History of Centre and Clinton County, Pennsylvania, 1893



David  Baird Biography

Oct. 24, 1785, William Baird, of New Jersey, laid a warrant on two hundred and eighteen acres and forty-two perches of land just east of Liberty. This tract was called "Partnership," and was east of the Proctor tract. He came out and settled on it prior to 1797. On May 9, 1809, a patent for this tract was issued to his four sons, - William, Zebulon, Benjamin, and Joseph, - to whom by his will of Aug. 1, 1789, he had divided it equally. Besides these four sons, William Baird and his wife Tabitha had four daughters- Lydia (married to William Dunn), Mrs. Arthur Dillon, Mrs. McGill, and one whose name is not remembered. The Bairds were Scotch-Irish, who came from North Ireland to New Jersey in the beginning of the eighteenth century. Of the four sons, Zebulon married Martha, daughter of William Brown, an early settler, who came from South Carolina. Zebulon and his wife both died in 1847. Their children were William, Benjamin, Joseph, David, Zebulon, Annie (married to Jacob Miller), Mary (to Andrew White), Jane (to Jacob Pepperman), Sarah (to Joseph Pepperman), and Eliza (never married).

Of these children, David Baird was born in 1806, and married in 1837 Tabitha, daughter of John and Tabitha (Baird) Quigley. Their children are Arvilla (married to Samuel Hartzel), Virginia (married to Richard Dorey), John Quigley, Martha Jane (married to A. Farewell), Mollie (married to K.J. Farewell), Anna Blanche (single, and living at home).

At the seventy-fifth natal anniversary of David Baird, June 26, 1881, there were present his six children and twenty-one grandchildren. He owns three fourths of the original Baird patent tract, the remaining fourth being owned by his cousin, Benjamin Baird, who married Miss Frances M. Hartman, of Salona.

David Baird, in 1838, was the first man in this valley to introduce the culture of tobacco, which has now become one of the main productions in all this region.His farm and residence are among the finest in the West Branch valley.

In the year 1785, William Baird, with his wife and children and all their worldly possessions, emigrated from New Jersey into Central Pennsylvania, and in what is now the township of Dunstable bought by warrant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania two hundred and eighteen acres of wild land. Born of Scotch-Irish parents, Mr. Baird was just the man for a pioneer.

Among the trees on the banks of the river he built a log house of the most primitive kind, and at once commenced the work of making for himself and his posterity a home. The country was still occupied by the Indians, who at times became very warlike.

To David Baird, grandson of William, named above, it was related that once when the four sons of Mr. Baird (William, Zebulon, Benjamin, and Joseph) were following through the woods one of the paths which were then the only road, they were fired upon by the Indians, and one of them shot through the arm. David's father often spoke of the fear they then had of the Indians, and that while plowing near the woods they were ever on the alert, and when following after the plow as they went from the woods, they expected every moment to hear the crack of the red man's rifle. But their lives were spared, and Mr. Baird lived to see the wilderness blossom like the rose.

Mr. Baird died at his home, thus made by him and his sons, 18. Before his death he willed to his four sons, hereinbefore named, each an equal share of his land, and they, on the 15th day of May, 1789, procured a patent therefor. Zebulon, the second son, was born Feb. 19, 1762, in New Jersey.

Arrived at maturity, he married on the 1st day of January, 1789, Miss Martha Brown. To them were born ten children, viz.: Annie, born Oct. 12, 1790; William, Feb. 11, 1792; Benjamin, Nov. 26, 1793; Polly, Aug. 24, 1795; Jeanny, Nov 21, 1797; Sally, June 25, 1800; Rebecka, March 24, 1802; Joseph, Feb. 7, 1804; David, June 24, 1806; Elizabeth, April 12, 1809; and Zebulum, April 17, 1811.

After his marriage he built a house on the bank of the river on his part of the homestead, which was the finest in all the country around, and which still stands near the residence of David Q. Baird. In the home then built he lived, and here he reared his large family of children.

