Hello and welcome to American Catholic History, brought to you by the support of listeners like you.

If you like this podcast and would like to support our work, please visit American Catholic History.org

slash support. I'm Noelle Heister Crowe. And I'm Tom Crow. Today we're talking about one of the

real giants of American Catholic history, venerable Nelson Baker. Nelson Baker has been one of my

absolute favorite characters in American Catholic history since I was working on the

Almanac. He has this incredible combination of business savvy, toughness in the face of secular pressures, and tender care for the most vulnerable, and all of it wrapped up in a nice bow of utter reliance upon and trust in Mary's intercession.

He's a great role model for many of us in our own day.

Yeah, he sure is. And I'm very seriously considering adding him as a patron along with Mother Teresa.

Okay, not as a patron saint because he's a venerable, but patron venerable for our Montessori

school, Hilltop Children's house. What he did on a massive scale up in Lackawanna, we're really

doing on a smaller scale here in Stubanville. Well, maybe we take our lady of victory as patron

like he did because he utterly trusted in Mary's intercession when he saw needs.

And we have needs.

And then he devoted himself to doing what it took to meet the needs, trusting that Mary would provide.

Yeah, and trusting can be the hardest part of time.

Yeah, isn't it really?

Anyhow, there's a lot to Nelson Baker's story, so let's not waste any more time.

Right. Nelson Baker was born in Buffalo, New York on February 16, 1842. He was the second

oldest of four boys born to his parents. His German father was Lutheran, while his Irish

mother was a devout Catholic. Initially, he was baptized into his father's Lutheran faith, but at 10 years old,

influenced deeply by his devout mother, he chose to become Catholic and was conditionally baptized

in the Catholic Church. After graduating high school, Nelson went to work in his father's grocery

...