Louis DeFoy Baker was born on this day in 1906, in Catawba County, to Norris and Louella Yoder Baker.
Louise graduated from the Startown Farm Life School in the late 1920s. He came to Winston-Salem in 1927 and visited Graylyn Estate. He was offered the job of caring for the chickens on the estate. A county agent from Catawba County recommended him for the job.
He returned to Hickory, discussed the job with his parents, and asked his sweetheart if she wanted to get married. Louis and Alma Hilton were married in early 1928, and they moved to the Graylyn Estate.
For the next 19 years, Louis worked as the poultry manager for the estate. He and his wife, joined by daughter Martha Louise, lived in several locations on the estate. During the war the estate was closed and Louis worked as caretaker for the estate.
In the early years, the chicken population consisted of about 500 laying hens, to supply the Gray family. When the children married and grandchildren appeared, the hen population rose to 1,200. During the summers, when the family went to Roaring Gap, a truck would travel there twice a week with poultry, vegetables and flowers.
The Graylyn Estate was donated to the Bowman Gray School of Medicine, so Louis had to move. He opened a shop in Rural Hall, called Baker’s Hatchery, and operated it until he retired in 1968.
Louis passed away in 1999.
Photo courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.