In 1795 the Methodist Church sent into this part of Pennsylvania the pioneer preachers, who did so much towards spreading the religious sentiment, the effects of which is still seen and felt. Under their teachings Mr. and Mrs. Baird became converted, and from thenceforth their house became the home of the itinerant preachers of the times.

In 1847, Mr. Baird and his wife both passed away, and were laid at rest in the Dunn cemetery. David Baird, the seventh son of Zebulum, was born in the log shanty first occupied by his parents on the 26th day of June, 1806.

His early life was passed in the home of his father, and, like the boys of the pioneers of those days, was taught that one of God's laws was to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. His education was obtained at the first school-house of that period, which was built of round logs, and stood near where Mrs. Alexander Stewart now resides, and his school days were days when there was no work to do. Such as his chances were he made the most of them, and acquired an education which fitted him for any ordinary business.

On the 31st day of January, 1837, he married Miss Tabitha Quigley, who was born at what is now known as North Bend, in Clinton County, Sept. 11, 1818. Her father, David Quigley, was of German origin, and was born March 14, 1775. Her mother, Miss Tabitha Baird, was born Nov. 5, 1787.

The union of Mr. and Mrs. Baird has been blessed with seven children, namely, Arvilla E., born Sept. 5, 1838; Verginia C., Aug. 7, 1840; David Q., Dec. 18, 1842; Martha J., Nov. 24, 1844; Robert S.Q., May 4, 1847, died April 10, 1859; Mollie F., born July 21, 1853; and Annie B., Sept. 29, 1860. Mr. Baird's first business venture was getting out lumber near where Renovo now stands.

We next find him lumbering on Chess Creek, in Clearfield County, shipping his lumber to Marietta and other points. For two years he ran a saw-mill near Larris Creek, and was very successful.

In 1833 he ran stone on flat-boats for the canal which was being built near his home. After the completion of the canal, he boated stone to Farrandsville and coal back to Williamsport, and with success beyond his expectations. In 1831 he bought the farm his father inherited, and later the ones owned by William and Joseph, which he still owns, and to which he has since added until he owns over two hundred acres as fine land as the sun shines upon, and which he has farmed in a model manner. In 1838 he raised the first tobacco raised in the county as a business. His neighbors predicted the ruin of his farm, and for several years he was virtually alone in the business, but has lived to see it one of the principal products of this section. His orchards have over sixty varieties, and for years his fruit took the premium at the county fairs.

In politics, Mr. Baird was formerly a Whig, then a Republican, to which party he still loyally belongs. In 1854, when his county gave a Democratic majority of three hundred, he was against his wishes nominated for county commissioner, and was elected by six hundred majority, and filled the office for three years, bringing to it the business experience of a successful business man. He has held different township offices; was also vice-president of the agricultural society, and once elected president, but resigned. Mr. and Mrs. Baird have been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church over forty years, and he was for years a class-leader.

The farm, which is one of the best in the county, he has ceased to work, and has turned it over to his son David, who manages it in an able manner. Along the southern line of the farm rolls the river; on the north it is bounded by the mountain, which stretches away in a grand panorama of cleared fields and forests, while between the river and the mountains lie the broad acres of level fields which would be the pride of a king, all under the highest state of cultivation, and with buildings that are models of convenience and elegance.

On another page of this work appears a landscape view of the farm, showing the present home of Mr. Baird in the main view, in the upper right-hand corner a view of the residence of his son David, and opposite a view of the old home, where he and his brothers and sisters grew to men's and women's estate. David Q. Baird, from the beginning of the war of the Rebellion, was anxious to shoulder his musket and go forth to fight for the principles he deemed to be right, but was kept back from a sense of duty to his parents until Feb. 24, 1865, when he enlisted in Company I, Twenty-eighth Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry, and served therein until the close of the war. He joined Gen. Sherman at Newberne, N.C., and participated in the capture of Davidson and the march to Washington, which ended in the grand review in that city May 23 and 24, 1865. He was discharged with his regiment July 18, 1865.

Source: History of Centre and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania; John Blair Linn; Philadelphia; Louis H. Everts; 1883.












Baird Genealogy Resources



Baird Ancestry Resources