson) was born in 1881 to Charles and Martha Baker. He grew up on Elba St. (formerly Mansion St.) in Rochester's 19th Ward.
In 1897 at age 16, Carson started work as a clerk at 118 State St. It would appear that Carson's job was with the H.B. Graves Furniture and home furnishings company. This may have been a sales or administrative position, or perhaps it was Carson's introduction to cabinetmaking. In either case he didn't stay there long. Carson changed occupations in 1899 to woodworking at the factory where his father Charles was already an established carriage painter and wood carver. This marked the beginning of Carson's very successful career with the James Cunningham, Son & Company.
"I always thought that my father started at Cunningham's as a young man because of his father," recalled his daughter, Dorothy in a letter. "In those days trades were learned by serving apprenticeships under the skilled worker. He worked himself up through the years as a designer of the custom built cars. It was not like an assembly line, but only one of a kind [vehicles]," and she noted in parentheses "(for the very rich)."
Carson was soon promoted to senior draftsman (or draughtsman as it was spelled at the time). On November 16, 1904 Carson married Bertha Odell, and hired a carriage for the event for $5. The newlyweds moved into their own house on Garfield St. Their first child Margaret was born in 1907, the same year Cunningham began producing its first automobiles.
In 1909, at age 28, Carson was again promoted, this time to senior body designer. The company went through many leadership changes that year as it was nearing the end of the carriage era. In 1911 his second child Dorothy was born. In 1914, Carson's position enabled him to afford building a new home for his growing family on Woodbine Ave. in the Sibley Tract, a prestigious neighborhood at that time in the 19th Ward. In 1915, carriage production ceased, and with Carson leading the team of designers, the James Cunningham, Son & Company moved into the very exciting era producing luxury automobiles.
Carson's commute to Canal St. was now a little farther than it had been growing up and he took the trolley. He never owned a Cunningham car, but was not without vehicles. His first was a motorcycle, and he designed a side car for it and had it built down at the shop so he could take his family for Sunday drives. His daughter Margaret referred to it as "The Family Car." Dorothy recalled, "It was a day's trip from 346 Woodbine to Durand Eastman Park for a picnic and zoo." Occasionally, Carson did bring home from work a new Cunningham car that needed to be taken out for test drive. Margaret particularly liked those excursions in the great luxury vehicles.
In May of 1931 Carson purchased his own car, a Ford Tudor for $450 from Genesee Motor Vehicles. Dorothy recalled, "The first car I remember was a touring car, that had side curtains with [isinglass] windows that snapped on when it rained. The roof of the car stayed in place and had three windows. I think I was probably in No. 16 School at that time. We went to the Adirondack Mts. on a camping trip and whenever we stopped on a steep grade, a large stone had to be put in back of the front wheel to prevent rolling back." Perhaps that was an issue for most vehicles at that time, not just Fords.
During that time Carson had a workshop in the attic of his home on Woodbine where he crafted many things, including a dining room buffet using wood from an old organ. He loved beautiful wood with grains and had a gift of making beautiful things out of insignificant materials. The buffet had a French polish finish (a technique he also used for many other pieces that he made) and he rubbed it until it was perfect.
In 1935, Carson's sister Alice died at age 60. In 1936, Cunningham ceased its production of auto bodies and Carson's career with Cunningham ended. It was a difficult economic time not just for Cunningham but other businesses as well. Dorothy recalled, "Many of the older men were let go from their jobs of many years. Our father was one of them [as was her father-in-law, from another company]...It was a sad time for many."
From 1936-1938 Carson listed his occupation as designer, and then carpenter. He sold his home on Woodbine to Margaret and her husband Eugene, and there the next generation of his family would reside.
Carson's next chapter in 1939 was as stationary engineer at the Colgate-Rochester Divinity School. He and Bertha first resided in an apartment at the missionary dorms at the school on the hill, and then in the white cottage (known as the Gate House) at the foot of the hill where the school was. He had a 28' x 56' garden with many varieties of plants he grew from seed. His choices included green beans, cucumbers, strawberries, pole lima beans, tomatoes, green onions, Spanish onions, lettuce, and huckleberries (which he was quite proud of, as they made the best pies).
Carson and Bertha were both avid archers and belonged to an archery club at the Rochester Museum. Carson hand-crafted their bows and arrows, and also made the wooden cases to store them (of course!). They were members of Westminster Presbyterian Church, and Carson was a session member. Each granddaughter had the delight of staying with them at the Gate House for two weeks each summer.
His granddaughter Susan recalls him as quiet in manner, a gentleman, and that he always smoked a pipe. She wrote, "I was not born yet when he worked at Cunningham and I was only 13 or 14 when he died. And for some reason the car factory days were not talked about. What was talked about was his skill at cabinet making and his skill for "French polish" finishing of wood. I only knew him as a Grandpa - tall, fairly reserved, and very strict, impeccable in detail — he had a fabulous vegetable garden, was an avid archer, a mason, a man of faith, always dressed well, and he had a car (surprise, surprise — which we did not, so it was a big deal to me). He had the home that I lived in built for him and Grandma when he worked at Cunningham."
Carson died in 1950 at the age of 69. He is buried with Bertha, who died in 1962, at White Haven Memorial Park, in Pittsford, N.Y., in a plot shared with their daughter Margaret and her husband Eugene, and their granddaughter Dorothy and her husband Leslie Keefe.
