Lintner W. Baird was long a fixture in the business affairs of the town of Ogden as a lumber merchant, and is now living retired in that quiet village, surrounded with all the comforts and conveniences that a life of industry and honor have brought him.
Mr. Baird was born at Washington in Tazewell County, Illinois, son of Thomas N. and Mary (White) Baird. Both parents were born in Ohio. L. W. Baird was the third among twelve children, all of whom were educated in the Franklin District School. Two of his brothers fought as soldiers in the Union army, Thomas R. and George W. Baird.
In 1868 L. W. Baird married Lucinda Gland, a native of Ohio and a daughter of William and Nancy Gland. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Baird located near Bloomington, Illinois, where, he engaged in farming for some years. They were getting established with a good home and were rearing their children when death came upon the scene and took away Mrs. Baird on April 1, 1879. Four children were born to their union: Olive N., Charles Lossen, Minnie and Fred. These children were educated chiefly in the high school at Ogden. Olive N. is now Mrs. Wampler and has three children: Flossie, Otho and Minion. Charles Lessen is a practical farmer in northwestern Missouri and by his marriage to Laura Young has three children, Lee, Oscar and Essie. Minnie died in Kansas City, Missouri, the wife of Benjamin Ladieu, leaving two daughters, Laura and Lillian. Fred Baird lives at Woodward, Oklahoma, and by his marriage to Miss Kirk has three children, Addison L., Cecil and Nellie.
On December 15, 1880, Mr. Baird married for his present wife Mrs. Harriet Bowman, widow of Captain Isaac L. Bowman. Captain Bowman and wife were married November 9, 1865. He had served gallantly as captain of Company G of the One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Infantry. Captain Bowman’s father was a county and circuit judge of Logan County, Illinois. Captain Bowman passed away in January, 1872, leaving his widow with one son, Ralph Waldo. Ralph Waldo graduated from Northwestern University Law School at Chicago in the same class with Judge Kenesaw Landis, and is now a successful practicing lawyer in New York City. For ten years he was librarian of the Chicago Bar Association. He is also a legal author, having compiled the work known as Bowman’s Illinois Cases and Citations, which has found a place on the shelves of most law libraries not only in Illinois but elsewhere.
Mrs. Baird was born at Galena, Illinois, a town famous not only for being the center of the great lead industry but also as , the early home of General Grant. Her maiden name was Wilson and she is a daughter of Hiram and Caroline (Reed) Wilson, her father a native of Pickaway County, Ohio, and her mother of Buffalo, New York. Mrs. Baird was one of a family of eleven children. These children grew up at Galena and the Wilsons were close neighbors to General Grant’s family and the Grant and Wilson children played together and attended the same school. Mrs. Baird had a brother, Albert Wilson, who served in the Civil War. She also has two nephews who are successful physicians, Dr. Ray Teaman of Munising, Michigan, and Dr. Clyde Teaman, who is a partner of the noted Doctor Barnes of Decatur, Illinois.
Mr. and Mrs. Baird were married in Peoria, Illinois, and have continuously been residents of Ogden for over thirty-seven years. During all that time Mr. Baird carried on a successful business until February, 1909, when he retired. He and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Ogden. In politics he supports the principles of the Republican party and has always cast his vote for an organization which he feels has been the source of the best laws and policies of this nation. Both he and his wife have given the strength of their advocacy to the breaking of the yoke long maintained by the liquor traffic in this country. Fraternally Mr. Baird is affiliated with Masonry, being a Knight Templar of the Urbana Commandery, and also with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mrs. Baird is a member of the Eastern Star and the Pythian Sisters.
In public affairs Mr. Baird served as tax collector thirteen years and also filled the offices of assessor and school director. His own work has been a factor in the development of Champaign County, and his early memories go back to a time when this country was little more than bare prairie and swamp. He has lived a life of industry, has reared his children for positions in which integrity of character and loyal citizenship count, and has identified himself with every progressive movement in the community. Mr. and Mrs. Baird now enjoy a very pleasant home at Ogden, close by the interurban line, their dwelling house being set in the midst of a large lawn where a number of trees furnish friendly shade and well set off the architectural features of the building.