After losing his mother, Betsy Mackay, when he was just three months old, Baker was raised by his owner’s wife, Sallie Mackay, and his father, Abraham Baker. He was the youngest of five children, including Susie, Peter, Annie, and Ellen, who were all freed following the Civil War. Baker later pursued education at Franklin College and worked as an assistant to his father, an express agent. This exposure to mechanical work with wagons and linchpins sparked Baker’s interest in mechanical sciences.
Baker dedicated over two decades to developing his invention: a friction heater. He experimented with various friction methods, including rubbing bricks together and using different metals. After twenty-three years, his invention took shape as a device featuring two metal cylinders, one inside the other, with a wooden spinning core in the center that generated friction.
In 1904, Baker, alongside other partners, founded the Friction Heat & Boiler Company in St. Joseph, Missouri. The company, with Baker on the board of directors, achieved a capital of $136,000—equivalent to nearly $6 million today. Baker’s friction heater was touted as a cost-effective heating solution, potentially using any energy source like wind, water, or gasoline.
His invention received considerable acclaim. The New York Times, in its March 27, 1904 edition, labeled it a “Clever Negro Invention,” while other publications, such as the Daily Gazette and News-Press, predicted it would revolutionize heating systems.
Baker’s factory employed around 50 workers, producing radiators and other equipment. Despite facing racial prejudice, his business thrived, partly due to his dedication to his employees and community.
In 1880, Baker married Carrie Carriger, and they had a daughter, Lulu Belle Baker. Charles Baker passed away from pneumonia on May 5, 1926, in his daughter’s home in St. Joseph, Missouri.
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