James Heaton Baker was a Republican politician who was Ohio Secretary of State from 1856-1858, Minnesota Secretary of State, 1860-1862, and served in the American Civil War. James H. Baker was born May 6, 1829 in Monroe, Butler County, Ohio. He was educated in common schools, and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University. He became a teacher, and had charge of the Female Seminary at Richmond, Indiana. In 1853 he purchased the Scioto Gazette in Chillicothe, Ohio. In 1855 he was elected to a single term as Ohio Secretary of State. Later in life, he would be Minnesota Secretary of State 1860-1862.