Baker, Alice, 1867-1967

Sarah Alice (better known as Alice) Ratliff Baker managed the Baker Mercantile Company store in Lockney, Texas, for nearly seven decades. She was born in Van Zandt, Texas, in 1867; after finishing her education she taught school, then at eighteen married James Artemas Baker, the postmaster of Ohio, Texas. They grew cotton but poor growing conditions soon led J. A. to switch to the freight and trading business. In April of 1864, J. A. and Alice took over a small general store and post office near where Lockney Christian College was in the process of being established; they acquired a quarter-section of land on which they founded the current town of Lockney. J. A. continued to run freight and carried on the business of developing and promoting the town, while Alice managed the store and post office and raised their twelve children; in the early 1900s, she began making semiannual buying trips to wholesale dry goods markets. She gained a reputation as a capable businesswoman, but more importantly, a reputation for empathetic dealings with the economically-struggling people of west Texas. Alice Baker designed an imposing house in Lockney which was completed in 1909. In 1917, J. A. died unexpectedly. Two years later, Alice married C. W. Smith, one of the founders of Lockney Christian College, to the unhappiness of her children. J. A. had brought two sons, Robin and Artie Baker, into the family business, and during the time of their mother's second marriage they legally established the store as a trust. However, after only a year, Alice left C. W. Smith and returned to Lockney, eventually dropping the 'Smith' from her name and resuming control of the store. During the 1930s, Baker Mercantile began suffering ongoing debt problems, though it managed to stay in operation until 1972; Robin and Artie severed their connection with the business in the 1940s. Alice continued working in the store, along with her daughters Dimple Baker McCavock and Lee Baker Seaman, until 1963 when she was 96 years old.