ELLEN M. WHALEN BAKER TRACY

1837-1924

By W. Harland Boyd

            Ellen M. Whalen Baker Tracy, a native of Michigan, came westward as a fifteen-year-old bride in an ox-drawn wagon by way of the route of the earlier Donner Party.  After reaching California she was left a widow, and in 1857 she married Col. Thomas Baker in Visalia.  With him she became the cofounder of Bakersfield in the early 1860s.

                     The Baker home, located on the so-called Kern Island along the lower reaches of the Kern River, in the then remote southern San Joaquin Valley, became widely known for the hospitality extended to travelers.  Anyone passing through the area was welcome at the Baker house, as well as being allowed to graze livestock in an alfalfa field.  Sojourners called the stopping place Baker’s field, from which derived the name Bakersfield. 

            Ellen was an energetic pioneer who bravely endured the privations of frontier life.  Her concern with the welfare of nearby families doubtless helped her face the hardships.  Lest the women in the neighborhood regard her as snobbish, she invited them to use her sewing machine, as well as to enjoy potluck meals with her.  For the benefit of the children she started a school in her home, serving as the tutor until a private teacher could be hired.  Ellen became a highly respected matron in the settlement.

            Prior to his death in 1872, Col. Baker thoughtfully asked his friend, Ferdinand A. Tracy, a cattleman, to look after Ellen and their children.  Two years after Col. Baker’s death Ellen and Ferdinand were married.  Their happy marriage lasted until the latter’s death in 1908.

In keeping with Ellen’s charitable interests, she donated as a memorial to Ferdinand and a daughter property on which the Children’s Shelter was built. Kind, gracious, and warm hearted, Ellen in her declining years lived with a daughter, Charlotte Jameson, until the mother’s death in 1924.  Although handicapped by failing eyesight, she continued to be interested in local and world affairs to the very end of her life.