William Thatcher Baker was a farmer, rancher, merchant, and ginner. Born in Ohio, he moved in 1850 to Pleasant Run in Dallas County, Texas. He married Miss Emily Beeman, daughter of Dallas pioneer James J. Beeman. Although a Unionist, he made shoes for the Confederacy during the Civil War, 1861-65, as a loyal Texan. Later he operated a ferry on the Trinity River one and a half miles below Dowdy's Ferry. In 1879 he moved to Plum Creek Farm in Hamilton County, where he established a post office named "Ohio" on May 4, 1882.