Charles Baker was an African American inventor born in Savannah, Missouri on August 3, 1859. His parents were Abraham Baker and Betsy Mackay Baker. Sadly, his mother died before Baker’s first birthday, so he was brought up by his father and the wife of the plantation owner. He was the youngest of five children that include Annie, Susie, Ellen, and Peter. They were all freed when the civil war ended.

In 1880, at the age of 21, he married Carrie Carriger in Adams County, Iowa. They had one child, Lulu Belle Baker. Charles Baker was also nicknamed St. Joseph Negro Inventor.

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Schooling

Baker was a self-taught mechanical engineer and later attended Franklin College.

Career

His father was an express agent, and Baker became his assistant once he turned fifteen. After inventing the friction heater, he partnered with other men in his business to manufacture the heaters. They started the Friction Heat & Boiler Company in 1904 in St. Joseph with Baker serving on the board of directors. The company capital stock was $136,000, a huge amount at the time – its 2018 equivalent is about 4 million dollars.

He became wealthy and respectable in his hometown. His company employed many people; both skilled and unskilled, and his loyalty to them and in creating opportunities helped his business become very successful. Despite the odds such as the prevalent racial prejudice and resulting financial constraints, he succeeded.

Invention

He was fascinated by friction because, with it, one could generate heat without relying on another heating source. This prompted him to devise a way of harnessing the friction heat process. While working with his father, his exposure to linchpins and wagons sparked his interest in mechanical sciences. He invented and patented a friction heater on January 13, 1903. The patent number was 718,071.

He worked on his invention for about twenty-three years, working on friction forms and various types of metals. Eventually, he came up with a perfect device that consisted of two metal cylinders, one inserted into the other, with a wooden spinning core in the center to produce the friction.

On March 27, 1904, the New York Times’ edition identified Baker’s invention as a “Clever Negro Invention”. Other newspapers such as Daily Gazette and News-Press also published his story in 1904 indicating that his invention would revolutionize the then heating systems.

A Good Green-Energy Option

Since the device’s source of heat was friction, it did not require a specific energy type. Therefore, it would have been a better option for green energy use. In his patent application, Charles Baker stated that the friction can be initiated using any mode of power including wind, gasoline, and water. He claimed that the device would also be cheaper to run than any other type.

Charles Baker died on May 5, 1926, at her daughter’s home in St. Joseph.